Impact of nostalgia and past experience on recreational demand for wilderness

Abstract

This primary objective of this study was to examine whether nostalgia plays any role in determining the demand for wilderness recreation using onsite survey data from Cheaha Wilderness in Alabama. In addition, an attempt was made to determine the impact of past wilderness experience and current residential setting on recreational demand. Since experience is a latent construct, a number of indicators, measuring the visitor's experience use history, were used to measure it. The results based on a truncated count data model show that trip cost and other visitor characteristics such as age, income, residential setting, and past wilderness experience were significant determinants for the visitation frequency. Moreover, the rural to urban migrants, who were expected to be more sensitive to nostalgic feelings, were making seven more trips than others.