Recreation Management Research Articles

Identification of sport talents through leisure activity: a pathway for achieving football commercialization

ABSTRACT The study identifies how the sport talents of young people are identified through leisure activity, which supports them to achieve professional status. Through recreational specialization and network support, we understand how amateur athletes’ leisure participation evolved through realizing their professional sports dreams. Leisure and recreational specialization studies contribute to explaining players’ progression from their street football activity in communities. Semi-structured interviews and interactions with 19 former African professional players reveal that they relied mostly on networks of recreational intermediaries (e.g. agents, scouts) to reach their recreational specialization, offering them professional sports careers abroad. Former players experienced some challenges through their involvement in leisure behaviour as they sought to commercialize their leisure activity of football for socioeconomic benefit. This paper presents valued evidence for recreational managers or recreational intermediaries to support children’s leisure pursuits in identifying their talents and prospects for development to enhance their livelihood and well-being in the future.

The use of digital tools in forest tourism and recreation - Experiences from Warsaw agglomeration in Poland

Tourism and recreation in forest areas around large urban agglomerations are becoming increasingly important and pose major management challenges in terms of sustainability, environmental impact and balancing the needs of visitors with conservation efforts. Digital tools are critical to the planning and management of suburban forests as they improve data collection, enable efficient resource allocation and enhance the visitor experience through better navigation and information dissemination. The aim of our work was to find out whether people visiting urban and suburban forests in Warsaw consciously plan their visits to forest areas, what ICT tools they use during and after a forest visit, and whether they share their experiences related to forest recreation on social media after the visit. The research focused on urban and suburban forests in the Warsaw metropolitan area, Poland. Data on visitors’ characteristics, recreation habits and digital skills were collected in an online panel survey in November 2023 (n = 1413). The results showed that respondents most frequently visited forest areas around Warsaw 2–3 times a month and several times a year. The vast majority of respondents planned their visits directly on the day of the trip (34.96 %) and used their own knowledge and experience when planning their trip to the forest. More than half of respondents (69 %) stated that they use various types of digital tools when visiting forest areas, most commonly smartphones with GPS functionality. Most respondents stated that they had advanced (43.38 %) or at least advanced (32.06 %) knowledge of using digital tools. 39.49 % of respondents stated that they do not use the internet to share information about their forest visits. The research results presented in the sentence indicate the complexity of using digital tools in the management of outdoor recreation and tourism. On the one hand, our research clearly shows that digital tools are an integral part of modern outdoor recreation and tourism management and provide valuable insights, on the other hand, most respondents planned their visits directly on the day of departure, relying mainly on their own knowledge and experience, rather than on digital tools. This knowledge can be used to develop forest management strategies, environmental education, monitoring tourist flows and promoting responsible recreation worldwide. Further research is needed to analyse the use of digital tools in digital forest recreation.

Integrating importance- performance analysis into transboundary natural resource management of water trails: Case study at the Chattahoochee river national recreation area water trail in Atlanta, GA (USA)

Despite growth in National Water Trail designations year after year along with paddlesports popularity, there is little research on water trail users' experiences within transboundary managed water trail systems. Specifically, there is a lack of evidence regarding which experiential attributes paddlers' find important and how these transboundary zones perform on those attributes. This is problematic because the entities managing transboundary water trail zones do not know if there are common attributes that are important to all water trail users and if they are providing satisfactory water-based recreational experiences based on these expectations. With this gap in mind, this research integrates the domain of Transboundary Natural Resource Management for National Water Trail Systems with the analytical method of Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) to explicitly compare paddlers’ perceptions (n = 360) of 12 water trail attributes between two different management zones (city park vs. federal National Park Service) of the Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area Water Trail in Atlanta, GA (USA). Results revealed that paddlers within both management zones place high importance on the biophysical attribute of water quality yet are equally dissatisfied with the performance of water quality, a reported decades long issue for the Chattahoochee River. Additionally, paddlers within the National Park Service zone expressed greater dissatisfaction with the lack opportunities available for quiet spaces and paddling in undeveloped areas. Results also indicated that water trail visitors had various levels of expectations and perceptions of river setting attributes that differed by management zones. A focused understanding of how physical, social, and managerial attributes of National Water Trails are perceived by recreational users (e.g., paddlers) aids transboundary natural resource efforts in collaborative decision making to better balance river conservation and recreation management for the future sustainability of National Water Trails. Management implications•The increasing popularity of river-based recreation and National Water Trail Systems spanning multiple jurisdictional zones justifies the need to proactively discuss transboundary visitor use management and collaboration across resource management entities (e.g., federal, municipal, private, state, etc.).•Importance-Performance Analyses (IPA) are a cost-effective and relatively intuitive method for managers across multiple jurisdictions to collaboratively manage the satisfactory performance of recreational setting attributes, while also allowing visitors to express their opinions and perspectives on current and future managerial elements.•Managers can gain a stronger understanding of the process to evaluate river setting indicators through analytical methods (e.g., IPA) that may save them time and money, as well as provide a logical decision-making pathway to prioritizing action within the Interagency Visitor Use Management Framework (IVUMF) for parks, rivers, and other protected areas.

