The size of the industry is so large that a vital public debate has emerged. In 1885 railway workers discovered a hot spring in the Rocky Mountains of Canada. The tourism potential of this feature caught the attention of the railway and the government, leading to the creation of Banff National Park, the first in Canada and the third in the world. Many studies document the relationship between tourism and parks. However, most occur at the park or subpark level.
Fewer studies highlight successful planning and management approaches at a broader scale.
A few countries are developing national policies. There is strong interest in many other countries to learn from the experience of the policy leaders in this regard. There is an emerging need to develop a broader understanding of the complex relationships between tourism and protected areas. There is a lack of baseline inventory of the scale of protected area tourism. Over time, managers developed successful approaches, both theoretical and applied, for tourism management in protected areas.