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This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the economic impact of outdoor recreation in Washington State. The report includes estimates on spending, jobs, income, impact on GDP, consumer surplus, and environmental benefits of outdoor recreation. In 2019, outdoor recreation in Washington contributed $26.5 billion in spending and supported 264,000 jobs, compared to $21.5 billion and… Read more
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This study compares three social media platforms (Panoramio, Flickr, and Instagram) and their applicability for mapping and quantifying landscape values at a continental scale through multiple models. The authors assume that landscape values increase as posts about the areas increase, interpreting spatial concentrations of posts as indicators of higher landscape values derived from aesthetic enjoyment… Read more
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This study analyzes the reliability of Global Navigation Satellite System-based (GNSS) Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) using three platforms: GPSies, Outdooractive, and Komoot. These data sources are compared with automatic visitor counters to evaluate the spatial distribution of hikers in Germany’s Bavarian Forest National Park. In a comparison of all three platforms, GPSies and Outdooractive had… Read more
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This study analyzes data from Twitter, Flickr, and Instagram to assess visitation at 10 urban and peri-urban Swiss National Forest Inventory sites and evaluates recreational models on a national scale. Social media text was analyzed and a Flickr-based model and Twitter-based model were compared with a pre-existing potential recreation demand (PRD) model to estimate recreational… Read more
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This study uses Flickr data and remote sensing technologies to identify forest biometric and topographic data to map and estimate recreational potential of British Columbia’s provincial park system. Potential recreation and consumer surplus are mapped in Cypress Provincial Park using variables that influence visitors’ preferences for recreational activities. A machine learning approach called convolutional neural… Read more
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This study analyzes how visitation in the Columbia River Gorge of Oregon and Washington changed as a result of the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire. A visitation model is constructed by incorporating data from social media to measure visitation patterns and used to look for a substitution effect on nearby recreation sites after the fire. Read more
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This study evaluates how social media predicts visitation across multiple sites. Two geographically different areas were chosen to evaluate how well visitation models can be generalized to different areas. Adding social media data to a model was found to improve visitor estimates at unmonitored sites, even when a model is parameterized with data from another… Read more
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This study estimates the value Arizona residents derive from visiting motorized and non-motorized trails. The authors also estimated total annual trail use, Arizonans’ perceptions of trails, and favorite and most frequented trails. The value for Arizona residents from non-motorized trail use is around $8.3 billion per year; the value from motorized trail use is about… Read more
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In this study, Flickr is used to evaluate the perception and attitudes of day-use and multi-day adventure-based visitors on Mount Aconcagua in Argentina. The study aims to determine the relative popularity of different parts of the park and how the Flickr image content differs between the easily accessible day-use areas and more remote areas of… Read more
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This report estimates the job creation resulting from the construction of bicycle and pedestrian facilities such as bike paths, trails, sidewalks, and related projects. Based on data from transportation and public works departments in 11 cities with 58 projects, the author estimated that on average, these infrastructure projects create 9 in-state jobs for each $1… Read more
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The study estimates the impact of the proposed Run of River Whitewater Park in Skowhegan, Maine. The park would include infrastructure to support water sports and additional trails to encourage hiking, walking, and cross-country skiing. Run of River was estimated to generate a direct economic impact of nearly $6 million in spending in its first… Read more
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This study is listed as the first in a series of Knoxville Urban Wilderness (KUW) health and economic impact reports. This paper details the number of KUW users during 2021. Findings include that the users of the KUW trail system are predominately white, adult males, and that mountain biking, running, and walking are the most… Read more
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The authors conducted a survey in Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area in Los Angeles to understand park accessibility and how socio-demographic characteristics affect individuals’ use of the park. They found that the average park user is white, male, middle-aged, has a college education, earns between $50,000-$75,000 per annum, and was born in the United… Read more
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This paper demonstrates how geolocated social media images can be used for monitoring tourism levels in remote mountains. Researchers identified visitor hotspots and seasonal variations using Flickr photos. Though this methodology has limitations, it serves as a useful approach to manage tourism in a remote, protected natural area where resources are limited. Read more
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The authors apply a GIS spatial analysis using social media data to quantify public perspectives of recreational ecosystem services (RESs) or green spaces in Beijing, China. This megacity-scale study was conducted using data from the Little Red Book (LRB) which has been referred to as “China’s Instagram.” Though the authors acknowledge there are some limitations… Read more
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To estimate the full economic impact of outdoor recreation across Mesa County, Colorado, researchers measured the impact of both outdoor recreation-related businesses (such as retail trade and manufacturing) and tourism. In 2019, the GDP impact of outdoor recreation was $484,474,065 or 7.2% of total GDP; the direct job impact was 9,897 jobs or 11% of… Read more
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Utah State University researchers found that the creation of the Bears Ears National Monument in San Juan County, Utah, has likely increased outdoor recreation volume and growth in outdoor recreation-related industries. Retail trade, scientific, professional, and technical services as well as food services have all experienced significant economic growth in the three years after the… Read more
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The George S. Mickelson Trail (GSMT) is a multipurpose recreational trail that spans 114 miles across South Dakota beginning in the Black Hills. Researchers compiled survey data from 2,388 trail users who resided outside of the Black Hills Region. They analyzed the perceptions and use patterns of tourism activity on the GSMT and found that… Read more
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In Whitefish, Montana, outdoor recreation is the most important reason why residents stay and visitors come to the community. On the Whitefish Trail, 22,000 annual uses by visitors (30% of total use) generates $3.6 million in spending and supports 68 jobs. Read more
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In Helena, Montana, an 80-mile hiking and mountain biking trail system attracts more than 63,000 trail users during the summer. Seven in 10 users are residents, but visitors who use the trail system account for $4 million in spending, support 60 jobs, and generate $185,000 in state and local taxes. Read more