Impact of Met-Expectation on Work-Related Outcomes for Sport and Recreation Managers in Hong Kong

The purposes of the current study were to assess sport and recreation managers’ perceptions of met-expectation regarding their careers and to examine the impacts of met-expectation on work-related outcomes. To do so, the current study’s conceptual model included five constructs: (a) met-expectation, (b) quality of work life, (c) job satisfaction, (d) employment commitment, and (e) turnover intention. A survey was completed by 273 sport and recreation management employees in Hong Kong to test the model. As hypothesized, the results revealed significant indirect paths from all three dimensions of met-expectation (i.e. comfort, reward, and responsibility) to employee commitment and job satisfaction through quality of work life. Further, two dimensions of met-expectation (reward and responsibility) had direct impacts on employee commitment and job satisfaction, while one dimension (comfort) had no direct impact on commitment and job satisfaction. The findings provide practical implications as well as academic contributions by extending existing knowledge of important work-related outcomes using the concept of met-expectation.

Corporate Social Responsibility and Consumer Behavior in Sports: Exploring and Adapting a Participatory Sports Scale

There has been a noticeable shift towards sustainability in participatory sport, emphasizing practices such as corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. However, a credible international evaluation tool for assessing the effectiveness of CSR initiatives in sport and recreation services is lacking. This study aimed to adapt and validate a CSR questionnaire for Greek participatory sport, focusing on tennis. The influence of CSR on consumer trust and loyalty was also investigated. A sample of 250 tennis players from a private club in a Greek city participated. A questionnaire assessing CSR in environmental, economic, and social dimensions, was selected after an extensive literature review. Statistical analyses confirmed the questionnaire as a valid and reliable tool for assessing CSR among recreational sports participants. The results indicated that CSR initiatives significantly enhance participants’ trust in the club, which in turn bolsters the club’s credibility. However, CSR initiatives do not directly influence participants’ loyalty; instead, trust mediates the relationship between CSR and loyalty. This underscores the need to strategize on how to convert trust into sustained loyalty. The findings highlight the importance of CSR in building trust, protecting corporate reputation in times of crisis, and supporting long-term sustainability. They provide valuable insights for researchers and sport and recreation managers.

The effect of forest composition on outdoor recreation

Climate change will shift the composition of northern Minnesota forests from boreal to temperate by the end of the century. This shift in forest composition will likely affect outdoor recreation, a valuable ecosystem service and a key economic driver for the region. In this context, the objective of our paper is to empirically examine the relationship between forest composition and recreation. We analyze the effect of changes in forest composition for seven forest types on seven types of recreation using a lognormal pooled panel regression model for Minnesota's Laurentian Mixed Forest Province. Earlier research showed forest composition affected recreation at the level of broad groups of broadleaved or coniferous species. We find a statistically significant empirical association between forest composition and recreation at the forest type level (forest types within those broad groups). This relationship varies across forest types and recreation categories. For example, big game hunting is positively related to elm-ash-cottonwood and white-red-jack pine and negatively associated with aspen-birch. We find individual forest types within broad groups of broadleaved or coniferous forests, have different relationships with recreation, so that these broad groups are not sufficient in capturing the effect of forest composition on recreation. Our results are of interest in the context of current shifts in forest composition caused by climate change, which could also affect recreation. Our findings suggest adding a forest composition lens to existing policies could facilitate strategies for more effective recreation management and climate change adaptation.

