Deutsch Intern
Geography and Regional Science

Dr. Manuel Woltering

Chair of Geography and Regional Science

Phone: +49 931 31-88290
E-Mail: manuel.woltering@uni-wuerzburg.de 

Institute of Geography and Geology
Am Hubland
97074 Würzburg

Campus Southern Hubland
Geography building
Room 318

  • Wednesday, 10am – 12am
  • In semester break: upon request

  • Economic geography, focused on leisure and tourism research
  • Protected area management
  • Regional economics and regional development
  • Regional focus: Central Europe, Alps

Analysis of the regional economic effects of nature tourism in the nature park Lüneburger Heide

The nature park Lüneburger Heide as the first nature park in Germany is particularly characterized by the interaction of natural and human influences. Formed by glacial processes and the agricultural use of the people, the characteristic heath landscape has developed there, which has had a special importance for the population in local recreation for a long time. So that the cultural landscape of the Lüneburg Heath can still be experienced today and can function as a habitat for many rare plant and animal species, efforts were already made at the beginning of the 20th century to protect it. The aim of the research is to quantify the economic significance of nature tourism in the nature park Lüneburger Heide.

Regional economic effects of sustainable tourism in nature parks and 'total economic valuation' of the National Natural Landscapes

In recent years, almost all German national parks and biosphere reserves have now been analyzed with regard to their regional economic effects on the surrounding regions. The resulting data, such as the number of visitors per year or the proportion of guests coming because of the status as a protected area, are part of the Integrative Monitoring Program of the Federal Government and the Federal/State Working Group on Nature Conservation, Landscape Management and Recreation (LANA). For the category of nature parks, such an assessment of their importance for the tourism economy in Germany is still pending. Due to the large number of nature parks with more than 100 representatives, however, it is not possible to carry out a comprehensive case-by-case analysis. Instead, a nationwide statement is made on the basis of detailed knowledge of selected case studies by means of extrapolation. Furthermore, it is the aim of the project to carry out a 'total economic valuation' for the first time on the basis of the results on the economic importance of tourism as well as further analyses for all three categories of National Natural Landscapes.

Regional economic effects of tourism in the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea National Park as a contribution to improved communication of natural values

The Wadden Sea as a unique natural area with global significance for bird migration is a landscape worthy of protection. The designation as a national park aims to ensure an undisturbed operation of natural processes in their natural dynamics. In addition, it is intended to serve the scientific observation of the environment, natural history education and the experience of nature for the population. The North Frisian mainland, the islands and Halligen have always been a tourist highlight and highly frequented. In addition to the role of the national park as a travel motive, the study also aims to consider the growing role of the UNESCO biosphere reserve and the UNESCO World Natural Heritage designation in the analysis. The interest lies on the travel decisions of the visitors and their tourist expenditures in order to investigate the economic importance of tourism for the region. The first and so far only survey for the Schleswig-Holstein Wadden Sea took place in 2012 and now receives an update on new results on tourism development through a methodologically comparable study.

Regional economic effects of tourism in the Berchtesgadener Land Biosphere Reserve

Regional economic effects of tourism in the Hamburg and Lower Saxony Wadden Sea National Parks

Determining the socio-economic effects of tourism in German UNESCO biosphere reserves

Park-people relationships of the Berchtesgaden National Park

Park-people relationships of the Bavarian Forest National Park

Current and potential regional economic effects of nature tourism in the nature parks Kyffhäuser and Südharz

Socio-economic evaluation of possible national park regions

  • Funding body: Bayerisches Staatsministerium für Umwelt und Verbraucherschutz
  • Duration: 04/2017 – 07/2017
  • Budget: 40.000 EUR
  • Leadership: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Hubert Job
  • Contact persons: Dr. Manuel Engelbauer, Dr. Manuel Woltering

07/2011
Promotion at Julius-Maximilians-University Würzburg (Dr. rer. nat.)

Dissertation: "Tourismus und Regionalentwicklung in deutschen Nationalparken: Regionalwirtschaftliche Wirkungsanalyse des Tourismus als Schwerpunkt eines sozioökonomischen Monitoringsystems"

seit 05/2008
Research assistant at the Chair of Geography and Regional Science, Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg

07/2007 – 04/2008
Research assistant at the Chair of Economic Geography, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München

 

10/2001 – 05/2007
Studies of economic geography, economics and political science at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (Diplom-Geograph)

Diploma thesis: "Bestimmung von Indikatoren zur Prognose touristischer Ausgaben"

Job, H., Majewski, L., Engelbauer, M., Bittlingmaier, S. und Woltering, M. (2021): Establishing a standard for park visitation analyses: Insights from Germany. In: Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism 35: 1-19.

Job, H., Bittlingmaier, S., Mayer, M., von Ruschkowski, E. und Woltering, M. (2021): Park–People Relationships: The Socioeconomic Monitoring of National Parks in Bavaria, Germany. In: Sustainability 13 (16): 8984.

Spenceley, A., Schägner, J. P., Engels, B., Cullinane Thomas, C., Engelbauer, M., Erkkonen, J., Job, H., Kajala, L., Majewski, L., Mayer, M., Metzler, D., Rylance, A., Scheder, N., Smith-Christensen, C., Souza, T. B. und Woltering, M. (2021): Visitors count! Guidance for protected areas on the economic analysis of visitation. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, German Federal Agency for Nature Conservation. Paris/Bonn.

Sinclair, M., Mayer, M., Woltering, M. und Ghermandi, A. (2020): Using Social Media to Estimate Visitor Provenance and Patterns of Recreation in Germany’s National Parks. In: Journal of Environmental Management 263: 110418.

Sinclair, M., Mayer, M., Woltering, M. und Ghermandi, A. (2020): Valuing Nature-Based Recreation Using a Crowdsourced Travel Cost Method: A Comparison to Onsite Survex Data and Value Transfer. In: Ecosystem Services 45: 101165.

Mayer, M. und Woltering, M. (2020): Tourismus in ländlichen Räumen. In: Krajewski, C. und Wiegandt, C.-C. (Hrsg.): Land in Sicht: Ländliche Räume in Deutschland zwischen Prosperität und Peripherisierung. Bonn, 200-213.

Job, H., Fließbach-Schendzielorz, M., Bittlingmaier, S., Herling, A. und Woltering, M. (2019): Akzeptanz der bayerischen Nationalparks: Ein Beitrag zum sozioökonomischen Monitoring in den Nationalparks Bayerischer Wald und Berchtesgaden (= Würzburger Geographische Arbeiten 122). Würzburg.

Mayer, M. und Woltering, M. (2018): Assessing and Valuing the Recreational Ecosystem Services of Germany’s National Parks Using Travel Cost Models. In: Ecosystem Services 31: 371-386.

Job, H. und Woltering, M. (2017): Regionalentwicklung durch Tourismus in Großschutzgebieten. In: ARL-Nachrichten 3-4.2016: 42-45.

Albert, C., Schröter-Schlaack, C., Hansjürgens, B., Dehnhardt, A., Döring, R., Job, H., Köppel, J, Krätzig, S., Matzdorf, B., Reutter, M., Schaltegger, S., Scholz, M., Siegmund-Schulze, M., Wiggering, H., Woltering, M. und von Haaren, C. (2017): An Economic Perspective on Land Use Decisions in Agricultural Landscapes: Insights from the TEEB Germany Study. In: Ecosystem Services 25: 69-78.

Mayer, M. und Woltering, M. (2017): Nature Tourism in Germany’s Protected Areas. In: Chen, J.S. und Prebensen, N.K. (Hrsg.): Nature Tourism. Abingdon u.a., 131-145.