Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism-Research Planning and Management最新文献

Mountain hiking can bring abundant benefits while increasing environmental stress in mountain areas. Thus, this paper examined the relationship and functional mechanisms between serious leisure and environmentally responsible behavior by surveying 318 mountain hiking participants in Shaanxi and Guizhou provinces. Bootstrapping and hierarchical regression analysis were used to examine the relationships and the mediating effects among variables. Results confirmed that participants’ serious leisure is positively associated with destination attractiveness, place attachment, and environmentally responsible behavior. Destination attractiveness and place attachment mediated the effect of serious leisure on environmentally responsible behavior, respectively, while serious leisure also positively affected environmentally responsible behavior through the chain mediation path of destination attractiveness and place attachment. The effects of serious leisure sub-attributes on environmentally responsible behavior varied significantly. Management implications and recommendations for local governors and serious hikers are provided.

Management implications

Implications for the environmental governance of destinations are as follows: First, employees of relevant regional government departments, representatives of the local community, and other managers involved in planning, management, and regulations of the destination are required to emphasize and cultivate the serious leisure attributes of participants. Complicated as the management's difficulties are, the best means to protect the mountain environment is participants' intentions. Second, it is suggested to enhance participants' emotional attachment by strengthening the destination's capacity to respond to visitors' demands. Participants with serious leisure attributes will develop a place attachment to the destination due to its attractiveness and further facilitate their environmentally responsible behavior. Third, hikers should balance the relationship between career achievement and personal effort with environmental responsibility.

Rock crawling, an off-road vehicle (ORV) activity for which drivers use highly modified ORVs to climb over extreme terrain and rock obstacles, is an outdoor adventure activity. This thrill-seeking outdoor activity requires specialized skills and knowledge to overcome challenges and remain engaged. This study aims to investigate the relationship between rock crawlers' motivations and the sources of challenges, as well as variations in that relationship due to the different levels of specialization among rock crawlers. A total of 377 rock crawling participants completed the online survey, with 11% self-classifying as novice rock crawlers, 46% as intermediate rock crawlers, and 43% as advanced rock crawlers. Through exploratory factor analysis (EFA), four motivation factors and seven sources of rock crawling challenges were identified. The results of canonical correlation analysis revealed positive associations between rock crawlers' motivations, including socialization, relaxation and freedom, self-expression, and sense of achievement, and the sources of challenges such as environmental uncertainty, activity difficulty, and competition in rock crawling. Furthermore, the results of multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) indicated variations in rock crawlers’ motivations and sources of challenges across the three specialized groups.

Management implications

The study aims to assist public land management agencies in integrating social science research into the decision-making process and sustainable management for off-roading on public land. To operate a sustainable rock crawling program, management should emphasize: (1) providing sufficient accommodations and access to fulfill socialization needs while ensuring safety; (2) organizing special events or competitions to enhance rock crawlers’ psychological well-being and life satisfaction; (3) executing targeted marketing campaigns to attract committed or advanced rock crawlers, thereby contributing to the local economy; and (4) advocating for clean energy consumption and regulating greenhouse gas emissions.

Hiking tourism is becoming increasingly popular with the rise of health concerns. This study uncovers means-end chains of memorable experiences of hiking tourists and considers the role of embodiment in such experiences. The findings confirmed three structural dimensions and nine hierarchical chains, three of which were connected with physical embodiment. Social and emotional embodiment were identified in the other chains. Physical, social and emotional embodiment were found to be essential in creating mindful and meaningful experiences that led to a sense of self-accomplishment and deeper self-awareness. This study contributes by constructing a framework to examine memorable hiking tourism experiences in relation to embodiment theory. Practical implications are also provided on hiking tourism management and promotion.

Management implications

Hiking tourists have better and more memorable experiences when the perceived level of physical challenge is anticipated. Embodied experience is an important component of hiking tourism and such experience consists of physical, social and emotional characteristics. Theoretically this paper built a link between embodiment and memorable experiences in tourism research. The conceptual model can also serve as a practical guide to improve memorable experiences at hiking destinations. Mature destinations need to improve the interpretation systems to provide more information on the trail and trip conditions, while for early-stage destinations, the memorable hiking tourism experience chains can be a useful tool for trail development and planning. Hiking tourism organization also need to cater the needs of tourists with different physical capabilities. Site managers and tour operators should consider the physical, social and emotional elements of tourists’ expectations in destination planning and itinerary design. Various marketing strategies can be applied to tackle the needs of different hiking tourist groups.

