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Factors Affecting the Number of Visits to National Parks in Finland

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Factors Affecting the Number of Visits to National Parks in Finland View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Helsingin yliopiston digitaalinen arkisto UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry Department of Forest Economics Factors affecting the number of visits to National Parks in Finland Master's thesis Forest Economics and Policy Anna Vanhatalo December 2009 HELSINGIN YLIOPISTO ⎯ HELSINGFORS UNIVERSITET ⎯ UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI Tiedekunta/Osasto ⎯ Fakultet/Sektion ⎯ Faculty Laitos ⎯ Institution ⎯ Department Faculty of Agriculture and Forestry Department of Forest Economics Tekijä ⎯ Författare ⎯ Author Vanhatalo, Anna Maria Työn nimi ⎯ Arbetets titel ⎯ Title Factors affecting the number of visits to national parks in Finland Oppiaine ⎯Läroämne ⎯ Subject Forest Economics and Policy Työn laji ⎯ Arbetets art ⎯ Level Aika ⎯ Datum ⎯ Month and year Sivumäärä ⎯ Sidoantal ⎯ Number of pages Master's thesis December 2009 62 + appendixes Tiivistelmä ⎯ Referat ⎯ Abstract Outdoor recreation and nature-based tourism have increased during the last ten years. In addition, the interest towards national parks has grown, which can be seen also as an increasing trend in the development of the number of visits to national parks. The aim of this thesis is to explain the cross-sectional variation in the visitation data representing different parks and hiking areas. Another aim is to explore the question of why the visitation in national parks has increased in Finland. These questions are studied separately for the national parks and hiking areas, because the development of the number of visits in national parks and hiking areas has been different. In addition, the separation is made also between Southern Finland and Northern Finland due to for example the size differences and close link of the national parks in Northern Finland with the ski-resort centers. Explanatory factors are divided into supply side factors (services inside and outside the park) and demand side factors (economic and demographics factors). The data is a panel data, including all national parks and hiking areas in the time period 2000−2008. The one-way fixed effects model is used in the regression analysis. According to results the land area of the park, services inside the park and population size seemed to have positive effects on the number of visits. Income per capita had negative impact on the visits. In Southern Finland the size of the age-class 65−74 affected positively the number of visits, whereas the effect of gasoline price was negative. Used time period was short due to the lack of appropriate data. Thus, the results reflect more the cross-sectional variation between parks. Results can be used in the planning of the management of national parks and hiking areas. Avainsanat ⎯ Nyckelord ⎯ Keywords National parks, panel data, fixed effects model Säilytyspaikka ⎯ Förvaringsställe ⎯ Where deposited Department of Forest Economics, Viikki Science Library Muita tietoja ⎯ Övriga uppgifter ⎯ Further information HELSINGIN YLIOPISTO ⎯ HELSINGFORS UNIVERSITET ⎯ UNIVERSITY OF HELSINKI Tiedekunta/Osasto ⎯ Fakultet/Sektion ⎯ Faculty Laitos ⎯ Institution ⎯ Department Maatalous-Metsätieteellinen tiedekunta Metsäekonomian laitos Tekijä ⎯ Författare ⎯ Author Vanhatalo, Anna Maria Työn nimi ⎯ Arbetets titel ⎯ Title Kansallispuistojen kävijämääriin vaikuttavat tekijät Suomessa Oppiaine ⎯Läroämne ⎯ Subject Kansantaloudellinen metsäekonomia Työn laji ⎯ Arbetets art ⎯ Level Aika ⎯ Datum ⎯ Month and year Sivumäärä ⎯ Sidoantal ⎯ Number Pro gradu -tutkielma Joulukuu 2009 of pages 62 + liitteet Tiivistelmä ⎯ Referat ⎯ Abstract Luonnon virkistyskäyttö ja luontomatkailu ovat lisääntyneet viimeisen kymmenen vuoden aikana. Lisäksi kiinnostus kansallispuistoja kohtaan on kasvanut, mikä voi- daan nähdä myös käyntimäärien kasvuna. Tämän tutkimuksen tavoitteena on selittää kansallispuistojen ja valtion retkeilyalu- eiden käyntimäärien poikkileikkausvaihtelua sekä tutkia kansallispuistojen käynti- määrien kasvua. Näitä kysymyksiä tutkitaan kansallispuistojen ja valtion retkeily- alueiden kohdalla erikseen, koska käyntimäärien kehitys ei ole ollut samansuun- taista. Tutkimuksessa tarkastellaan erikseen myös Pohjois-Suomen ja Etelä-Suomen puistoja. Pohjoisen puistot ovat isompia ja ne sijaitsevat usein lähellä suuria hiihto- keskuksia. Selittävät tekijät on jaettu tarjontapuolen tekijöihin (puiston sisäiset/ulkoiset palve- lut) ja kysyntäpuolen tekijöihin (taloudelliset ja väestötieteelliset). Aineisto on pa- neeliaineisto, joka sisältää kaikki kansallispuistot ja valtion retkeilyalueet vuosina 2000−2008. Regressioanalyysissa käytetään ns. Fixed Effects -mallia. Tulokset osoittivat, että puiston pinta-ala, puiston tarjoamat sisäiset palvelut