Geospatial analytics for federally managed tourism destinations and their demand markets

Understanding geospatial demand for destinations can improve management decisions affecting destination planning, marketing, natural preservation, and resident as well as visitor experiences. Visualization and analysis of demand markets are significantly enhanced by the capabilities of Geographic Information System (GIS) technology and help to support management objectives. This study implements traditional desktop GIS as well as a free, web-delivered decision-support tool for tourism planning and marketing to assess ~7.5 million overnight accommodation reservations made for federal recreational facilities between 1999 and 2007. Visitor origin frequency and median travel distance for overnight accommodations are summarized by visitor zip code and by facility. National results indicate: (1) facilities in the west, the Great Lakes and the southern Appalachians regions draw overnight visitors from the greatest median distances; (2) residents in the Northeast have the lowest per-capita utilization; (3) residents within the south-central Midwest and central-west Southern States have the highest percapita utilization and tend strongly toward local overnight reservations. Three selected national park regions are used to illustrate destinations characterized by highly localized utilization (Hot Springs National Park, AR), both local and regional utilization (Yosemite National Park, CA) and regionally to nationally dispersed utilization with few local residents reserving overnight accommodations (Canyonlands National Park, UT). Market profiling derived from local, regional and national customer origin markets can help any tourism destination, including national parks and their gateway communities, make smarter management and marketing decisions.