The ever-increasing use of protected areas for a variety of activities has led to a growing concern about the limits of their ecological carrying capacities. Areas of high ecological value, such as national parks and nature reserves, experience ever increasing pressures, from tourism at first place. In addition, new technologies make natural areas more accessible, which leads to extensive ecological impacts and to increasing conflicts between their user groups. In order to manage visitor activities and behaviour, one needs to monitor them and therefore deepen the understanding of their expectations, motivations and overall satisfaction. The MMV conference has made the first step in this direction, when it gathered scholars across disciplines and industry experts in Vienna in 2002, who all made contributions to knowledge and practice from their own perspectives. This event was considered a great success due to its multidisciplinary character, therefore the idea for follow-up conferences was supported and the conference now represents a global forum for exchanging ideas and experiences related to monitoring and management of visitors in recreation and protected areas.