Wildland encounter norms across time and activity type: Stable preferences and shifting thresholds

Social and ecological conditions are constantly changing, but research concerning how visitors to wildlands perceive such changes across time is both limited and narrow. With a focus on the social settings of recreation experiences, this study provides an understanding of how perceptions of wildland visitors have changed over time. Specifically, across three time periods (1989, 1994, and 2022) within a wildland unit in Montana (USA), we found that preferences for encounters with other visitors remained relatively stable, levels of acceptable encounters (or thresholds) increased across time in some instances, and levels of acceptable encounters varied across the activity types that visitors encountered. By expanding evaluative norms research to include both activity type and multiple time periods, we contribute to both theory and application of wildland recreation management.

Proposal for recreation management improvements at the Brisas Guardalavaca hotel

Proposal for recreation management improvements at the Brisas Guardalavaca hotel

Recreation specialization: Resource selection functions as a predictive tool for protected area recreation management

Widespread and ongoing increases in park and protected area (PPA) visitation presents managers with the imminent challenge of preserving ecological conditions while also maintaining accessibility in the open spaces that are fundamental to the health and wellness needs of society. In the field of recreation resource management, recreation specialization, the selective channeling of interests and abilities into a specific recreational activity, has contributed to a more comprehensive understanding of recreation behavior, site preference, management perceptions and conservation support. Contributing to historical understandings of specialization can inform recreation planning on the diversity of uses occurring in urban-proximate PPAs. In this study, survey and GPS data collected in urban and peri-urban parks in the Nature Reserve of Orange County, CA, USA, were used to classify recreationists into three specialization types based on empirically derived dimensions of involvement, commitment and skill. For each survey participant, thirteen spatio-temporal metrics (STM) were calculated. A principle component analysis (PCA) reduced STMs into 3 factors representing expressions of spatial behavior and a one-way analysis of variance indicated unique patterns between specialization types and time spent recreating, elevation gained, speed traveled and stopping behavior. Additionally, GPS point data were analyzed with an analytical approach adopted from the field of wildlife movement ecology; a resource selection function (RSF). The RSF assisted in quantifying spatial distribution patterns specific to each specialization type across activity types at four park locations and demonstrated a landscape-based statistical analysis of probability of use in relation to change in elevation, distance to starting points and park amenities. Committed hikers and mountain bikers largely demonstrated longer trip durations, more elevation gain, less overall stopping, faster overall speeds and farther total distances, while e-bikers in this study demonstrated unintuitive specialization dynamics; casual specialization types travelling farther from starting points and dispersing more across trail systems. Further spatial results revealed spatial behavior to be inherently complex and influenced by numerous confounding factors (i.e. activity type/bike type, starting points, park topography and trail design). This novel spatial examination of recreation specialization according to activity type and park location, is useful in understanding recreation behavior and park use in a spatial context. This ability is helpful in a predictive managerial context when reviewed in correspondence with historical evidence identifying behaviors with increased potential for ecological impact.

Social media influences National Park visitation

Visitation to National Parks in the United States increased by more than 25% since 2010, rising from roughly 70 to 90 million annual visitors. Anecdotes suggest that this increase was driven by the advent of social media in the early-to-mid 2010s, generating a new form of exposure for parks, and has led to concerns about overcrowding and degradation of environmental quality. However, there is little empirical evidence on the role of social media in influencing recreation decisions. Here, I construct a dataset on social media exposure (SME) for each National Park and relate that exposure to changes in visitation over the last two decades. High SME parks see visitation increase by 16 to 22% relative to parks with less exposure, which comes with a concomitant increase in revenue. Low SME parks have no, or negative, changes in visitation. These estimates account for unobserved park heterogeneity and are based on an instrumental variables strategy that predicts exposure with a park's online popularity prior to the social media era. Additional analysis suggests that recent social media posts that include media attachments increase visitation, while posts with negative sentiment reduce visitation. These results provide insight for the National Park Service-which faces more than $22 billion in deferred maintenance costs and is considering policy options to manage demand-as well as for management of recreation on other public lands.

