Outcome-focused national park experience management: transforming participants, promoting social well-being, and fostering place attachment

Abstract

Understanding visitor experiences is essential if park managers are to facilitate beneficial outcomes for both individuals and society. We investigated visitor experiences in a special model of thematically connected guided walking, biking, and 4WD tours in Australian national parks. Outcomes attained by first-time and repeat participants were assessed by questionnaires with more detailed insights from semistructured interviews with repeat participants. Participants developed strong social ties with community members and experienced significant improvements in health, wellbeing, and competence, gaining a sense of achievement from mastering a challenge with positive implications for their lives beyond the tours. The tour series performed well in achieving visitor satisfaction, repeat participation, and word-of-mouth recommendation. The experience increased participants' attachment to national parks, reinforcing their sense of environmental stewardship. The findings are especially relevant to efforts in parks and elsewhere to better integrate senior citizens into the community and provide opportunities to increase their physical, mental, and social well-being. Such opportunities become limited, for example, when people retire from work or suffer health impairment. The tour series proved an effective tool for outcome-focussed park management, providing significant personal benefits to participants with positive implications for larger societal benefits, plus political and financial advantages for park managements.

The co-creation/place attachment nexus

“…In tourism studies, place attachment is also often appropriated as "destination attachment," which has been linked to visitor satisfaction and loyalty to places (Alegre & Juaneda, 2006;Wolf, Stricker, & Hagenloh, 2014;Yuksel, Yuksel, & Bilim, 2010) as well as events (Lee, Kyle, & Scott, 2012). Place/destination attachment has been found to correlate positively with a tendency to behave with respect for the environment of a place (Cheng, Wu, & Huang, 2013;Lee, 2011;Ramkissoon, Smith, & Weiler, 2013), and direct links have been demonstrated between experience and place attachment in tourism (Loureiro, 2014;Vorkinn & Riese, 2001).…”

Tourism and health: using positive psychology principles to maximise participants’ wellbeing outcomes – a design concept for charity challenge tourism

“…programmes or projects) that directly support wellbeing in individuals, despite the increasing recognition of wellbeing as a core component of social sustainability (O'Riordan, 2013;United Nations Volunteers, 2011). Again, Wolf et al (2014) is a useful addition to the literature.…”

“…More specifically, few studies have considered how positive psychology principles may be incorporated into the design of travel experiences to achieve complete wellbeing outcomes. Wolf, Stricker, and Hagenloh's (2014) paper on outcome-focused experience management in national parks is an important step forward in that area. Second, to date little research has been carried out that identifies the mechanisms (e.g.…”

The use of public participation GIS (PPGIS) for park visitor management: A case study of mountain biking

“…Developing national park experiences that promote short and long-term benefits for visitors (Driver, 2008;Wolf, Stricker, & Hagenloh, 2015) may assist in conserving the natural and cultural values of parks (Weiler, Moore, & Moyle, 2013). To create a diverse and high-quality range of experiences, park managers need to understand the potentially conflicting demands of different visitor groups.…”