Nature-Based Tourism in Asia’s Mountainous Protected Areas

Tom E. Jones is Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU) in Kyushu, Japan. His research interests include Environmental Policy, Nature-Based Tourism and Protected Area Management. Originally from the UK, Jones has experienced life in Japan as an international student from both sides of the lectern, completing his PhD at the University of Tokyo. He then worked as a consultant for municipal governments carrying out visitor surveys in the Japan Alps and joining a visitor monitoring survey of Mount Fuji climbers every summer 2008-2017.  Huong T. Bui is Professor and Field Leader of the Tourism and Hospitality Program of the College of Asia Pacific Studies, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU) in Kyushu, Japan. She holds a PhD in Tourism Management from Griffith University (Australia). She has received research grants from the Japan Foundation and Japan Society for Promotion of Sciences (JSPS) on the topics of heritage tourism in Southeast Asia, tourism resources management, and disaster risk management for tourism sector in Asia. She published articles in leading journals with topics such as ‘tourism and development’, ‘sustainable tourism’, ‘heritage tourism’ and ‘community resilience’. Prior to her career in academia, she worked in the tourism industry and was a consultant for tourism development projects in Southeast Asia for the World Bank, JICA and SNV.  Michal Apollo is Assistant Professor at the Institute of Geography, Pedagogical University of Krakow. Michal’s areas of expertise are tourism management, consumer behaviours as well as environmental and socio-economical issues. Currently he is working on a concept of sustainable use of environmental and human resources. He is also an enthusiastic, traveller, diver, mountaineer, ultra-runner, photographer, and science populariser.

• Introduction: Jones and Bui.- Overcoming Nature Conservation Barriers in China’s Protected Area Network: From Forest Tourism to National Parks? : Chen, Xie, Jones and Jiao.- Japan’s National Parks: Trends in Administration and Nature-based tourism: Jones and Kobayashi.- South Korea’s System of National Parks and Nature-based tourism: Cooper and Jones.- Taiwan’s National Network of Protected Areas  and Nature-based tourism: Ki and Jones.

“The book does a fine job in describing and analyzing them in depth and providing detailed information on geographic patterns, trends in tourism, and the different countries’ political and institutional organization. … the analysis presented here provides a rich and updated picture of a large part of Asia that should serve as a key reference for a global analysis of the interaction between nature and people in the mountains of the Anthropocene.” (Ricardo Grau, Mountain Research and Development, Vol. 42 (1), February, 2022)