ja vä- estön määrä vaikuttivat positiivisesti käyntimääriin, kun taas tuloilla henkilöä koh- den oli negatiivinen vaikutus. Etelä-Suomessa 65−74 -vuotiaiden ikäluokan koko vaikutti positiivisesti käyntimääriin, kun taas bensiinin hintatason vaikutus oli negatiivinen. Käytetty ajanjakso oli liian lyhyt, jotta se olisi selittänyt käyntimäärien ajallisen kehityksen. Saadut tulokset selittivät enemmän puistojen välistä vaihtelua. Tuloksia voidaan käyttää kansallispuistoihin ja retkeilyalueisiin liittyvässä suunnit- telussa. Avainsanat ⎯ Nyckelord ⎯ Keywords Kansallispuistot, paneeliaineisto, kiinteiden vaikutusten malli Säilytyspaikka ⎯ Förvaringsställe ⎯ Where deposited Metsäekonomian laitos, Viikin tiedekirjasto Muita tietoja ⎯ Övriga uppgifter ⎯ Further information ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This Master's thesis was carried out at the Finnish Forest Research Institute METLA as part of the project "The Future of the Finnish Forest Sector" financed by the Metsämiesten Säätiö Foundation. At first, I thank my supervisor Professor Jussi Uusivuori for his valuable advice and for the time he put to my work. I also express my gratitude to other people at Metla, especially Tuija Sievänen, Marjo Neuvonen and Jarmo Mikkola, who contributed to the work and gave helpful comments throughout the process. Furthermore, I thank Professor Jari Kuuluvainen for his constructive and encouraging comments as well as for all the things that I have learned from him during my studies. Metsähallitus provided essential parts of the data and thereby made this study possible. I especially thank Liisa Kajala, Matti Mäntynen and Eero Kakkuri for good collaboration. I want to extend my gratitude to my parents, my grandparents and to my friends who have supported me during my studies. I also thank Riitta for her comments. I express my special gratitude to Kari. Thank you for your encouragement and faith in me. Helsinki, 18 December 2009 Anna Vanhatalo Contents 1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................... 1 1.1 OUTDOOR RECREATION IN FINLAND.................................................................... 1 1.2 NATIONAL PARKS AND NATIONAL HIKING AREAS ................................................ 2 1.3 VISITOR COUNTING AND VISITOR SURVEYS IN FINLAND ...................................... 4 1.4 AIMS OF THE STUDY ............................................................................................ 6 2 PREVIOUS LITERATURE................................................................................... 8 2.1 EARLIER STUDIES ABROAD .................................................................................. 8 2.2 EARLIER STUDIES IN FINLAND ........................................................................... 10 3 THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS AND THE APPROACH OF THE STUDY ...................................................................................................................... 13 3.1 THEORETICAL CONSIDERATIONS ....................................................................... 13 3.2 MODELING APPROACH OF THE STUDY ............................................................... 20 3.3 PANEL DATA...................................................................................................... 21 3.4 PANEL DATA MODELS........................................................................................ 22 3.4.1 Fixed effects models .................................................................................. 22 3.4.2 Random effects model ............................................................................... 25 4 DATA ..................................................................................................................... 27 4.1 DATA COLLECTION............................................................................................ 27 4.2 VARIABLES........................................................................................................ 30 4.3 DESCRIPTIVE ANALYSIS OF THE DATA ............................................................... 32 5 EMPIRICAL RESULTS ...................................................................................... 43 5.1 DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF THE VARIABLES ................................. 43 5.2 RESULTS OF THE MODEL EXPLAINING THE NUMBER OF VISITS ........................... 44 5.3 MODEL WITH NATIONAL PARK-HIKING AREA -CLASSIFICATION......................... 47 5.4 MODEL WITH NORTH-SOUTH -CLASSIFICATION ................................................. 48 6 REVIEW AND RELIABILITY OF THE RESULTS ....................................... 50 6.1 REVIEW OF THE RESULTS................................................................................... 50 6.2 RELIABILITY OF THE RESULTS ..........................................................................
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