Cary D. McDonald

Differential effects of past experience, commitment, and lifestyle dimensions on river use specialization.

Recreation specialization proposes that participation in an activity progresses along a continuum from general to specific modes of perception and behavior. Research typically measures an individua...

Environmental attitude by trip and visitor characteristics. US Virgin Islands National Park

Abstract Visitors and destinations are the focal point of spatial interaction. The nature and extent of such interaction can influence the level and intensity of environmental degradation or enhancement. This study examines the variation of environmental concerns with respect to visitor (age, gender, marital status, education) and trip (destination type, travel group, overnight stay, residence, and site-specific preference) characteristics in the US Virgin Islands National Park. The findings of this study suggest that trip behaviour, including site-specific preferences, rather than demographic characteristics accounts for most of the variance in environmental concerns.

Australian Visitors to US National Parks and Natural Areas

Evidence suggests that the demand for outdoor recreation by visitors from overseas countries is increasing in the USA and is likely to continue in the near future. To offer international tourists opportunities for quality experience, it is important to examine and understand the travel behaviour of international visitors to national parks and natural areas. Reports on a study of Australian visitors to national parks and natural areas with respect to selected demographic characteristics, motivations and information sources used in planning their trips. The findings of this study may be used to generate appropriate international market strategies for promoting tourism in national parks and natural areas in the USA.

Factors affecting overall satisfaction with a river recreation experience

Visitor satisfaction has been a consistently stated goal of outdoor recreation management. Recreation resource managers provide opportunities for the visiting public with the anticipation of satisfying the needs of the visitors. Management efforts are often evaluated in terms of visitor satisfaction. In the recent decade, a multiple satisfactions approach has been the primary research paradigm guiding visitor satisfaction research. This paradigm has focused primarily upon behavioral-type dimensions such as crowding, goal attainment, and resource impacts resulting from behavior. The purpose of this study was to examine the importance of a setting dimension relative to behavioral-type dimensions for explaining differences in visitor satisfaction. A sample of 895 river visitors were sent a questionnaire in the mail; 682 were returned for a 76.2% response rate. Regression analysis indicated the setting dimension was ranked as one of the most important dimensions for explaining differences in visitor satisfaction. Other dimensions considered included group behavior, perceived crowding, parking, past experience, encounters, use levels, and time waiting. Implications for management are discussed.

Use Level and Encounters: Important Variables of Perceived Crowding Among Nonspecialized Recreationists.

Use level, visual encounters, crowding expectations, and feelings, were examined by regression techniques to explain perceived crowding among innertube floaters. The model explained 47 percent of t...

Visitor Segmentation By Trip Index

A major concern of the tourist industry is the pursuit of a continued and intensifying understanding of the tourists who support that industry. Although market segmentation has become one ofthe most valuable concepts in developingpromotional strategies to better reach the market, the number ofpossible variables and identifiable attitudes is unlimited. The study reported in this article contributes to this growing body of literature in that it attempts to evaluate an alternative way ofsegmenting visitor markets using the criteria of a trip index based on length of stay with reference to the state of South Carolina.

Attracting the older traveller

Abstract The growth in number, and relative affluence, of the upper age bracket of the US population implies a steadily expanding potential market for tourism products aimed at the elderly. Francis McGuire, Associate Professor, Muzaffer Uysal and Cary McDonald, Assistant Professors, at the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management, Clemson University, consider the ways in which the tourism industry seeks to attract this market sector, and which sources of information the elderly actually use when it comes to making decisions about their holidays.

Length Of Stay: A Macro Analysis For Cross-Country Skiing Trips

The purpose of this study was to estimate the determinants of demand for observed length of stay for cross-country skiing using a nationwide survey. Costperperson, distance traveled one way, number of trips, number of persons in group, number of contacts, exis tence of man-made structures, and prominence of non-recreational activities were examined by two-stage least-square regression analysis to explain length of stay among cross- country skiers. This observed demandfunction explained 58% of the variance in length of stay. However, unlikeprevious studies which have shown distance traveled to bepositively related to length of stay, this study revealed a negative relationship. Characteristics inherent to the activity itself, in this instance cross-country skiing, are offered as an explanation for the discrepancy from previous findings.

Wildlife management: managing the hunt versus the hunting experience.

Deer hunter satisfaction is investigated from two perspectives, (1) satisfaction with the hunt/harvest and (2) satisfaction with the overall hunting trip experience. Regression analysis is used to determine what variables best predict satisfaction with the hunt and the hunting experience. Results indicate that animal population variables (number of deer seen, shot at, bagged) are the best determinants of a quality deer hunt, while environmental (outdoors) and social (crowding and hunter behavior) are the best predictors of a quality hunting trip experience. Wildlife managers and researchers need to realize that deer hunters view the hunt/harvest as different from the hunting trip experience and need to manage for both aspects of hunter satisfaction.