Geo-Heritage Specific Visibility as an Important Parameter in Geo-Tourism Resource Evaluation

Geological heritage (geo-heritage) is a resource for geoscience, geo-education, and geo-tourism. Geo-tourist attractions differ in their physical visibility, interpretation (clarity), and aesthetic attractiveness. These three characteristics determine perception of visitors and, thus, the importance of attractions. An integrative parameter, namely specific visibility, is proposed for qualitative geo-tourism resource evaluation. This parameter is examined for all geo-heritage types, and some relevant examples from southwest Russia are considered. The geo-heritage types differ in their specific visibility. For instance, when landforms like the Granite Gorge in the Western Caucasus (geomorphological type) are well-visible, geochemical processes like the heavy metal cycling in the Don River delta and the Pelenkino mud lake (geo-chemical type) are not as visible. Such a difference should be taken into account when geo-tourism resources of any area or a geopark are evaluated. The lower the specific visibility, the higher the costs for professional interpretation and demand for advanced infrastructure solutions