Recreational Potential in Ukraine's Territorial Communities Economic Development

The article analyzes scientific research on the development of recreation and its economic impact on territorial communities. It was revealed that in recent years, various aspects of this problem have been studied in the scientific literature and dissertations, but no comprehensive and systematic approach to public management in this area in the conditions of decentralization has been found. In addition, no special studies dedicated to this problem were found, and the existing scientific works only touch on certain aspects of this issue. The principles and methods of development of recreational potential at the regional level in conditions of decentralization are defined. The domestic and foreign experience of public management of recreation and tourism at the regional level is considered.

Leveraging big data for outdoor recreation management: A case study from the York river in Virginia

Outdoor recreation is important for improving quality of life, well-being, and local economies, but quantifying its value without direct monetary transactions can be challenging. This study explores combining non-market valuation techniques with emerging big data sources to estimate the value of recreation for the York River and surrounding parks in Virginia. By applying the travel cost method to anonymous human mobility data, we gain deeper insights into the significance of recreational experiences for visitors and the local economy. Results of a zero-inflated Negative Binomial model show a mean consumer surplus value of $26.91 per trip, totaling $15.5 million across nearly 600,000 trips observed in 2022. Further, weekends, holidays, and the summer and fall months are found to be peak visitation times, whereas those with young children and who are Hispanic or over 64 years old are less likely to visit. These findings shed light on various factors influencing visitation patterns and recreation values, including temporal effects and socio-demographics, revealing disparities that warrant targeted efforts for inclusivity and accessibility. Policymakers can use these insights to make informed and sustainable choices in outdoor recreation management, fostering the preservation of natural resources for the benefit of both visitors and the environment.

Mapping cultural ecosystem services of the urban riverscapes: the case of the Vistula River in Warsaw, Poland

Urban green and blue spaces play a key role in strengthening human-nature bonds as they offer a variety of opportunities to directly contact nature. They are robust providers of cultural ecosystem services (CES), non-material benefits arising from the interaction between people and nature. Recreation in green and blue spaces beneficially contributes to the well-being of urban dwellers in multiple ways, and the character of these contributions depends both on spaces’ features and visitors’ characteristics. The flow of CES related to the recreational use of urban parks and forests have been widely studied; however, much less attention has been paid to urban riverscapes. This study aimed to fill this gap by assessing benefits associated with the recreational use of urban rivers, and determining drivers that affect these experiences. Using the case of Vistula River in Warsaw, Poland, a citywide PPGIS survey was conducted to map several types of recreation-related benefits. Binomial logistic regression models were built to explain positive contributions to well-being as a function of attributes of visitors, spatiotemporal preferences of visits, and preferred activities. Survey participants highly assessed urban riverscape benefits, with the general tendency of highest scores to be clustered in the city core. Benefits vary in terms of drivers they are affected, with three main insights: (1) intellectual and emotional attachment to the riverscape is built through the long-term process of repetitive visits; (2) the devotion to nature is based on direct experiences, and strongly associated with sports; (3) on-water recreation underpins both emotional attachment to the river and social interactions. The results bring spatially explicit information on people’s attitudes towards the urban river, and underscore the complexity of links between people and the riverscape. The knowledge on spatiotemporal patterns and drivers affecting riverscape-related benefits may support the sustainable planning and management of nature-based recreation in cities.

