Countryside recreation site management : a marketing approach

241 Pages·2002·8.359 MB·English

by  Ian Keirle

Countryside Recreation Site
Management
Countryside recreation has become an increasingly popular leisure activity, with
rural recreation offering an escape from the stresses of life in the modern city. Con-
sequently, the pressures on managers of countryside recreation sites are greater than
ever before. This important new vocational text offers comprehensive guidance on
the management of countryside sites of all types, from national parks and heritage
coasts to cycle paths and tourism enterprises.
The book takes an innovative marketing-driven approach to the subject, focusing
on the development of each site as a ‘product’ to meet the needs of the leisure ‘con-
sumer’. It offers step-by-step guidance to every management issue, from developing
infrastructure to on-site health and safety, and is richly supported with diagrams,
photographs, case studies and web links.
Countryside Recreation Site Management is an essential resource for all students
studying recreation or tourism management, and for all professional recreation man-
agers.
Ian Keirleis a Course Director and Lecturer at the Institute of Rural Studies, Univer-

sity of Wales, Aberystwyth.

Countryside Recreation Site
Management
A marketing approach
Ian Keirle

London and New York
First published 2002 by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2003.
© 2002 Ian Keirle
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocoyping and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN 0-203-47188-1 Master e-book ISBN

ISBN 0-203-78012-4 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0-415-24884-I (hbk)
ISBN 0-415-24885-X (pbk)
Contents
List of plates vi
List of figures vii
List of tables viii
Preface ix
Acknowledgements xi
1 Marketing 1
2 Finding out about your site 19
3 Finding out about your visitor 47
4 Making your site more accessible 81
5 Recreational site infrastructure 103

6 Access for all 129
7 Developing attractions 143
8 Customer care 157
9 Information and interpretation 170
10 Dealing with site conflicts 197
11 Health and safety 204
12 Recreation planning 210
Index 222
Plates
3.1 A micro switch operated stile counter with an automatic data logger 54
4.1 Example leaflets for countryside sites 85
4.2 An example of an overhead oblique site map 88
4.3 Inside a Tourist Information Centre with staff helping the public
withanenquiry 90
4.4 A white and brown tourism destination road sign 92
4.5 Signpost directing visitors to attractions 94
4.6 An example of a roadside ‘attraction’ sign 98
5.1 A curved stone bench 106
5.2 Forestry Commission style information sign 107
5.3 A wooden stile with balance bars 115
5.4 A signpost that provides the name of the route, destination
information,distance and a symbol that shows the route is a
NationalTrail(a white acorn) 118
5.5 Short fingerposts with path type and destination 118
5.6 Example waymarker discs, that can be used on paths and trails, to
providereassurance to visitors that they are on the correct route 120

5.7 An orientation panel featuring a large scale map 121
5.8 An overflowing litter bin creates rubbish 122
5.9 An example of a ‘beehive style’ wooden litter bin, containing one
bin liner 124
6.1 Information booklets for visitors with disabilities 139
7.1 The start of the Karrimor mountain bike trail, Coed y Brenin, Wales 149
7.2 An adventure playground for children 152
7.3 Sculpture as a ‘gateway’ 153
9.1 Interpretation should relate 175
9.2 Interpretation should reveal 176
9.3 An interpretation panel that shows through pictures the use that
elephantsmake of their trunks 177
9.4 Good design can lead the reader through an interpretive panel in a
sequentialmanner 184
9.5 An example of an informal design 185
Figures
1.1 The marketing mix 15
1.2 Possible tools in a countryside recreation site marketing mix 16
2.1 An example of a completed infrastructure audit map for a fictitious
countrypark 37
2.2 An example of a completed infrastructure audit form for a fictitious
countrypark 38
2.3 An example of a completed path audit map for a fictitious country
park 40
2.4 An example of a completed path audit form for a fictitious country
park 41
2.5 Cross-section of a path showing the worn and bare widths 41
3.1 The survey design process 50
3.2 The process involved in the automatic counting of vehicles, bikes
and people 53
3.3 Average counts on an hour-by-hour basis for people passing along
anentrance path at a countryside recreation site (fictitious data) 55
3.4 Observation points and observation zones for a fictitious country

