Social media communication preferences of national park visitors

Abstract

Effective communication with the public is critical for managing parks and enhancing visitor experiences. Visitors to Crater Lake National Park in Oregon (USA) were sampled on-site (n = 580) to explore social media uses and preferences. Three-fourths of visitors were active on at least one social media platform, and visitors associated different platforms with different uses. Consequently, visitors wanted to receive different types of park-related content on distinctive social media platforms. Additionally, visitors expressed the highest levels of trust in their family/close friends and National Park Service publications for getting trip-related information.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the insights and comments provided by Drs. Yu-Fai Leung and Erin Seekamp on early versions of this work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was financially supported by the Institute of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism at Utah State University, the Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management at North Carolina State University, and the Crater Lake Science and Learning Center.