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Record |
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Author  |
Neuvonen, M.; Pouta, E.; Sievänen, T., |
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Title |
National park visitors’ attachment to a place, quality perceptions and visit intention |
Type |
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Year |
2008 |
Publication |
Management for Protection and Sustainable Development |
Abbreviated Journal |
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Volume |
MMV 4 - Proceedings |
Issue |
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Pages |
378-383 |
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Keywords |
MMV4, Outdoor recreation, nature-based tourism, place attachment, rural tourism |
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Abstract |
National parks are often national icons and destinations for nature tourists. Park tourism is seen as a substantial cultural, social and economic phenomenon, which is going to be even more important with decreasing space and expanding human populations. Structural changes, such as decreasing primary production, in the economic base of rural communities, have forced communities to seek alternatives in order to maintain their economic viability. Park tourism is identified as an opportunity to strengthen the rural economy in regions that can provide natural amenity values and recreation services. The case study from three national parks in Finland, Seitseminen, Linnansaari and Repovesi National Park, analyses how park visitors relate to the park and surrounding rural area. The purpose of the study was to examine how the place attachment with intervening factors of quality of services and recreation environment explain the intention to visit the area again in the future. Data (N=736) was gathered by a mail questionnaire for park visitors. The majority, 64-71% of visitors planned to visit the park in next five years and 55-68% the area. About 10% of the visitors felt attached to the surrounding countryside of a national park. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was applied here to test how the hypothesized causal structure fits to observed data. The preliminary results showed that place attachment interacted positively and statistically significantly with the perceived quality of services and recreation environment. Those who were keen to a place are more satisfied to the services and recreation environment. Park visitors’ attachment to a region and satisfaction with the local services and hospitality correlated positively with their intention to revisit the region. |
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Call Number |
ILEN @ m.sokopp @ 1054 |
Serial |
2648 |
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