Urban natural parks are popular destinations for activities such as short walks, longer hikes, mountain biking and running. But how does visitation for these activities vary, and how can information about visitation patterns facilitate management by enhancing social and environmental benefits? Employing a case study approach, we compared the four activities in Serra de Collserola Natural Park, a large popular park close to Barcelona in Spain. When 1788 visitors were surveyed and data analysed using Categorical Principal Components Analysis and Chi-squared tests, clear differences were found in sociodemographics (age, gender, occupation, educational level and where people lived), visitation patterns (frequency, means of transport, group size and composition, when visited, length of visit, and trail use), motivations (active, relaxation, nature, landscapes, socializing, time with family, etc.), and environmental and social impacts, including conflicts among user groups and crowding. This diversity in visitation highlights ways in which management could be better tailored to specific cohorts of visitors. For this specific park it highlighted issues with concentrated use (more resources needed on weekends), how equity of use could be enhanced (promoting running and biking for women), and how conflict could be reduced (by spatial segregation for faster and slower activities). Future surveys could examine emerging issues associated with changes in use since COVID-19, facilities for aging populations, and the spread of e-bikes among others.

Evaluating the balance between the supply and demand of Cultural Ecosystem Service (CES) in space is the key to linking ecosystem services to human well-being. However, due to its invisibility, it is difficult to quantify and is often ignored in ecosystem service evaluation. Based on social media photos, by integrating multisource data and using a clustering algorithm and the MaxEnt model, this paper maps and evaluates the supply-demand balance of three CES of aesthetic, historical and cultural, and leisure services in Suzhou, China. The result shows a widespread imbalance between supply and demand in Suzhou, among which the cultural heritage CES imbalance area as high as 48.1% accounts for the largest proportion, and the aesthetic imbalance area accounts for 38.4%, while the recreation imbalance area accounts for 37%. Building upon the assessment of supply and demand balance at the urban scale, we further identified the supply-demand imbalance at the scenic area scale by integrating local tourism development policies in Suzhou and selecting a typical scenic area, Xishan Island. Based on the urban and scenic area supply-demand assessment results, this paper proposes a multiscale CES supply-demand allocation strategy. This comprehensive approach not only furnishes valuable guidance for local decision-making and management within the realm of sustainable tourism but also holds potential for wider applicability to diverse urban areas worldwide that share analogous contextual backgrounds.

Management implications

CES supply and demand assessment can help identify the CES supply-demand imbalance areas of tourist destinations. Landscape management and planning is a spatial organization method to balance CES supply-demand mismatches in tourist destinations. Optimizing landscape structure at multiple scales will be of instructional significance for the protection and development of tourist destinations. A ‘CES assessment and mapping – landscape management and planning – tourism protection and development’ system is beneficial to achieve the sustainable development of tourism.

Spatial planning tools are required to conduct outdoor recreational activities in harmony with the natural environment. This study introduces a dual spatial analysis method in which the Recreation Opportunity Spectrum (ROS) and Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) are run sequentially to evaluate different criteria groups. This study was conducted in the coastal region of the Enez district of Edirne, one of Turkey's northwestern provinces. With ROS, remoteness, and evidence of humans criteria were considered unweighted, and four land classes, urban, rural, natural with road, and primitive-semiprimitive, and activities suitable for these land classes were determined in the GIS environment. These are six terrestrial activities including nature walk, cycling, horse riding, picnic, camping, and wildlife observation, and four water-based activities including canoeing, swimming, diving, and handline fishing. With the AHP, nine natural criteria were analyzed as weighted and four suitability levels were determined for each activity in the GIS environment, as not suitable, marginally suitable, moderately suitable, and highly suitable. Sensitivity analysis by changing the priorities of the criteria showed that the analysis using the AHP results was reliable especially for determining highly suitable areas, and could be helpful for outdoor recreation planning. Finally, the suitability maps matched the ROS land classes, and the verified final maps were created. This study provides reliable results, showing that planners and decision-makers can adapt to similar areas with different administrative or geographical boundaries. Simultaneously, it contains a series of information that will contribute to planning components such as exploring, developing, diversifying, and presenting outdoor recreation opportunities and restricting them when necessary.

