Asian culture as a factor influencing visitation of United States natural park areas

Brenda Kay Potter, Purdue University

Abstract

Literature shows that racial and ethnic minorities are less likely to visit and use natural park areas than European Americans. Asians make up a growing percentage of the American population, and even though their tax dollars (like everyone else's) go to state park and national park budgets, little research has been conducted to determine if changes (even minor ones) might be made to park layouts, facilities, programming, or marketing that would encourage more Asians to visit natural park areas in the U.S. If park staffs understand Asian attitudes and preferences, then efforts can be made to attract and welcome these different cultures to American state parks. The goal of this study was to investigate the outdoor recreational preferences and attitudes of Asian university students, to explore what attitudes and preferences they brought with them from their home countries, and whether there were differences among the three Asian regions represented (South, Southeast, and East). One additional goal was to discover what specific actions/measures, if any, U.S. natural property managers could do to make American natural park areas more inviting to Asians. Nominal group technique (NGT) and individual interview methodologies were utilized in this study. The NGT segment of the study (which also included participants' individual drawings of the ‘perfect park’) focused primarily on specific park property characteristics and programming preferences that participants currently hold. The individual interview segment of the study focused primarily on cultural factors in participants' upbringings that might be influencing their current outdoor leisure preferences. During this process, additional data concerning specific property characteristics and programming preferences were also obtained. While it is understood that the results of this study cannot be said to represent all Asians, several inconsistencies between the results of this study and other Asian leisure research studies points to the need for more research into Asian culture and its impact on outdoor leisure behavior. Continued research will help narrow this gap in understanding and establish a more solid knowledge base, which will, in turn, enable U.S. park managers to encourage more Asians to visit American parks.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

Carroll, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Recreation|Minority & ethnic groups|Sociology|Cultural anthropology|Marketing

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