The use of values to understand visitors to natural areas: a study of campers on the Murray River

Abstract

In Australia, protected areas such as national parks have extensive strategies in place to ensure the natural environment is conserved, and visitors are provided with a range of opportunities for satisfying experiences. Many areas, such as those in privately owned or unprotected areas have not yet developed such measures. A growing but relatively unknown type of recreation and tourism is the vehicle-based market which includes caravanning, camping and four wheel driving. This market is attracted to these remote areas and is beginning to create a number of negative impacts. It is a significant management problem that relatively little is known about. This paper describes an exploratory study conducted at a site on the Murray River in South Australia. Campers were grouped into two clusters, Nature lovers and Recreationists, based upon their values. The clusters differed in their intrinsic, use and non-use values but were similar with respect to their recreation values. The clusters indicated some differences in their attitudes to management and their support for the introduction of facilities. The campers' perceptions of the site's naturalness were also measured.