Community and Visitor Benefits Associated with the Otago Central Rail Trail, New Zealand
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Community and visitor benefits associated with the Otago Central Rail Trail, New Zealand A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Parks, Recreation and Tourism Management at Lincoln University by Dean Blackwell Lincoln University 2002 Abstract of a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree ofM.P.R.& T.M. Community and visitor benefits associated with the Otago Central Rail Trail, New Zealand By Dean Blackwell Outdoor recreation and heritage resources have the potential to provide a wide range of benefits to individuals, groups of individuals and the economy. An increased knowledge of these benefits can give recreation managers and planners a better understanding of how their actions and decisions regarding a resource may impact upon the visitors and communities that they serve. Placed within a climate of increasing public sector accountability, this information might also prove useful in justifying the allocation of scarce resources to recreation and heritage preservation. Justifying the value that recreation adds to society is an issue recognised by Benefits Based Management (BBM), a recreation management and planning framework that seeks to identify and target the positive outcomes realised by individuals, groups, local businesses and communities that result from participation in recreation and leisure. To date, recreation planners and managers have not been presented with a BBM research effort that seeks to describe and understand the visitor and community benefits associated with a rail to trail conversion. This study aimed to identify and describe benefits gained by visitors and neighbouring communities, with specific reference to the Otago Central Rail Trail (OCRT), Central Otago, New Zealand. Information was gathered from seventy-seven semi-structured interviews with visiting users of the OCRT, residents of neighbouring communities and trail managers. The results of the study indicated that community stakeholders reported benefits such as local economic development linked to visitor expenditure, heightened sense of community identity and solidarity and social contact with people from outside the local area. An additional finding was that the perceived benefits of the OCRT have reportedly had a positive influence on local people's attitudes towards the rail trail. 11 Visitor interviews revealed that personal and social well-being benefits such as physical activity, aesthetic appreciation, sense of achievement, psychological refreshment, family togetherness and social interaction with friends and local people were outcomes of an OCRT visit. Reported visitor benefits were further linked to physical fitness and health, enhanced mood and positive mental state, leading a balanced lifestyle and stronger relationships within families and between friends. Visitors also perceived that an OCRT visit had forged a greater knowledge and awareness of railway heritage through gaining insight into railway and Central Otago history and appreciation of the engineering skills and craftsmanship associated with 19th century railway construction. Following the benefit chain of causality (Driver, 1994; Driver & Bruns, 1999; McIntosh, 1999), interview responses were linked to potential community and visitor benefits that could be realised off-site such as enhanced quality of life, community satisfaction and a greater connection with and appreciation of New Zealand's historic and cultural heritage. Key Words: community and visitor perspectives, Benefits Based Management (BBM), the Otago Central Rail Trail, recreation planning and management, heritage preservation. 111 Acknowledgements Many people have supported the author in the preparation and completion of this thesis. I would like to specifically thank the following people: Most importantly, my wife Julie, the greatest friend I have. Staff and colleagues within the Human Sciences Division, in particular, the supervisors of this thesis, Alison McIntosh and Stephen Espiner. The Tuesday night mountain bike crew whose listening and feedback was invaluable. The Hillary commission for providing financial assistance through the Community Recreation Research Award and Owen Graham from the Otago Conservancy of the Department of Conservation for the interest he showed in this project. Finally, I would like to thank the local people from Central Otago and the trail visitors who took time out of their lives to participate in this research. Thankyou. lV Table of Contents Abstract ..................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................. iv Table of Contents ...................................................................................................................... v List of Tables ........................................................................................................................... vii List of Figures ......................................................................................................................... vii List of Plates ........................................................................................................................... viii Chapter One Introduction 1.1 Benefits of Rail Trails .......................................................................................................... 1 1.2 Research Aim and Objectives .............................................................................................. 4 1.3 The Contribution/Value of this Research ............................................................................. 4 1.4 Thesis Outline ....................................................................................................................... 4 Chapter Two Literature Review 2.1 Hierarchical Models of Recreation Benefits ........................................................................ 6 2.2 Visitor and Community Perspectives ................................................................................. 15 2.2.1 Visitor perspectives ................................................................................................ 15 2.2.2 Community perspectives ........................................................................................ 19 2.3 Chapter Summary ............................................................................................................... 23 Chapter Three Methods 3.1 The Study Setting ............................................................................................................... 25 3.2 The Research Approach ..................................................................................................... 34 3.3 Data Gathering .................................................................................................................... 36 3.3.1 Sample selection .................................................................................................... 36 3.3.2 The community sample .......................................................................................... 37 3.3.3 The OCRT visitor sample ...................................................................................... 39 3.3.4 The OCRT visitor sample description ................................................................... 40 3.4 Semi-structured Interviews ................................................................................................. 41 3.4.1 The community and trail manager interview ......................................................... 42 3.4.2 The visitor interview .............................................................................................. 43 3.5 Data Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 43 3.6 Ethical Considerations ........................................................................................................ 44 3.7 Chapter Summary ............................................................................................................... 45 v Chapter Four Community Benefits 4.1 Economic Development ..................................................................................................... 47 4.2 Community Identity and Solidarity .................................................................................... 56 4.3 Social Interaction ................................................................................................................ 65 4.4 Personal Well-being Benefits ............................................................................................. 69 4.5 The Benefit of Positive Attitude Change - A Link Between Themes ............................... 73 4.6 Chapter Summary ............................................................................................................... 78 Chapter Five Visitor Benefits 5.1 Personal and Social Well-being Benefits ........................................................................... 81 5.1.1 Physical activity ...................................................................................................... 82 5.1.2 Aesthetic appreciation ............................................................................................ 84 5.1.3 Sense of achievement ...............................................................