Understanding Regional Park Visitation Habits of a Culturally Diverse Community

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Understanding Regional Park Visitation Habits of
a Culturally Diverse Community

• Ed Souza, CPRP
• Santa Clara County Parks
• Graduate Student- SJSU
• Dr. Gonzaga da Gama
• San Jose State University

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Presentation Goals

• The benefits of outdoor recreation

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Presentation Goals

• The benefits of outdoor recreation
• A changing culturally diverse community

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Presentation Goals

• The benefits of outdoor recreation
• A changing culturally diverse community
• Current research on the topic

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Presentation Goals

• The benefits of outdoor recreation
• A changing culturally diverse community
• Current research on the topic
• Gaps in the research and possible future research
  

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Presentation Goals

• The benefits of outdoor recreation
• A changing culturally diverse community
• Current research on the topic
• Gaps in the research and possible future research
  studies
• What can PR Professionals do?

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Presentation Goals

• The benefits of outdoor recreation
• A changing culturally diverse community
• Current research on the topic
• Gaps in the research and possible future research
  studies
• What can PR Professionals do?
• Whats next for PR Professionals?

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Benefits of Outdoor Recreation

• Outdoor Recreation has been linked to
• General well-being of the community

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Benefits of Outdoor Recreation

• Outdoor Recreation has been linked to
• General well-being of the community
• Individuals learn new skills

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Benefits of Outdoor Recreation

• Outdoor Recreation has been linked to
• General well-being of the community
• Individuals learn new skills
• Development of new relationships

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Benefits of Outdoor Recreation

• Outdoor Recreation has been linked to
• General well-being of the community
• Individuals learn new skills
• Development of new relationships
• Builds family and community

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Benefits of Outdoor Recreation

• Outdoor Recreation has been linked to
• General well-being of the community
• Individuals learn new skills
• Development of new relationships
• Builds family and community
• Exposes people to natural resources

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Benefits of Outdoor Recreation

• Outdoor Recreation has been linked to
• General well-being of the community
• Individuals learn new skills
• Development of new relationships
• Builds family and community
• Exposes people to natural resources
• Bolsters local economies
• Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (2000)

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Ethnic Trends in Santa Clara County
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A Changing Ethnic Landscape

• Population changes in California by the year
  2020
• 58 increase in Hispanics
• 55 increase in Asians/ Pacific Islanders
• 29 increase in Native Americans
• 20 increase in African Americans
• 4 decrease in persons of European descent
• California State Parks (2006)

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A Changing Ethnic Landscape

• More than a third of all Asians and nearly a
  third of all Hispanics will live in California.
  By 2030, the Hispanic population will reach 43
  and Spanish has the potential of being spoken in
  nearly half of California households.
• California State Parks (2006)

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Racial and Ethnic Groups Underrepresented as
Visitors to Parks

• although the ethnic and racial make-up of the
  American population is fast growing,
  African-American and Latino visitors are
  effectively absent from major parks (p. 20).
• Goldsmith (1994)

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Constraints to Visitation

• Marginality- the lack of socio-economic resources
  and historical discrimination limit park
  visitation
• Subcultural- visitation patterns reflect
  differences in values, norms and socialization
  patterns
• Assimilation- park use reflects an acquisition of
  the dominant culture
• Discrimination- park visitation is affected by
  perceived, actual, or institutional
  discrimination
• Floyd (1999)

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Studied Groups

• Early research focused on outdoor
  recreational behavior differences between
  African-Americans and whites. More recently,
  researchers have studied a greater racial, ethnic
  and culturally diverse sampling of communities.

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Whats the NPS finding out?
Rodriguez, Bright Roberts (2004)

• Constraints facing Latinos and African-Americans
  go beyond ethnicity- social and economic
  considerations need to be made.

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Whats the NPS finding out?
Rodriguez, Bright Roberts (2004)

• Constraints facing Latinos and African-Americans
  go beyond ethnicity- social and economic
  considerations need to be made.
• Need to understand the residual affects of
  discrimination as it relates to perceptions and
  experiences of discrimination in the outdoors.

