GEOGRAPHY OF LEISURE AND RECREATION

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GEOGRAPHY OF LEISURE AND RECREATION

• Definitions and Concepts of Geography and
  Recreation Geography

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GEOGRAPHY-The study of the spatial distribution
of various phenomena on the earths surface

• The emphasis is on location of phenomena
• Where
• Why

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The question of why brings up linkages to the
usage of the facility Therefore one needs to
explore

• The physical aspects of the site
• The characteristics of the population associated
  with the site

Location is a major key to success and
understanding the links between location, site
characteristics, use and population is key to
efficient use of facilities and satisfying the
demands of the population and environment
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Recreation Geography studies the spatial aspects
of the recreation systemThere are three primary
areas of concern

• Population
• Facilities
• Activity

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Population

• The size of population in the study area the
  impacts on the number, type, and size of
  facilities
• The characteristics of the population factors
  such as age, sex, income, and the use of time
  will have influences on the facilities and
  activities desired

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Activities

• Theoretically, the characteristics of the
  population will create needs for that population
  (or sub-group of the population)
• Those needs will generate the motivation
  (economic, political, etc) to provide facilities
  for the specific activities

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Facilities

• Facilities provide a site for activities that the
  population desires
• The facility can generate demand by itself (False
  Demand) in the sense of limiting
  opportunities
• The location is influenced by many demands

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Assumptions
Studies revolve around

• Location
• Use

• Population, facilities, and activities are
  interlinked
• There are consequences to the interaction that
  occurs between the three factors
• These consequences can be understood and
  manipulated

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The Geographic Approach to Problems

• The exploration of spatial arrangement the
  distribution of spatial phenomena
• The exploration of the relationships between the
  factors studied in 1 above
• The exploration of spatial process changes in
  the factors and relationships that produce
  changes in location and usage

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Spatial Arrangement

• What do you include?
• Therefore have to have a basic idea of what makes
  the system work (education, research)
• need to have a general working knowledge of the
  second approach
• gather data, linked to location and
  characteristics of the site and users

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The Geographic Approach to Problems

• The exploration of spatial arrangement the
  distribution of spatial phenomena

2 The explanation of the relationships
between the spatial
phenomena
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Linkages between Factors

• Attempt to link factors to the facility and the
  usage of the facility
• Example would be that as expressed in Distance
  Decay
• As the distance between the population being
  considered and the facility increases the
  frequency of visit and length of visit changes
• Concerns? - linked to need to measure

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Factors Possibly Connected

• Age and Use Frequency
• Income and Use Frequency
• Family Size and Babysitting
• Car Ownership and Presence
• Type of Chairlift and Repeat Usage

• Employment and Time of Travel
• Hill Variation and Years Experience
• Apres Ski Facilities and Age
• Gender and Frequency of Use
• Snowmaking ability and Frequency of Use

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Difficulty of Indirect Relationships

• Assumption that the relationship is direct
  people are all knowing and understanding
• If there is a relationship with weather and
  travel - how do we know the weather in the
  destination area?
• Are all members of the population affected the
  same way?

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Problem of Simplicity - the one- to-one
relationship

• Distance Decay - the relationship between
  distance and frequency of visit.
• Are there other factors that influence the
  frequency of visit?

• Income
• Employment
• Transportation

• Weather
• Family Relationships
• Facilities on site

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Spatial Relationships

• Some studies stop at one-to-one relationships
• This does not explain the complexity of the real
  relationships
• Multiple explanations are better but are
  extremely complex
• Normally a set point in time is picked so as to
  freeze relationships

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The Geographic Approach to Problems

• The exploration of spatial arrangement the
  distribution of spatial phenomena
• The exploration of the relationships between the
  factors studied in 1 above

• The exploration of spatial process

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Spatial Process - Change Over Time

• This is a consideration that, in a practical
  sense, does not enter into all studies
• The previous explanation works because it
  freezes the relationships
• If a factor changes, the relationships change and
  the outcome and linkages change

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Inertia vs Change

• Facilities are somewhat inflexible - built for
  specific activities
• People have investment in equipment, training,
  skill

• Technologies are not static - changes in
  equipment, access, etc
• Recreation tends to be fad oriented - therefore
  quick changes

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Prediction

• the relationships are interlinked so all factors
  are changing - each might have a different
  direction
• How do you predict change?
• With the safest method being extrapolation of
  current trends - safest prediction period would
  be 5 years

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CONCLUSIONS

• The Geography of Recreation deals with the
  location and use of recreation facilities
• We need to understand the motivations of
  population segments
• The end results are a product of multiple
  factors, all interacting and all changeable