The Cairngorm Question

Created by Pauline Park and Kenneth Park, Cardonald College

What kind of resource is this?

A web-based case study investigating the economic, environmental and socio-cultural impacts of a major tourism development in rural Scotland. Designed for delivery through a VLE (Blackboard).

Read the full case study to find out more about this resource and how it was made.

Who was it designed for?

Second year HND Travel & Tourism students studying SQA Unit Tourism Planning & Development.

Points of interest:

One of the most interesting aspects of this project is the use of fictional characters and role play activities to introduce students to the subject matter.

The authors have repurposed photographic portraits on Scran to represent key players in the debate (a controversial tourism development in a fragile wilderness area). The course material is presented through the opposing viewpoints of characters such as the tourism official, the mountaineer, the politican and the conservationist. As the course introduction points out: ‘You will no doubt come to the conclusion, very quickly, that there are no definitive answers.You would be right - there aren't!’

The aim is to encourage students to think about some of the very complex issues and arguments that can result from new tourism developments. Students will actually see the tourism development before, during and after construction in a way that is difficult to convey using traditional classroom methods. The authors hope that because these materials encourage the students to interact with ‘real’ people affected by the development, they will think more deeply about the arguments that surround the development.

View this resource:

The Cairngorm Question | Website