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Whats the NPS finding out?
Rodriguez, Bright Roberts (2004)

• Constraints facing Latinos and African-Americans
  go beyond ethnicity- social and economic
  considerations need to be made.
• Need to understand the residual affects of
  discrimination as it relates to perceptions and
  experiences of discrimination in the outdoors.
• There is a perception that national parks are an
  exclusive club for middle-upper class white
  people and not welcoming to minorities.

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Whats the NPS finding out?
Rodriguez, Bright Roberts (2004)

• Constraints facing Latinos and African-Americans
  go beyond ethnicity- social and economic
  considerations need to be made.
• Need to understand the residual affects of
  discrimination as it relates to perceptions and
  experiences of discrimination in the outdoors.
• There is a perception that national parks are an
  exclusive club for middle-upper class white
  people and not welcoming to minorities.
• Perception of institutional discrimination.

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Whats SCCO Parks Finding?
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Whats SCCO Parks Finding?
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Whats SCCO Parks Finding?
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Whats SCCO Parks Finding?
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Communicating About Parks

• Asian groups studied relied heavily upon
  ethnic media sources, both print and broadcast,
  to receive information about recreational
  opportunities
• Winters, Jeong and Godbey (2004)

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Park Preferences Within Racial Groups

• Use patterns and preferences varied within
  racial groups as well as between them.
• Gobster (2002)

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Challenges to Studying Racial Groups

• Some groups may experience entirely different
  types of constraints and the normal assumptions
  of constraints believed to hold for one racial or
  ethnic population may require modifications
  before they can be successfully applied to other
  minority populations.
• Rodriguez, Bright Roberts (2004)

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Gaps in the Research/future Study

• Understanding of immigrants and their convergence
  into the mainstream with cultural assimilation

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Gaps in the Research/future Study

• Understanding of immigrants and their convergence
  into the mainstream with cultural assimilation
• Study of groups within groups

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Gaps in the Research/future Study

• Understanding of immigrants and their convergence
  into the mainstream with cultural assimilation
• Study of groups within groups
• Park use preferences as it relates to age and
  gender differences of ethnic and racial
  communities

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What can PR Professionals do?

• Ask your community

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What can PR Professionals do?

• Ask your community
• Surveys

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What can PR Professionals do?

• Ask your community
• Surveys
• Focus Groups

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What can PR Professionals do?

• Ask your community
• Surveys
• Focus Groups
• Customer Comment Cards

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What can PR Professionals do?

• Ask your community
• Surveys
• Focus Groups
• Customer Comment Cards
• Diversity training for your staff

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What can PR Professionals do?

• Ask your community
• Surveys
• Focus Groups
• Customer Comment Cards
• Diversity training for your staff
• Recruit a diverse workforce

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What can PR Professionals do?

• Ask your community
• Surveys
• Focus Groups
• Customer Comment Cards
• Diversity training for your staff
• Recruit a divers workforce
• Communicate to your customers in their native
  language

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What can PR Professionals do?

• Learn about your communitys attitudes,
  perceptions and experiences of discrimination
  regarding your parks

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Whats Next for PR Professionals?

• Parks and recreation professionals will be
  increasingly challenged to meet the needs of
  diverse communities

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Whats Next for PR Professionals?

• Parks and recreation professionals will be
  increasingly challenged to meet the needs of
  diverse communities
• How will parks and recreation professionals use
  the data gathered by researchers regarding the
  behavior and habits of a racially and culturally
  diverse community?

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Whats Next for PR Professionals?

• Parks and recreation professionals will be
  increasingly challenged to meet the needs of
  diverse communities
• How will parks and recreation professionals use
  the data gathered by researchers regarding the
  behavior and habits of a racially and culturally
  diverse community?
• What actions, strategies, policies and plans will
  park and recreation professional employ for the
  inclusion and incorporation of a rich racially
  and culturally diverse community into parks?

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Conclusion

• Park professionals need to better understand
  why the parks do not appeal to ethnic minorities
  as much as they do to the traditional white user.
  What are the participation patterns and trends?
  What perceptions exist? What barriers continue to
  impede visitation and enjoyment? Why do national
  parks appeal to internationally diverse people,
  yet have seemingly limited appeal among
  ethnically diverse domestic audiences?
• Roberts and Rodriguez (2001)

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• Questions?

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• Thank You!
• Ed Souza
• ed.souza_at_prk.sccgov.org
• Gonzaga da Gama
• gonzaga_at_casa.sjsu.edu