ABSTRACT
Several attempts have been made over recent years to list the world’s top tourism, nature or geological sites. In this chapter an attempt is made to identify the world’s top geotourism destinations using the criteria of visual impact, site quality, educational potential, and reasonable tourist accessibility. An additional requirement is to ensure that the list presents sites that are both internally geodiverse and represents the world’s geodiversity as far as this is possible in a limited assessment. The list should also attempt to include sites from all the continents. The proposal is that the world’s top 10 geotourism destinations are:
Iguaçu/Iguazu Falls (Brazil/Argentina) or Victoria Falls (Zimbabwe/Zambia)
Grand Canyon National Park (USA)
Great Barrier Reef (Australia)
South China Karst to Ha Long Bay (China/Vietnam)
Yellowstone National Park (USA) or Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (USA)
Uluru (Australia)
Central Swiss Alps (Switzerland)
Cal Orcko Parque Cretâcico (Bolivia)
The “Golden Circle” Route (Iceland)
Table Mountain, Cape Town (South Africa), or Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)