Protected area landscapes embody multiple values of nature that can create meaning in everyday life. Though the values ascribed to these environments theoretically inspire changes in human behavior, surprisingly few studies have empirically evaluated how ‘specific values’ affect actions that benefit the environment. We used Public Participation in Geographic Information Systems (PPGIS) methods to evaluate the relationships among four nature-based values and the patterns of both reported and intended behavior among visitors to Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska, USA (n = 667). We found that wilderness, recreation, ecological integrity, and scientific qualities of places were particularly important for characterizing the Denali landscape and accounted for more variation in intended than reported pro-environmental behaviors. We provide new insights on how nature-based values underpin the decisions of visitors and lead to transformative changes after experiencing a high profile, charismatic protected area. Understanding the reasons why people forge connections with natural areas and modeling how these associations relate to different types of behavior advances knowledge of how to effectively build environmental stewardship and guide public land management decisions.

Management implications

Findings from this study provide public land management agencies with insight on what people value in protected areas, the locations they appreciate, and how their experiences may influence their behaviors after returning home. We contend that “nature-based values” that encompass recreation, ecological integrity, wilderness, and scientific qualities of nature are particularly important to visitors and can provide a basis for communication about high and low priority places, as well as spatially explicit guidance for management agencies. Also, we show that as nature-based values increase, so do the reported and intended actions of people who visit Denali National Park and Preserve. As such, these multiple values of nature should be harnessed to inspire and energize more environmentally friendly practices in the future.

While there have been a host of studies investigating the COVID-19 pandemic's influence on outdoor recreation, few have investigated the socio-demographic composition and motivations of visitors who increased their outdoor recreation during this period and if these users will continue recreating at the same level as the pandemic wanes. This study surveyed visitors to the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests (NPNF) within the US state of North Carolina to identify if rising outdoor recreation participation is solely a result of the pandemic or more indicative of a renaissance. Demographic and motivational differences between those whose recreation decreased, stayed the same or increased during the pandemic were also analyzed to see if these patterns remain stable one year after the pandemic. The sample of 1594 visitors from Georgia (n = 483), South Carolina (n = 682), and North Carolina (n = 429) indicate growth in visitation to the NPNF is not just a fad but more of a renaissance with continued high levels of visitation forecasted after the pandemic. Results also show that outdoor recreationists characterized as more ethnically diverse with lower income and educational levels had visitation levels to the forest that increased during the pandemic compared to the outdoor recreationists who were White, more affluent, and highly educated. However, these changes appear to reverse moving out of the pandemic as these more diverse users mention having greater structural, interpersonal, and intrapersonal constraints. Managers who seek social and environmental justice with the provisioning of outdoor recreation should follow-up with these more diverse users to better understand their satisfaction with the FS experience during the pandemic and identify strategies to help them negotiate constraints limiting their outdoor recreation.

Management implications

For public land managers, these findings suggest that increased visitation levels are here to stay. The results also suggest that the pandemic provided users with more diverse backgrounds the space and time to recreate during the pandemic. Unfortunately, it appears that the challenges of everyday life may limit this group from continuing to recreate at the level they did during the pandemic. Managers should take advantage of this opportunity to try to understand these more diverse users and why they anticipate their participation in outdoor recreation dropping as we move out of the pandemic.

This paper discusses weather factors that may affect the level of visitation at recreational walking trails and provides insights into how specific factors (wind, rain etc.) can influence visitation. The quantity of visitors received affects trail management strategies, as there are often damaging effects attributed to the excessive visitation of natural areas. Therefore, accurate forecasting can inform trail management plans. Trail partners have expressed a demand for a system that can deliver qualitative insights to inform trail management while also providing accurate visitor forecasts. This study applied the approach, utilising Machine Learning and historic footfall data from electronic people-counting sensors alongside weather data; our model is a first in the introduction of Tourism Climate Indexes into forecasting models. Factors influencing visitation levels at three walking trails across the Atlantic Area of Europe were discussed. The results highlight that the model predicts trail use with satisfactory accuracy to inform adaptive management frameworks measuring visitor experience indicators.

Management implications

• •

  Environmental monitoring can gather insights into the situational factors that affect visitation levels on their trails, or if there are other contributing factors aside from weather data that could be investigated.

• •

  Trail-related recreation operators can formulate and develop strategies and plans to prevent the occurrence of tourist crowding or congestion in periods of high demand and increase trail visitor arrivals in low demand.

• •

  Trail managers can develop new service that will attract visitors under different weather conditions such as shelters, indoor museums, tents that hosts visitors during rainy or sunny days.

• •

  Trail managers can prepare for a lower trail visitation demand through marketing and offering alternative recreational activities.