Abstract
Abstract Planning for recreational activities in protected areas involves an understanding of multiple and complex factors. Trails constitute the main recreation facility in protected areas. They are an important and common infrastructure that concentrates visitor movement. Their sustainable planning and management requires an understanding of how the visitors made their selection. The aim of this study was to identify the effect of trail attributes on visitor numbers in the Krkonoše Mountains National Park in the Czech Republic. The methods used in this study present an analytical approach involving geographic information system analysis, field monitoring and data analyses using generalised linear models. The results showed the preferential tendencies among visitors to certain trail attributes. Marginal significance and a rather strong variability in preferences (over 10%) were identified for five trail characteristics: the amount of local attractions; diversity of land cover types; dominant land cover along a trail; soil erosion; and the type of trail surface. In our study, we illustrate an analytical framework for the assessment of trail characteristics that can help guide trail analyses and management efforts. On the other hand, our findings raise new research questions and point to the requirements for further research in order to better understand how environmental attributes influence visitor choice and to use this knowledge for trail planning and management.
Highlights
In recent decades the time available for leisure has increased and the number of tourists visiting protected natural areas has grown dramatically as a result of social and economic changes in global society (PIGRAM & JENKINS, 1999; BUCKLEY, 2009; NEWSOME ET AL., 2013; BALMFORD ET AL., 2015)
The methods used in this study present an analytical approach involving geographic information system analysis, field monitoring and data analyses using generalised linear models
The value people place on experiencing nature, feelings of well-being and the physical, emotional and mental benefits received from engaging in this type of tourism (KENTER ET AL., 2011; DALLIMER ET AL., 2012)
Summary
In recent decades the time available for leisure has increased and the number of tourists visiting protected natural areas has grown dramatically as a result of social and economic changes in global society (PIGRAM & JENKINS, 1999; BUCKLEY, 2009; NEWSOME ET AL., 2013; BALMFORD ET AL., 2015). The increasing number of visitors in natural areas has serious consequences for their management (D’ANTONIO ET AL., 2013; HAUSNER ET AL., 2017). This highlights the urgency of improving our understanding of how visitors use these areas and what specific management strategies should be applied (D’ANTONIO ET AL., 2013; HAUSNER ET AL., 2017). Strategies implemented to attract visitors are TORBIDONI ET AL. (2005) examined a significant often balanced with methods to manage recreational link between visitor’s socio-demographic categories, problems, including the development of a recreational preferences and motivations on the one hand and infrastructure such as formal trail systems (WIMPEY & MARION, 2011; NEWSOME ET AL.; 2013)
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