Mountain Parks Visitor Reception Centre Study. Data Analysis Report October 2005

Parks Canada Agency commissioned Guidelines Ltd. to conduct a data analysis study on the use of the visitor information centres in the Mountain Parks. This study is based on data obtained in the 2003 Visitor Study.In all, 23% of park visitors used the visitor information centres during their trip to help them make decisions on what to do while at the parks. The demographic profile, party composition and motivation of these visitors were similar to those of visitors who did not go to the visitor centres.At the point of entry, visitor centre users differed from other parks visitors in variables relating to visit origin, information search patterns and some trip characteristics. There were more US and overseas visitors among visitor centre users, more first-time visitors and a larger proportion of visitors on a longer trip away from home. For many, the visit to the parks was one of many reasons for their trip. These visitors spend more money while at the parks, and they are active information seekers both before their trip and while they are at the parks. There were slightly more couples and slightly fewer families or groups among the visitor centre users, than among park visitors on average.By visit type, many visitor centre users were on either an experience trip or a sightseeing trip. In particular, visitors on an experience trip were active information seekers and tended to use information centres more.While visitor centre users were only slightly more motivated by learning when entering the parks, they ended up participating significantly more in learning- related activities while at the parks, scoring better on learning-related questions in the survey and expressing more satisfaction with their visit, particularly when it came to their learning experiences. The role of visitor centres in capturing the motivated learner audience at the parks, raising levels of participation in learning and improving the knowledge levels among visitors is an interesting area for further research.