Stručni rad
https://doi.org/10.24141/1/5/2/12
Research of satisfaction of visitors to the protected areas of Istria county
Suzana Marković
orcid.org/0000-0001-7035-1293
; Sveučilište u Rijeci, Fakultet za menadžment u turizmu i ugostiteljstvu, Opatija, Hrvatska
Sažetak
Introduction: Protected nature areas are fragile oases where people can connect with nature in its authentic form. Their main aim is to ensure the conservation of biological, geological and landscape diversity. Because of ever greater socio-economic development, with surging industrialisation, traffic and urbanisation, only through the synergistic action of sustainable tourism and nature conservation will it be possible to lessen the desire for profit which is driving over-building and over-visitation that can adversely impact protected areas (through habitat degradation, pollution etc.), thus calling into question the primary purpose of their existence. This paper aims to study and analyse the attitudes of visitors to the protected areas of Istria County on service quality. It will also analyse visitor satisfaction and loyalty, and expectations and perceptions, and calculate the ECOSERV gap, for which purpose the ECOSERV scale has been adapted (Khan, 2003). The questionnaire consists of six dimensions (eco-tangibles, assurance, reliability, responsiveness, communicativeness, tangibles) and 29 statements as well as questions relating to the socio-demographic profile of respondents (age, gender, education, job, reasons to travel, number of visits). Sample and method: Research was conducted on a sample of 137 visitors to the following protected nature areas: Brijuni National Park, Učka Nature Park, Šijana Forest Park and Kamenjak Nature Park. Only domestic visitors participated in the survey. Results: The results of descriptive statistical analysis indicate that a gap exists between expected and perceived service quality, meaning that the institutions failed to meet the expectations of their visitors, even though visitors gave high average scores to service quality in nature parks.
Ključne riječi
visitor satisfaction; service quality; ECOSERV; protected nature areas; statistical analysis
Hrčak ID:
226598
URI
Datum izdavanja:
15.10.2019.
Posjeta: 1.504 *