Visitors Perceptions of Management

1. Visitors Perceptions of Management Joe Wagstaff 10/3/12 PRT 550 – Dr. Roger Moore

2. Desired Experiences and Support for Management Decisions • Quantitative (40 question mail-back survey) Qualitative (In-depth interview) conducted • Important to visitors: Enjoying natural scenery, viewing wildlife, having fun, viewing bison in their natural setting. • Supported managements ideas for group size limits and travel only in specific areas. • Disapproved of management ideas for travel only on certain days and required permits

3. Implications for Management • As managers, we MUST inform the visitors • Visitors take ownership of the park, and expect to be able to use it when they please. • If visitor usage is going to be limited, then managers need to provide concrete evidence for why this is happening. • The closer managers work with visitors, more likely visitors are to be understanding of managers.

4. Managers’ Perspectives of Visitor Experiences • Managers and visitors asked to rate level of importance over 6 constructs. • Managers and visitors answers compared to see how in touch managers are with their visitors. • 4 of 5 items related to place attachment were rated hire by the managers. • Managers perceived crowding to be a bigger issue than visitors did.

5. Implications for Management • Do not let the thoughts of the vocal visitors be mistaken for that of the majority. • Just because the manager is very attached to the park does not mean that the visitors are. • Managers tend to sell the park short of what it actually is. Give your park some credit for what it provides. • Glass half empty for managers. • Glass half full for visitors.

6. Managing Recreation Sites for Ethnic and Racial Diversity • Large Hispanic use at Mecca Hills • Hispanics mentioned group sports more than Anglo’s did. • Mexico-born Hispanics placed greater importance on 15 of 17 items in questionnaire. • Anglo respondents wanted a clean, and beautiful place to recreate. • Hispanics wanted a place to recreate with family.

7. Management Implications • Be aware of the certain purposes that different ethnicities are using your recreation site for. • Hispanics are looking to use the site for an extended period of time, and enjoy their family while doing so. • Managers must be able to communicate with the visitors to their park.

8. Tourist perception of recreational environment and management in a marine protected area • Almost 90% of respondents were satisfied with recreating in the MPA, and willing to come back. • Visitors valued the experience enough that 75% of them were willing to pay. • Majority of respondents were aware that the area they were in was an MPA.

9. Management Implications • Managers can use the locals pride in the area to their advantage. • Make more information available to visitors about the area that they are recreating in. • Increased signage and making more information available to visitors will increase the enjoyment of the experience.

10. Visitors’ Perceptions of a Trail Environment and Effects on Experiences • Visitors took photos along a 2.9 mile hike of a piece of the Appalachian Trail. • 83% of photos taken reflected positive aspects of the trail. • Negative items seen on trail did not always take away from the experience. • Positive items seen on the trail were likely to increase visitor enjoyment.

11. Managerial Implications • Mangers must remember to feature the positives, as we see the positives are more powerful than the negatives. • Enhance your visitors experience by bringing to the forefront what the visitors enjoy seeing most. • If time and money is taken to participate in this hike, the visitors are doing something they enjoy. More likely to give positive remarks, and notice positive elements of the trail.