Relationship between Visitors??Setting Attribute Preferences and Place Attachment of the Taroko National Park

This study utilized a place-based approach to highlight the research directions that emerge in the study of sport and tourism within this particular field of social sciences. This study aimed to identify some manageable setting attributes that are valued by repeated visitors, and to understand how setting attribute preferences can influence the visitors' emotional and functional place attachment toward specific locations. This study utilized a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods. The first phase was qualitative interviews, and identified the unique setting attributes of the Taroko National Park visitors. Based on the identified setting attributes, the second phase was to design the questionnaire for quantitative enquiry according to Cole and Hall's (2009) research design in a high density use setting. The results of structural equation modeling indicated that the model fits well with the data. Resource attributes positively affected the place dependence and place identity. Our results concluded that visitors' place identity and dependence toward the park could be enhanced by improving the resource setting attributes, such as travel information, local delicacy, video facilities and recreational facilities. Diversity and richness of the travel information may also increase visitors' understanding of the local culture and nature. Furthermore, the well-maintained park facilities and the uniqueness settings will also increases visitors' use frequency, and enhance visitors' dependency toward the setting attributes of the park, and ultimately increase their quality of leisure.