Tourism and biodiversity in urban green spaces: DMO’s as intermediaries of meaning and experience

Destination management organisations (DMOs) are increasingly expected to integrate biodiversity action into destination development initiatives. However, little is known about how they understand biodiversity or what role they can play to support it. Urban green spaces offer a relevant lens for exploring this question, as they are important areas where biodiversity can thrive and regenerate, while simultaneously providing recreational benefits for ­residents and tourists. Applying a social-ecological, trait-based framework, this study analyses how DMOs in European Green Capital cities understand biodiversity and engage with urban green spaces in their work. Findings from semi-structured interviews with destination managers reveal that they possess tacit ecological awareness and express interest in developing experiences that connect biodiversity with cultural and relational values. However, they are constrained by limited organisational knowledge of biodiversity and of visitors’ perceptions of UGS, as well as limited integration into structural governance processes. This study argues that DMOs are best understood as intermediaries of meaning and experience, whose most promising contribution lies in facilitating ecological connections among visitors. Realising this potential requires improved biodiversity communication, empirical knowledge of tourists’ perceptions of urban biodiversity, and governance structures that formally integrate tourism stakeholders into urban biodiversity processes.