Responsibility and preparedness for risk in national parks: results of a visitor survey

ABSTRACT

In light of incident occurrence in recreational protected areas, there is a need to consider larger questions of risk and responsibility for visitor safety. Whether visitors in national parks think that their safety lies in the hands of themselves or others has important implications for the prevention of accidents. This paper sought to explore the visitor perspective of responsibility in Western Australian national parks. A visitor survey was administered over an eight-month period in 2017–2018 in four parks identified as high in visitor risk. Using data from 1059 questionnaires, a cluster analysis revealed four visitor groups who differ in their views on who is responsible for safety: the Shared Responsibility, the Individual Responsibility, the Management Responsibility, and the Indifference to Responsibility group. Further analysis revealed that visitors’ sense of responsibility was found to relate to risk perceptions, risk propensity and preparedness in parks. The results of this paper have important implications for management agencies, indicating that visitors vary in their expectations on how risks should be managed in parks. Avenues for further research are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• National park
• safety
• risk management
• responsibility-sharing
• Western Australia

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributors

Anna Maria Gstaettner is a current PhD candidate in the College of Arts, Business, Law & Social Sciences at Murdoch University, Western Australia. Her research focuses on risk, safety management and responsibility in natural public places.

Diane Lee has a PhD in Tourism and is Academic Chair and Senior Lecturer in the Tourism Program at Murdoch University, Western Australia. The concept of sustainable tourism development, incorporating the environment in all its aspects, underpins all areas of Diane's research interests. Her research focus includes visitor and community attitudes towards tourism development, wildlife tourism, nature-based tourism and regional tourism issues.

Bettty Weiler PhD, is Professor of Tourism in the School of Business and Tourism at Southern Cross University. Betty's research interests focus on tour guiding, interpretation and behaviour change, persuasive communication and visitor management. Betty is particularly well known for her work in relation to protected areas, zoos and heritage attractions, particularly her research aimed at influencing visitors' on-site and post-visit behaviour.