Developing a Visitor Satisfaction Monitoring Methodology: Quality Gaps, Crowding and Some Results

This paper initially reviews the literature relating to the quality of service and visitor experiences that is based upon studies of (1) marketing and (2) natural environment visitor behaviours. It then reports findings derived from a study of changing questionnaire constructions in order to arrive at a simple questionnaire format that could be incorporated into a visitor information system, the purpose of which was to monitor the levels of satisfaction being expressed by visitors. Unfortunately data collection was bedevilled by poor weather in remote locations which reduced sample sizes, but nonetheless the paper is thought useful in reporting results that will aid others working in this field, if only by identifying issues that need to be considered by researchers designing questionnaires.