Chapter 12 Geotourism product interpretation Rangitoto Island, Auckland, New Zealand

Abstract

Rangitoto Island, an island of volcanic origin, is a unique geotourism attraction and landmark of Auckland, New Zealand, capturing the attention of tourists since 1890. The island’s symmetrical cone and lava slopes rise gradually from the sea, making the shield volcano an iconic landmark for Auckland residents and a popular urban recreation area for domestic and international visitors. This chapter focuses on the effectiveness of different types of interpretive media (e.g. information signs and guided tours) as educative tools for geotourism which occurs in an urban context. It is based on a study which investigated which media were used most, how much visitors learned from them and whether visitors had a preference for a particular medium. While a number of publications address cultural and historical aspects of the island (Murdoch, 1991; Graham, 2005; Philips-Gibson, 2006; Kearns and Collins, 2006) and Rangitoto’s natural history (Wilcox, 2007), no publications have investigated tourism on the island and there has been no visitor evaluation of the island and its interpretive media.