park 77
4.1 Increasing the level of detail on road signs leading up to the
entranceofacountryside site 99
4.2 Designing a site entrance to ensure road safety and to effectively
displayentrance signs 101
5.1 Features associated with steps 114
5.2 A decision node map 119
5.3 A ‘baited’ funnel 127
8.1 A cycle of service for a visit to a countryside site 168
9.1 Planning topics, themes, sub-topics and sub-themes for interpreting
CardiganBay 180
9.2 The interpretive planning process 193
10.1 Spatial zonation of a lake for different activities 201
12.1 The management planning process 211
12.2 An example of a work programme split into repeated tasks and
projects 219
Tables
1.1 Core, tangible, intangible and total products: examples of the car
andacountryside recreation site 8
1.2 What are we really buying? The product of the product 9
1.3 Factors that influenced visitors to use the Pembrokeshire Coast Path 9
2.1 The potential products of a children’s playground 33
2.2 The potential products of a waymarked walk 34
3.1 Typical research questions for countryside recreation sites and the
typesofinformation that the questions will address 48
3.2 Research questions and the type of information that different survey
methodscan address 49
3.3 Counter mechanisms for recording visitor, vehicle and bike numbers 56–7
3.4 Confidence intervals related to sample size (confidence interval 95%) 64
3.5 Cross tabulation table of age category against activity carried out
whilstonthe site 73
4.1 Factors prompting visitors to visit Longdendale 82
4.2 Minimum letter height to ensure readability at differing approach
speedsandreading distances 97

5.1 The function, type and issues associated with countryside recreation
siteinfrastructure 105
5.2 The number of accessible parking spaces that should be provided for
disabledpassengers 111
5.3 Maximum gradients and ramp lengths for different types of
countrysidesetting 115
5.4 Signage plan based upon decision node map 120
6.1 Groups facing barriers to using the countryside and the nature of
thepotential barriers 130
6.2 As a service provider are you discriminating against disabled people
inrelation to the Disability Discrimination Act (1995)? 134
6.3 BT Countryside for Allaccessibility standards 136
7.1 Possible sports that can be carried out on a countryside recreation
site,andthe facilities and resources that they require 151
9.1 The benefits, negative aspects and requirements of a selection of the
mediaavailable for interpretation 188–9
12.1 Headings under which site description can be considered 212
Preface
The importance of recreation in the countryside is increasingly being recognised. It is
of value in many ways. First, it is important for the individual. Recreating in the
countryside is a form of relaxation that allows the stresses and strains of modern
living to be stripped away. It provides opportunities to unwind, contemplate life, for
adventure, challenge, development of fitness and social interchange between friends
and families. Second it is important for rural communities. Visitors attracted into
the countryside spend money on food and drink, fuel, accommodation, souvenirs
and entrance fees. This directly helps the rural economy and provides much needed
employment. In addition, in providing facilities for the visitor, the surrounding
communities also benefit in terms of better facilities, improved access and so forth.
The development of recreational opportunities within the countryside is therefore an
investment in personal health and well being, and in the rural economy.
This book focuses on the management of countryside recreation sites. For the
purpose of this book a countryside recreation site can be defined as any site in the
countryside where provision is made for people to recreate out of doors. Such sites
include national parks, country parks, heritage coasts, national trails, regional
routes, cycle routes and tourism enterprises. The scale of provision can range from

large sophisticated sites with high quality facilities, large visitor numbers and dedi-
cated staff, to small-scale informal sites with very few visitors. Countryside recre-
ation sites can be free to enter or could be of a more commercial nature with
entrance charges such as gardens or wildlife parks. Therefore, if you have anything
to do with the management of visitors to the countryside, the contents of this book
are appropriate for you.
The book takes a marketing approach to the subject matter. This means that
countryside sites are viewed as products that the consumer (the recreational visitor)
makes a choice as to whether to visit or not. The development of the site product to
meet the needs of the consumer is therefore what this book is all about. The book
starts by outlining the subject of marketing and considers how a marketing
approach can be applied to the management of countryside sites. It then considers
what you need to find out about sites and site visitors, prior to planning the manage-
ment of a site, and details techniques that can be used. Following this, the issues that
need to be considered when managing a site are considered. Chapters on making
sites more accessible, disabled access, customer care, site infrastructure (stiles, gates,
paths, bins, bollards, etc.), information and interpretation, developing attractions,
dealing with conflicts, health and safety and management planning, all provide prac-
tical hands-on information to aid site planning and management. Throughout the