Outdoor recreationists’ engagement with weather: The weather-outdoor recreation process model

The role of weather in outdoor recreation and nature-based tourism constitutes a growing area of research. Yet how and when weather influences the individual outdoor recreation experience continues to warrant investigation. Furthermore, concepts and knowledge about human-weather relationships are scattered across several disciplines. This paper consolidates the literature and relationships into a conceptual model that illustrates the ways in which recreationists engage with weather during the nature-based outdoor recreation experience. At the core of the model, constructed using a multidisciplinary literature review and expert appraisal process, is the person-weather environment fit process. During each phase of the recreation experience, individuals assess and respond to weather conditions considering their recreational goals, chosen activity, comfort, health and safety, and site access. When faced with an incongruent fit, individuals engage in a process of weather constraints negotiation. Intervening factors and negotiation responses are highlighted, as are personal and other environmental factors that may influence perceptions of the thermal context and weather. The resulting conceptual model is intended to be applicable to most individuals, outdoor recreation activities and settings, and regions. The model can be used to situate existing outdoor recreation-weather research, stimulate future research, and inform management. Management implications•The Weather-Outdoor Recreation Process Model (WORP) provides fodder for academic discourse, testable hypotheses, research ideas, and advances our collective understanding of outdoor recreation.•The model provides outdoor recreation researchers and management interested in understanding how weather plays a role or otherwise influences recreationists' experiences and behaviors with a conceptual map of recreationist-weather interactions.•Researchers may choose to use the conceptual model and accompanying literature review as a means for exploring various concepts and relationships.•Recreation managers may consult the model in order to grasp the range of possible weather concerns and identify entry points for interventions to support year-round recreation and positive outcomes for different groups.•The model can be applied in a training or formal education environment as a basis to discuss the complexities of outdoor recreation and associated variables.•Practitioners can use the WORP to identify how improvements in infrastructure and/or information provision may help increase the ability of outdoor recreationists to negotiate weather constraints.

Assessing Complexity and Stakeholder and Rightsholder Trust in Outdoor Recreation Management on the Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail

The Pacific Northwest National Scenic Trail (PNT) traverses 1,200 miles from the Continental Divide to the Pacific Ocean. The portion of the trail in Northwest Montana and the Idaho Panhandle is at the nexus of a complex conflict situation involving outdoor recreation, wildlife conservation, and social-cultural values. This evolving conflict has gained national attention due to the diverse stakeholder interests and litigation against the US Forest Service, who administers the trail. The tension among the stakeholder groups and the various ecological and social-cultural dimensions at play illuminate the complexity of managing long-distance trails. Administrators of long-distance trails must evaluate and mitigate social, ecological, and cultural risks. This research note explores complexity and trust ecology among key PNT stakeholders, and discusses opportunities for incorporating trust research in transboundary recreation planning and research.

Physical Activity Promotion in North Carolina: A Reassessment of Public Park and Recreation Directors

Regular physical activity is widely considered by public health and parks and recreation professionals as a key determinant of individual and community health and well-being. Prior research has shown that building sustainable health partnerships with community organizations can help parks and recreation departments meet many US health challenges. This study examined the perceptions of North Carolina public parks and recreation directors regarding physical activity and health partnership practices in their communities. Directors from two-hundred and seventy five North Carolina city and county parks and recreation departments were surveyed in the Spring of 2022 to determine 1) directors’ effort allocation in promoting physical activity toward vulnerable populations, 2) challenges associated with promoting community physical activity, and 3) differences in effort allocation, future priorities, and partnership among varying director and departmental demographics. Results were compared to findings from a 2007 study of NC perceptions of health partnerships, upon which the present study was based. One hundred and twenty three completed questionnaires were returned, resulting in a response rate of 45%. Directors in 2022 allocated similarly higher levels of effort toward older adults, families, and people with low income as did directors in 2007, while youth and adults with disabilities and people with chronic health conditions received lower allocations of effort from directors in 2022. Barriers such as lack of staff knowledge on how to promote physical activity, lack of citizen and political support, and lack of knowledge of under-represented groups’ physical activity preferences were less pronounced in 2022 compared to 2007. Several distinct differences were revealed between female and male directors’ rankings of effort and future priorities, as well as their perceptions of physical activity opportunities for women and people with disabilities. Partnerships with county health departments are being utilized more in counties with the highest health disparities compared to more healthy counties, indicating that partnerships are being targeted and implemented in areas where resources are most needed. This study represents a meaningful extension of research conducted prior to the 2008 Great Recession and COVID-19 pandemic and provides recommendations for public parks and recreation departments to consider promoting physical activity and building community resilience in the face of future economic and health challenges.

