Wednesday Wisdom: Visitor Sentiment Updated
Providing ideas and insight that can inform agency and partner strategies for improvement of park, recreation and hospitality operations and assets
Visitor Sentiment: Late Summer and Early Fall Considerations
As public agency budgets continue to tighten and managers make future resource allocation decisions, it is important to have insight into visitor sentiment regarding parks as leisure travel destinations in the near future.
In our June 23 Blog, CHMGS reported about a variety of publicly-available sources that survey visitors regarding their intent to travel. CHMGS is now tracking both Destination Analyst and MMGY Travel Intelligence weekly travel survey reports to understand emerging trends, since they are continually changing. CHMGS looked at four questions from the Destination Analyst’s (“DA”)(7/19) research:
Expectations for Traveling in the Fall: The most recently-available visitor sentiment appears to indicate growing concern about traveling in the fall. Over 41% of those surveyed said that they were unsure about traveling in the fall. This is the highest level of concern for future travel reported since DA’s survey began in late March.
Perceived safety of trips that would occur within public land settings: Camping (48.9%), RV Parks (45.5%), and Beach (31.2%) settings remain the top three trip types for perceived safety.
Lodging type used when traveling. Campgrounds or RV Park (21%) continue to trend highest along with peer-to-peer lodging (22%). Hotels (16-18%) continue to rank the lowest among lodging choices.
Intent to Visit Public Land Locations: Over the course of the last six months, shifts have occurred in locations individuals intend to travel. National parks (35% to 37%), state parks, and regional parks (31% to 38%) are increasingly of interest. This has come at the expense of locations such as cities and theme parks.
Data Source: Destination Analysts
What this means for public agencies:
Track visitation and overnight accommodation reservation/booking trends: On a weekly basis, the private sector reviews “Booking Pace” reports. These reports compare room night bookings for a defined future time period to budgeted room nights and revenue for the same defined period. Understanding if you are seeing increases or decreases in these “Pace” reports for your overnight accommodations is essential to understand now for planning purposes.
Evaluate operational and financial resources: With constant changes occurring with the Pandemic outbreak and its impact on schools opening, there is a chance that demand for the Fall operating season may be different from previous years. As public agencies, it is important to understand now whether you have the capacity to adapt. If the trend is upward and you are facing limited operational resources, now is the time to evaluate what amenities are critical to stay open. If campgrounds and cabins are considered the safest travel bet, contemplate closing other overnight accommodations.
It may be difficult to understand what data you should use for future planning. CHMGS’s goal is to provide you data and thoughts to assist you in making decisions easier.
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