Australian visitors to us national parks and natural areas

International tourism has become a major export

industry in the USA and plays an important role in

helping to reduce America’s foreign trade deficit.

According to the USA Travel and Tourism

Administration (USTTA), foreign arrivals comprised

more than 45 million inbound visitors to the USA in 1992,

representing a 7 per cent increase over 1991 and

capturing a 9.4 per cent share of the 460 million

worldwide international arrivals[1]. These foreign

visitors spent $59 billion in the USA in 1991, the USA

registering a travel surplus; this represents a 16 per cent

share of international tourism receipts.

Among tourism-generating countries, the expected

fastest-growing markets for international visits to the

USA are South Korea, Taiwan, Sweden, Australia, and

Mexico[2]. In 1989, Australian visitors comprised 415,000

of the international visitor arrivals to the USA. This was

an increase of 23 per cent over the previous year and

ranked in the top 13 of major tourist-generating countries

to the USA. Today, Australian visitors comprise 476,000

of the international visitor arrivals to the USA, and rank

in the top ten of major tourist-generating countries to the

USA. International tourism is growing as an industry, not

only in the USA, but throughout the world[2,3].

International Tourism and National Parks

The fame of many national parks and natural areas of the

USA is a powerful magnet to overseas visitors and is a

major export earner. Where national parks and natural

areas provide recreational opportunities close to cities, or

where they preserve unusually spectacular scenery, the

benefits are clear. In addition, national parks have

substantial international economic implications arising

principally from the tourism they generate[4]. Wilderness

areas and areas of natural beauty constitute an important

part of the tourist industry. As early as 1963, the Outdoor

Recreation Resources Review Commission[5] indicated

that visiting America’s national parks is one of the most

important reasons for foreign travel to the USA.

Evidence suggests that demand for outdoor recreation as

part of the inbound-tourism/travel industry on publicly

owned parks and natural areas is likely to increase in the

coming years[6-9]. From a marketing perspective, in order

to offer international tourists opportunities for a quality

experience, it is extremely important for international

tourism marketers to understand the travel behaviour of

international visitors. Awareness of visitors’ motivation,

their expectation of national parks and the sources of

information used for their trip represents a critical

component of any future promotional action[10].

Although national parks and natural areas are an

important part of the total attractions available to

international visitors in the USA, the importance of those

visitors has generally been overlooked when considering

recreation on public lands. Owing to the lack of

documented data on international tourism on public

lands, the measures necessary to understand and

influence international visitors’ use patterns has not been

well established in the USA[10].

Very few studies have focused on national parks and

natural areas on an international tourism basis. One of

these studies is the Public Area Recreation Survey

(PARS) of 1985-1986. The survey involved on-site

interviews with visitors completing visits to federal and

state areas[6]. That study provides some general

descriptive information about international visitors. The

18 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT 6,3

It is extremely important for international

tourism marketers to understand the travel

behaviour of international visitors.

Australian

Visitors to US

National Parks

and Natural

Areas

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management,

Vol. 6 No. 3, 1994, pp. 18-24 © MCB University Press Limited, 0959-6119

Muzaffer Uysal, Cary D. McDonald

and Bonnie S. Martin

The authors would like to acknowledge the research co￾operation and assistance of Tourism Canada and thank Ming￾Chu Pan, Clemson University, for help on data analysis for this

study.

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