Factors affecting the number of visitors in national parks in the Czech Republic, Germany and Austria

Abstract

In the context of national-level strategies, the importance of tourism in national parks is on the rise. The objective of this study is to investigate the relationship between the number of visitors to national parks and five variables: area, number of employees, budget, average employee salary and number of researchers in 12 national parks in the Czech Republic, Germany and Austria. Analysis of factors influencing the number of visitors to national parks uses the method of retrospective analysis of the data contained in internal documents and questionnaires among managers of national parks. The number of candidate predictors is relatively high when compared with the number of observations. Due to this fact, the Gilmour method for statistical analysis is used. Statistical results represented by the parameter β2 for number of employees is -33,016 (95% CI, -50,592-15,441) and by the parameter β3 for budget is 0.586 (95% CI, 0.295-0.878), showing that the number of visitors increases with budget, while it decreases with the number of employees. The results of this study are a useful starting point for managers in their efforts to focus on developing key areas in an appropriate way. In conclusion, results show that increasing the economic benefits accruing from national parks regional policy could aim at a qualitative upgrading of tourist services, increased marketing of the unique national park label and the promotion of a diverse regional supply base.