David Newsome

My research interests focus on nature-based tourism with a particular emphasis on the environmental impacts of recreation and tourism, the sustainability of tourism in national parks and nature reserves, evaluation of the quality of ecotourism operations, sustainable trail management, geological tourism and wildlife tourism. A member of the IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas, I have a particular interest in undertaking projects that will aid in the development of sustainable tourism in the Asian region.

I have previously coordinated significant natural-area related research projects for the Australian Government-funded Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre, including projects relating to understanding the importance of wildlife icons, investigating the nature of tourism site expansion, and reporting on the nature of high-impact activities in protected areas.

My publications include more than 150 journal articles, book chapters and reports, as well as the books Natural Area Tourism: ecology, impacts and management and Wildlife Tourism. I am also co-editor of Geotourism, Geotourism: the tourism of geology and landscape, Global Geotourism Perspectives and the Handbook of Geotourism; a series of books that have helped set the scene for the emergence of geological tourism as a distinct discipline within the area of natural area tourism.