Wildlife viewing activities in the Austrian National Parks: Visitor attraction or conservation instrument?

Wildlife observation is a well-known and frequently sought-after recreational activity worldwide. The most popular offers are mostly found outside of Europe, which is why previous studies on the subject have mainly focused on them. This thesis aims to advance research on European offers. The subject of the study was the wildlife observation activities in the Austrian national parks. The questions were raised as to how they differ from each other and from international offerings and what significance they have for the Austrian national parks. In addition, demand for these supplies and their effectiveness as a nature conservation tool were of interest. A total of 21 guide-based expert interviews were conducted. The interlocutors were 8 national park representatives, 5 independent wildlife experts and 8 representatives from the tourism organisations of the respective national park regions. The work shows that there is little difference between the Austrian national parks in the field of wildlife observation. The most frequently thematic and at the same time most in demand animal groups are birds and shell game. Furthermore, the study shows that wildlife observation offers can be both visitor attraction and nature conservation tool, provided that some factors are taken into account and adhered to. Most Austrian national parks are aware of this dual function, which is why they pay special attention to game viewing activities. Furthermore, the study shows that the success factors of wildlife observation services in Austria are largely consistent with those of the international offerings. In particular, three generally valid success factors were identified: The visibility of the animals, the quality of the guide and the quality of the offer. Other components such as thematic species, price or duration, on the other hand, depend on the type of visitor. Although Austrian wildlife observation offers cannot always fully fulfil these factors, they have the potential to stand out by other features whose quality would only need to be marketed and communicated more strongly.