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Page 1: Visitor Monitoring | Tatra Mountains · Visitor Monitoring | Tatra Mountains . ... Manual counting . ... – one of the most heavily used cable car destinations located in the Tatra

Affi

liatio

ns:

Contact: Karolina Taczanowska [email protected]

EGU European Geosciences Union Vienna, Austria

24-28.04.2017

Visitor Monitoring | Tatra Mountains Simultaneous use of several monitoring techniques to measure visitor load, spatio-temporal distribution and social characteristics of tourists – a case study of a cable car area in the Carpathian Mountains, Tatra National Park Karolina Taczanowska (1), Antoni Zieba (2), Christiane Brandenburg (1), Andreas Muhar (1), Hemma Preisel (1),Joanna Hibner (3), Barbara Latosinska (1), Rafael Benítez (4), Vicente Bolos (4), José L. Toca-Herrera (5), Szymon Ziobrowski (2)

1. Introduction

2. Methods

Visitor monitoring is an integrate part of the effective management of recreational and protected areas. Comprehensive information concerning volume of tourist traffic, spatial-temporal distribution of visitors in a leisure setting as well as visitor socio-demographic characteristics may support understanding human behaviour and the ongoing natural processes (trail deterioration, erosion, impact on flora and fauna).

Visitor monitoring campaign was carried out in the study area in the summer season 2014. The following data collection techniques were simultaneously applied.

1) Automatic counting pyroelectric sensors operating between 26.06.- 30.09.2014 at 7 locations

4) Trip diaries & GPS tracking (n = 1351 map sketches; 1250 GPS tracks of the interviewed visitors)

2) Manual counting 18 sampling days at 12 locations

3) On-site interviews (PAPI survey technique) (n = 2639 respondents)

3. Results Each monitoring technique allows gaining different type of information. Simultaneous use of several data collection methods has an additional added value when trying to understand tourist behaviour in the studied area.

4. Discussion & Conslusions

5. Acknowledgements

(1) BOKU - University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Institute of Landdscape Development, Recreation and Conservation Planning, Vienna, Austria (2) Tatra National Park, Zakopane, Poland (3) Jagiellonian University, Cracow, Poland (4) University of Valencia, Spain (5) BOKU - University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Institute of Biophysics, Vienna, Austria

Photo credit: Weronika Makaruk

The aim of this study was to define the overall visitor load and to understand visitor behaviour in the proximity of the upper cable car station at Kasprowy Wierch (1987 m.a.s.l.) – one of the most heavily used cable car destinations located in the Tatra National Park, Poland / Slovakia. The main focus of this presentation is the comparison of the used monitoring techniques and exposing the benefit of their simultaneous application.

5) Registry of cable car tickets (daily & hourly sums between 01.06-30.09.2014 incl. ticket type

6) Registry of entries to the national park (TNP) (daily sums between 01.06-30.09.2014)

The results can be used as a basis for further investigation concerning environmental and social impacts in the Kasprowy Wierch area and may assist management of the Tatra National Park.

The authors wish to thank the directors of the Tatra National Park: Dr Paweł Skawiński and Szymon Ziobrowski for the finantial and organizational support of this study. We would also like to acknowledge European Comission Erasmus Plus internship programme as well as research mobility programme of the University of Valencia, that enabled international cooperation within this project.

Between July and September 2014 a total number of 292 493 visitors moving towards Kasprowy Wierch (KW) were registered in the cable car and on recreational trails leading to KW. 80% of people used cable car, whereas 20% were using hiking trails to get to the summit and back. Cable car users with return tickets were the most numerous tourist group in the Kasprowy Wierch area. In the summer season 2014 on average 3179 visitors per day arrived to KW area. The maximum tourist traffic was observed in August 2014 where daily number of visitors exceded 7000. Two most intensively used path segments were located next to the upper cable car station (cable car station – Sucha Pass; cable car station – meteorological station/summit of KW). Third most heavily used path segment was located between Sucha Pass and the summit of Beskid. Visitor load at path segments located next to the cable car station was on average 5-10 times higher than the visitor load at other hiking trails in the area.

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2014

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Kasprowy - Myślenickie TurnieKasprowy - Hala GąsienicowaKasprowy - Czerwone WierchyKasprowy - Przeł. LilioweCable car (transfers up)

Fig. 2. Share of visitor trip types in KW area (n = 292 493)

Fig. 3. Spatial distribution of cable car users with return ticket, based on recorded GPS tracks (n =1250)

Fig. 4. Daily sums of visitors moving towards Kasprowy Wierch area, based on automatic counting & the registry of cable car tickets

Data collection technique

Visit

or n

umbe

rs

Dire

ctio

n of

mot

ion

Rout

es

Dist

ribut

ion

with

in

area

Grou

p siz

e

Visit

ors

char

acte

ristic

s (ag

e,

sex)

Visit

ors

char

acte

ristic

s (a

ttitu

des,

etc

.)

Beha

viou

r

Interviews Oral interviews x x x x x x Direct observation Fixed counting stations x x x x x x Tracking of individuals GPS devices (x) x x x (x) x Counting of access permits

Tickets sold x Permits issued x x

Counting devices Photoelectric counters x (x) (x)

Table 1: Techniques for visitor monitoring and their fields of application

* Typology of data collection techniques and application fields based on Muhar et al., 2002