A comparison of visitors' characteristics, traveling motivations, recreational experiences, and attitudes toward recreational carrying-capacity controls between peak and off-peak seasons.

摘要

Excessive tourist demands during peak seasons typically concern managers of forest recreation areas, national parks, and natural and historic heritage sites. They continue to look for better solutions to relieve overcrowding while protecting natural resources and cultural treasures. This study focused on visitors to the Lalashan Forest Reserve in Taiwan to compare the sociodemographic and trip characteristics, traveling motivations, and recreation experiences, of visitors between peak and off-peak seasons, and visitors' opinions regarding recreational carrying-capacity controls in order to draft practical solutions for managers to solve overcrowding problems in the peak season. The results indicated that peak-season respondents were mostly groups, consisting of family recreational trips or company tours. They generally preferred to use tour buses for transportation and to stay for shorter times. The forest reserve was more likely to be one of the major tourist attractions on their itineraries. In contrast, off-peak-season respondents were mostly individuals who stayed longer. These tourists had a stronger motivation to gain knowledge and enjoy the rich historic and cultural heritage in the Lalashan Forest Reserve. Off-peak-season respondents had less-crowded experiences and were more inclined to learn new things. Both peak and off-peak respondents supported the practice of recreational carrying-capacity control in Lalashan Forest Reserve.