Analysis of the geotouristic potential of geosites in Divjakë-Karavasta National Park, Albania

Abstract

Elements of geodiversity evaluated for scientific value should be protected, conserved and promoted as potentially important for geotourism. The Divjakë-Karavasta National Park is a large natural area that comprises six geosites along the Adriatic coastline of Albania. Geosites are elements of the geosphere that should be preserved for geoeducation of the present and future generations, in view of the fact that they yield significant data on Earth’s history. By means of the Geosite Assessment Method (GAM) and the SPSS program (version 20), we have analysed the geotouristic values of the Divjakë-Karavasta geosites and interpreted the importance of each subindicator. A correlation analysis, performed through SPSS and Pearson’s correlation coefficient as a test statistics, has been carried out as well. The Pearson’s correlation coefficient reflects the strong relationship between the scientific/educational values (i.e., representativeness and scientific knowledge) and touristic values (promotion, number of visitors, interpretative panels, hostelry services, restaurant services, touristic infrastructure). These coefficients express the importance of the dependence of additional values in the development of geotourism at protected sites.