⛰ Scenery and activities
Walkers climb Scafell Pike, the highest mountain in England, and mountains such as Helvellyn. Others go rock climbing, mountain biking and fell running. The glacial troughs and ribbon lakes give beautiful views.
Glacial Landscapes » Tourism in the Lake District
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
AQA spec: 3.1.3.4
- Why tourists are drawn to the Lake District, a glaciated upland area
- The social, economic and environmental impacts of tourism there
- The strategies used to manage those impacts
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Unlock This CourseThe Lake District as a tourist destination
Millions of visitors come to the Lake District each year for its lakes and fells
The Lake District is a glaciated upland area in Cumbria, in north west England. Ice carved its deep valleys, rocky peaks and long lakes. Today, that dramatic scenery is the reason millions of people visit. The Lake District National Park receives around 15 million visits each year, and the area became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2017.
In the last lesson on land use, you met tourism as one of four main economic activities in glaciated uplands. Here we take the Lake District as a full example and look at what tourism does to the place.
Key terms:
- National Park: a protected area of countryside where the landscape is looked after, but people still live and work.
- Honeypot site: a place that attracts large numbers of visitors, like bees to honey.
- Seasonal employment: jobs that only exist at certain times of year, such as the summer.
- Sustainable tourism: tourism managed so that the place is not damaged and can be enjoyed by future generations.
Attractions for tourists
Most of the attractions come from the glaciated landscape itself, plus the history and culture that grew up around it.
⛵ Water sports
Lakes such as Windermere and Ullswater are used for sailing, kayaking, paddleboarding, swimming and boat trips.
🏛 Culture and heritage
Visitors come to see places linked to the poet William Wordsworth, such as Dove Cottage in Grasmere, and to Hill Top, the home of the author Beatrix Potter.
🏢 Towns and villages
Keswick, Ambleside and Bowness-on-Windermere offer shops, cafes, hotels and campsites, so visitors have somewhere to stay and eat.
The area is also about two hours' drive from large cities such as Manchester and Liverpool, and it is close to the M6 motorway. This makes it easy for millions of people to visit.
Impacts of tourism
Tourism brings both benefits and problems. Geographers sort these into three groups: social, economic and environmental.
Economic impacts
- Positive: tourism creates jobs in hotels, restaurants, shops, outdoor activity centres and transport. Visitors spend money, which supports local businesses and helps farms earn extra income from campsites and holiday cottages.
- Negative: many jobs are seasonal, so workers may have no income in winter. Many are also low paid.
Social impacts
- Positive: money from visitors helps to keep local services such as buses, shops and pubs open in small villages. Visitors also use facilities that locals enjoy too, such as footpaths and visitor centres.
- Negative: second homes and holiday lets push up house prices, so young local people struggle to afford a home. Some villages are quiet and half empty in winter. In summer, roads are full of traffic, which annoys residents.
Environmental impacts
- Footpath erosion: thousands of walkers wear away the vegetation and soil on popular routes, leaving wide scars on the hillsides. Rain then washes more soil away.
- Traffic congestion and pollution: narrow lanes fill with cars at busy times, causing noise and exhaust fumes. Cars also park on verges and damage them.
- Litter and disturbance: litter harms wildlife and spoils the view, and noisy motor boats disturb wildlife and other lake users.
Common mistakes
Writing "tourism is bad for the environment" is too vague. Name the impact (such as footpath erosion), say where it happens, and explain how it is caused (such as thousands of boots wearing away the soil). Also remember that tourism has positive impacts, and that an impact can be economic and social at once.
Strategies to manage the impact of tourism
Footpath repairs stop erosion from millions of walkers' boots
Several organisations, including the Lake District National Park Authority and the National Trust, work to keep tourism sustainable. The strategies match the problems above.
👣 Footpath repair
Eroded paths are repaired with stone steps and surfaces, and volunteers and workers carry out the repairs. The Fix the Fells project looks after many mountain paths. Repair stops erosion spreading and keeps walkers on one route.
🚌 Traffic management
Bus services, cycle hire and car park charges encourage visitors to leave the car behind. Parking restrictions stop cars blocking narrow roads. This cuts congestion and pollution.
⚓ Speed limits on lakes
A 10 mph speed limit has applied on Windermere since 2005. It reduces noise and wake damage to the shoreline, and it makes the lake safer for swimmers and kayakers.
🎓 Education and planning
Visitor centres and signs teach people to follow the Countryside Code and to take their litter home. This cuts litter and damage to farmland and wildlife.
Worked example
Question: how can footpath repair help to manage the impact of tourism?
Step 1, name the problem: walkers cause footpath erosion on popular routes.
Step 2, give the strategy: stone steps and surfaces are built on the worst paths.
Step 3, explain why it works: the path holds firm, so the soil is not worn away or washed down the hillside, and walkers stay on one narrow route rather than spreading out.
Managing the balance
Tourism is very important to the Lake District's economy, so it cannot simply be stopped. Managers must balance the needs of visitors, residents and the environment. Honeypot sites such as Windermere and Keswick get the most pressure, so they get the most management. Some strategies cost money, and not everyone agrees on them. For example, some residents welcome visitors while others want fewer cars and less noise.
Exam-style question
(a) Give two reasons why tourists visit the Lake District. [2 marks]
(b) Explain two environmental impacts of tourism in the Lake District. [4 marks]
(c) Describe one strategy used to manage the impact of tourism in the Lake District and explain why it is effective. [3 marks]
Model answer
(a) Any two: the mountain and lake scenery for walking and climbing (1); water sports on the lakes such as sailing (1); cultural attractions such as Wordsworth's Dove Cottage (1).
(b) Footpath erosion: thousands of walkers wear away plants and soil on popular routes (1), leaving scars on the hillside that rain makes worse (1). Traffic congestion: many visitors arrive by car (1), which fills narrow lanes and causes noise and fumes (1).
(c) A 10 mph speed limit on Windermere (1) reduces noise and disturbance to wildlife and shoreline damage (1), and it makes the lake safer for other users (1).
Exam tip
In a "describe and explain" question, always link the strategy to the problem it fixes. Use a word like "so" or "because" to show you are explaining, not just naming.