Karst Heritage as a Tourist Attraction: a Case Study in the White Desert National Park, Western Desert, Egypt

作者：Ezz El Din Abdel Hakim Khalaf · 发表于：Geoheritage · 年份：2022 · DOI：10.1007/s12371-022-00727-3 · 被引用次数：34 · 研究领域：Geotourism and Geoheritage Conservation、Karst Systems and Hydrogeology、Turtle Biology and Conservation

Abstract Geotourism is a form of maintainable tourism that emphasizes the geoheritage characteristics of a district. Karst landforms are one of the most imperative appealing aspects of the theme of nature-based tourism. The geomorphological regionalization of the karst landforms contributes to a better understanding of Earthʼs evolution and provides the necessary provincial knowledge for resource utilization, ecological protection, and general economic improvement. To achieve this goal, an integrated geomorphological approach for inventorying, appraising, and evaluating sites of karst geoheritage within the framework of geomorphosite assessment method convoyed by SWOT analysis has been performed in the White Desert National Park (WDNP), Western Desert, Egypt. The paper aims to highlight the geotourism potential of the WDNP and offer strategic plans for identifying geotourist resources to a larger community through geoeducation and geoconservation. The WDNP is covered by Upper Cretaceous-Late Tertiary karstified carbonate successions and fluvioclastic rocks that host an interesting assemblage of diverse karst landforms (geodiversity) and amazing flora (bioturbation mangrove roots) together with fauna (biodiversity), revealing a geological open-air museum. The karst sites, which offer several phenomena with significant lithological, morphological, and paleogeographic features, embrace aesthetic, educational, scientific/scenic, and touristic values that will endure spectators of...