Leisure experience in protected areas as a source of sense of place: what do visitors say? / La experiencia de ocio en áreas silvestres protegidas como fuente de sentidos del lugar: ¿Qué dicen los visitantes?

Abstract

Abstract The literature has approached the issue of leisure experience in protected areas from different theoretical and methodological angles, establishing, among other questions, the need to explore approaches capable of explaining the sense of place established by visitors to natural protected areas based on their leisure experiences and the influence exerted on this construction by sociodemographic variables and preferences. Taking a quantitatively driven mixed approach, a total of 704 tourists were surveyed in three national parks in Chile, and the findings included the following: (1) the most significant variable when it comes to constructing senses of place lies in the opportunity for visitors to enjoy their desired leisure experiences; (2) the levels of the different dimensions of sense of place vary according to gender, age, ethnic origin and quality of the leisure offer; and (3) confirmation of the emerging and multidimensional nature of leisure experience in contact with nature.