The values of natural places that attract visitors can, over time, be degraded by those very visitors. There is increasing recognition that in some circumstances, limits need to be placed on visitor numbers and/or activities in natural areas to protect and maintain the values of those areas. A number of tools are used in New Zealand and internationally to manage visitors to an area, and the activities and impacts of those visitors. These tools may be used to manage either biophysical or social impacts.

Carrying capacity is a concept that underpins many tools for recognising and setting limits. Carrying capacity is defined as the maximum level of use that a bounded area can sustain, as determined by natural and social factors. In identifying social carrying capacity, attention is given to people's perceptions of effects and limits. Depending on circumstances, biophysical and/or social carrying capacity may inform the setting of visitor numbers and/or activities.

Crowding management is a key management tool in outdoor recreation management, with obvious applications in tourism planning and management. Crowding management approaches draw on social carrying capacity. In these approaches, specific attention is given to visitors' perceptions and experiences of crowding during their visits to a site.

Environmental standards and certification processes are designed to systematically maintain or improve the quality of development of the environment. Processes that apply to a number of enterprises across an industry or sector are sometimes referred to as quality control strategies. These processes can include performance standards and certification. Certification, which has long-standing use in New Zealand tourism through service-oriented codes, is becoming more environmentally focused.

Limits of Acceptable Change (LAC) is a further extension to the concept of carrying capacity applied to outdoor recreation use and tourism management. The LAC framework deals specifically with the issue of how much use an area can or should be allowed to tolerate - how much change is acceptable?. The framework sets measurable standards for managing recreation in natural areas, provides a process for deciding what environmental and social conditions are acceptable, and identifies management actions to achieve these conditions.

Recreational Opportunity Spectrum (ROS) is a complementary tool for identifying and determining the diversity of recreation opportunities that a natural area or a group of natural areas can provide. It is based on the premise that quality in visitor services is best assured by providing a diverse array of opportunities suited to the full range of visitors expected in an area.

The concept of recreational specialisation was introduced to place outdoor recreation participants on a continuum from general interest and low involvement through to specialised interest and high involvement. Each level of specialisation carries distinctive behaviours and orientations to different recreational settings. Practical application of this tool involves collecting information about how visitors have their recreational needs satisfied from a range of environmental settings.

Visitor Impact Management covers a range of processes and techniques for managing visitors, their activities, and their impacts, in specific areas. It is a key aspect of tourism management by both public and private organisations, especially in natural areas with special values that need protection. Two key management processes include Visitor Activity Management (VAM), which focuses on managing visitors through their activities; and Visitor Impact Management (VIM), which focuses on the impacts of visitors, and is usually location specific.