Alcatraz Island socioeconomic monitoring pilot implementation: Summer 2016

Resource Systems Group, Incorporated (RSG)

This report describes the results of a visitor study at Alcatraz Island conducted from June 17 through June 26, 2016, in conjunction with a parkwide visitor study at Golden Gate National Recreation Area (NRA). During the sampling period, 1,330 visitor groups at Alcatraz Island were contacted to participate in the survey. Of those groups, 815 agreed to participate in the study by accepting a mail-back survey packet. Questionnaires were completed and returned by 298 visitor groups, resulting in a completion rate of 36% among those visitor groups that agreed to participate in the study and an overall response rate of 22%. A non-response bias check used five, pre-selected non-response bias questions and one observable characteristic of the contacted visitor to compare respondents with non-respondents. The results of the analysis suggest respondents and non-respondents differed significantly with respect to visitor group type. Specifically, respondents were more likely than non-respondents to have visited with family, while non-respondents were more likely than respondents to have visited with friends. Statistical tests of group type effects on key questions in the SEM survey instrument were performed, with differences found for just one of 68 questions. This report profiles a systematic random sample of Alcatraz Island visitors. Most of the results are presented in graphs and frequency tables. Summaries of visitor comments are included in the body of the report. Verbatim comments are included in the Visitor Comment Appendix (bound separately). Forty-one percent (41%) of visitor groups had two members, and 41% of visitor groups were groups of four or more. The majority of visitor groups (73%) identified as groups of family. Five percent (5%) of visitors were 65 years old or older, 16% of visitors were 55 to 64 years old, 36% of visitors were 35 to 54 years old, 24% of visitors were 18 to 34 years old, and 22% of visitors were under 18 years old. Hispanic or Latino visitors comprised 10% of visitation during the survey period. Most visitors (91%) were white. Fewer visitors were Asian (5%), American Indian or Alaska Native (2%), Black or African American (1%), or Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander (<1%). Nearly all visitor groups preferred to speak (96%) and read (95%) English when visiting an area such as Golden Gate NRA. Individuals from the United States comprised 65% of total visitation during the survey period. At the state level, 24% of visitors were from California, and smaller proportions of visitors were from 35 other states. International visitors comprised 35% of total visitation with 29% of international visitors from the United Kingdom, 15% from Australia, 13% from Sweden, and smaller proportions of visitors from 18 other countries. Eighty-seven (87%) percent of visitors indicated having visited the park only once during the last 12 months. Thirty-two (32%) percent of visitors indicated that they had not visited another National Park Service (NPS) site within the past 12 months and 25% indicated that they had visited another NPS site once in the past 12 months. Eighty-nine percent (89%) of visitor groups obtained information about Golden Gate NRA prior to this trip. The most commonly reported information sources used were friends/relatives/word of mouth (43%), and the park website (41%). The vast majority (98%) of visitor groups had the information they needed about Golden Gate NRA for their trip. Sixty-seven percent (67%) of visitor groups used a car, truck, or SUV to get from their home to the park, 65% traveled on an airplane and 64% of visitor groups used water-based transportation. Forty-five percent (45%) of visitor groups spent up to six hours traveling from their home to the park. Forty-one percent (41%) of visitor groups traveled 1,001 to 3,000 miles from their home to get to the park.

Alcatraz Island socioeconomic monitoring pilot implementation: Summer 2016

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