A Cross-Cultural Research on Natural Tourists’ Behavioral Intentions

Comparative research on park patrons with distinctive cultures or ethnicities has been one line of cross-cultural research in the recreation field in recent decades. The critical issue for such research is between-group homogeneity as most cross-cultural studies use culture or nation as their unit of analysis. This study employed the between-group comparison approach to identify different perceptions of service quality among three major socio-culture groups, Hoklos, Hakkas, and Mainlanders, in the context of outdoor recreation in Taiwan. A total of 2,433 respondents, 1,719 from Hoklos, 499 from Hakkas, and 215 from Mainlanders, were collected from an outdoor recreation visitor survey conducted in the Huisun National Forest Recreation Area and Taroko National Park. The findings revealed that the differences in service quality perceptions, satisfaction judgment, and behavioral intention derived from the between-group examination. A discussion of cultural heterogeneity across the subgroups and its implications for park and recreation management is included.

Moderating Effects of Perceived Fairness between Job Insecurity and Outcomes in Sport during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused major disruptions throughout the sport and recreation industry. Given the heightened levels of stress and uncertainty brought by the pandemic, the purposes of the current study were to (a) examine the structural relationships among job insecurity, job satisfaction, and turnover intention and (b) test the moderation effect of perceived fairness toward governmental policies and actions during the COVID-19 pandemic among these variables for employees in the sport and recreation industry. The conceptual model, including four latent variables—job insecurity, perception of fairness, job satisfaction, and turnover intention—was developed based on uncertainty management theory. A total of 321 sport and recreation managers in South Korea participated in the online survey. Results of structural equation modeling (SEM) revealed that job insecurity had a partial mediating effect on turnover intention through job satisfaction. The results of the moderated mediation analysis indicated a significant difference for the path from job insecurity to job satisfaction between the group with high fairness perceptions and the group with low fairness perceptions. However, the direction of the effect was contrary to expectations. These results provided an opportunity for empirical examination of the psychological and mental health conditions of sport service employees and relevant implications for governmental policies and actions under conditions of uncertainty, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

The effects of social disconnectedness, social media addiction, and social appearance anxiety on tourism students' career intentions: The moderating role of self-efficacy and physical activity

This study aims to explore the relationships between social disconnectedness, social media addiction, social appearance anxiety and the career intentions of hospitality and tourism students in the industry. Moreover, it examines the moderating roles of physical activity and self-efficacy on these relationships. Data were collected through questionnaires from undergraduate students at the departments of tourism management, gastronomy and culinary arts, recreation management and tourist guidance across nine different universities. A convenience sampling method, one of the non-probability sampling methods, was employed, reaching a total of 719 respondents. The study revealed that social disconnectedness increased social media addiction, which in turn escalated social appearance anxiety, thereby reducing the students' intention to build a career in tourism. Nevertheless, it was found that physical activity can mitigate the negative impact of social disconnectedness on social media addiction. Additionally, self-efficacy buffered the adverse effect of social appearance anxiety on the intention to pursue a career in tourism. The results of this study provide valuable insights and recommendations for tourism education and career counseling, enabling a deeper comprehension of the psychosocial factors that may influence students' career development and intentions.

Improving Student Interview Preparation Through Collaborative Multimodal Mock-Interview Assignments

This research explored the usefulness of a mock-interview assignment through collaborative work between sport and recreation management faculty and communication center staff. The assignment paired entry-level undergraduate students working on mock-interviewing skills as job applicants with upper level undergraduate students acting as hiring managers for a series of mock interviews. Peer educators and faculty in the communication center conducted instructional workshops, provided direct student support and feedback, and facilitated the mock interviews. Data were collected on students’ insights of their job interview skills and career preparation during the 2019–20 academic year. The pivot to emergency remote learning during the spring 2020 semester led the assignment and research collection to happen virtually. The results and findings advocate the positive impact that role playing as hiring managers has on students, the effectiveness of students’ receiving multiple sources of feedback, and the value of virtual or online mock interviewing.