Accuracy of estimated number of visitors gained through different monitoring methods and its implications on economic analysis
Abstract
The use of visitor monitoring techniques for estimation of numbers of visits and for determination of the visitor profile in protected areas is becoming widespread in almost all European countries. The form, time and geographical scale of visitor monitoring, as well as the way of aggregation of the visitor data vary significantly from country to country, and frequently also among protected sites within one country.
The differences are mostly driven by the diverse priorities and needs of the management of these areas and also by the budget available for visitor monitoring. However, since the portfolio of methods is large and expands dynamically, the choice of a specific method of monitoring may be affected also by the limited knowledge of managers on strengths and drawbacks of particular monitoring methods, some of which are necessarily context-specific.