San Juan Islands Visitor Study
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San Juan Islands Visitor Study Doug Whittaker, Bo Shelby, and Dan Shelby Confluence Research and Consulting for Terrestrial Managers Group June 2018 San Juan Islands Visitor Study Prepared by Doug Whittaker, Bo Shelby, and Dan Shelby Confluence Research and Consulting for San Juan County Parks, Recreation, and Fair Land Bank and San Juan Island National Historical Park National Park Service in cooperation with the San Juan Islands Terrestrial Managers Group Funded by San Juan County and National Park Service June 2018 Table of contents Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 1 Study process ............................................................................................................................................ 2 Organization of this document ............................................................................................................. 2 Methods Summary ........................................................................................................................................ 3 Visitation analysis...................................................................................................................................... 3 Counts and observations .......................................................................................................................... 4 Accommodation inventory ....................................................................................................................... 6 Onsite survey ............................................................................................................................................ 7 Ferry survey............................................................................................................................................... 9 Findings ....................................................................................................................................................... 11 Getting to the islands .............................................................................................................................. 11 Washington State Ferry visitation (from WSF) ................................................................................... 11 Other passenger ferries ...................................................................................................................... 24 Cruise ships ......................................................................................................................................... 24 Airline visitation .................................................................................................................................. 25 Private boat visitation ......................................................................................................................... 26 Total visitation from all sources .......................................................................................................... 28 Visitor characteristics .............................................................................................................................. 30 Which islands do they visit? (from onsite and ferry survey) .............................................................. 30 Number of days on each island ........................................................................................................... 32 Getting to attraction sites (from onsite survey) ................................................................................. 33 Proportion of visitors & residents at attraction sites (from onsite survey) ........................................ 34 Length of visit ...................................................................................................................................... 35 Group size ........................................................................................................................................... 37 Where do visitors live? ........................................................................................................................ 38 Previous visitation to the San Juan Islands (from ferry survey) .......................................................... 39 Recreation participation during their visit (from ferry survey) .......................................................... 40 Recreation participation differences between islands (from ferry survey) ........................................ 41 Resident characteristics (from both surveys) ......................................................................................... 42 Which island do residents live on? (from onsite survey) .................................................................... 42 Months per year living on the island (from both surveys) ................................................................. 42 Years living on the islands (from both surveys) .................................................................................. 43 Frequency of site visits (from onsite surveys) .................................................................................... 43 Number of trips to mainland per year (from ferry survey) ................................................................. 44 Reasons for visiting (from ferry survey) .................................................................................................. 45 Reasons for visiting: Differences between islands .............................................................................. 47 Reasons for living in the San Juans ..................................................................................................... 48 Where do they stay? An accommodation inventory ............................................................................. 49 Range of typical tourist accommodations .......................................................................................... 49 Total accommodations by type ........................................................................................................... 50 Proportion of accommodations with different amenities .................................................................. 51 Understanding vacation rentals – Overview of San Juan County housing stock ................................ 52 Vacation rentals – Estimating numbers and their characteristics ...................................................... 54 Estimating vacation rental characteristics .......................................................................................... 54 Accommodation inventory – Total units across all types ................................................................... 56 Accommodation inventory – Total people across all types ................................................................ 57 Reported accommodation: Ferry survey ............................................................................................ 58 Reported accommodation amenities (from ferry visitors) ................................................................. 59 Does accommodation capacity constrain overall visitation? ............................................................. 60 Where do visitors go? ............................................................................................................................. 61 Number of recreation sites visited (from ferry survey) ...................................................................... 61 Reported sites visited (from ferry survey) .......................................................................................... 62 Use levels at attraction sites by island (from counts/observations) .................................................. 66 Visitation at sites (from traffic counters) ............................................................................................ 73 Visitation information from other sources ......................................................................................... 74 Crowding ................................................................................................................................................. 80 Overall reported crowding (from ferry survey) .................................................................................. 81 Feeling crowded – differences between islands (from ferry survey) ................................................. 82 Crowding at attraction sites (from onsite survey) .............................................................................. 83 Comparing crowding San Juan Islands to other tourism destinations ............................................... 85 Coping with crowding and congestion ................................................................................................ 87 Evaluating conditions and facilities at attraction sites (from onsite survey) .......................................... 88 Evaluating use densities at beaches and marine viewing areas (from ferry survey) .............................. 89 Beach density evaluations .................................................................................................................. 90 Marine viewing area densities ............................................................................................................ 92 Support for management actions (from ferry survey) ..........................................................................