ABSTRACT
Freshwater systems, which include rivers, streams, estuaries, lakes, sinkholes, underground reservoirs and caves, have long been popular recreational and tourist sites throughout the world, with areas such as Antarctica now also experiencing the impacts of human use and tourist visitation. Freshwater systems may be the sites of activities themselves (e.g. swimming and sailing), an ancillary support (e.g. snow making) or an aesthetic element (i.e. the scenic backdrop to the activity). Despite their significance as recreational and tourist resources, and although elements of their recreational management have long attracted attention, there has been little research into the economic, environmental and socio-political issues associated with recreational tourism and freshwater systems (Geering 1986; Wood and Hooy 1982; Hall and Stoffels 2006; Pigram 2006; Prideaux and Cooper 2009). This situation is in stark contrast to the body of research, which examines aspects of wider marine environments and tourism (e.g. see Orams 1999; Lück 2008; also see the journal Tourism in Marine Environments).
