Non-sovereign visitor satisfaction: a case study of military training on the Appalachian Trail

Abstract

Nearly all recreation research has focused on understanding the behavior of individuals operating with sovereignty. But what happens when managers are concerned with providing opportunities for individuals at a recreation setting in spite of, rather than because of, the users' rational decisions to maximize personal utility? We begin to address this question through an analysis of the determinants of visit satisfaction experienced by 109 military personnel who completed a 75-mile training hike on the Appalachian Trail. The data show a significant and negative relationship between perceived crowding and visit satisfaction; they also reveal a significant and positive relationship between perceptions of place uniqueness and visit satisfaction. These findings suggest that the efforts of managers to accommodate ‘special uses’ of recreation resources can be guided by the same assumptions as their efforts to provide ‘traditional’ recreation experiences, thus helping managers ensure recreationists and other resource users have the opportunity to realize satisfying experiences.

Keywords:

• place uniqueness
• satisfaction
• perceived crowding