Biscayne National Park socioeconomic monitoring pilot implementation: Summer 2016

Resource Systems Group (RSG)

• This report describes the results of a visitor study at Biscayne National Park (NP) conducted from July 1 through July 10, 2016. During the sampling period, 1,128 visitor groups were contacted to participate in the survey. Of those groups, 755 agreed to participate in the study by accepting a mail-back survey packet. Questionnaires were completed and returned by 248 visitor groups, resulting in a completion rate of 33% among those visitor groups that agreed to participate in the study and an overall response rate of 22% for the study. • This report profiles a systematic sample of Biscayne NP visitors. The results present a ‘snapshot-in-time’ and do not necessarily apply to visitor groups during other times of the year. Namely, per the experience of park staff, local Miami-Dade County and south Florida residents constitute the majority of visitation to the park in the summer months, compared to increased visitation from national and international visitors during the winter months. • 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). • Sixty percent of visitor groups had three or more members and 34% of visitor groups were groups of two. The majority (56%) of visitor groups identified groups of family. • Only 7% of visitors were 65 years old or older. Fifteen percent of visitors were 55 to 64 years old, 33% of visitors were 35 to 54 years old, 23% of visitors were 18 to 34 years old, and 22% of visitors were under 18 years old. • Most visitors (95%) were white. More than half (52%) of visitors identified themselves as Hispanic or Latino. Few visitors were Asian (3%), American Indian or Alaska Native (<1%), black or African American (2%), or Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander (<1%). • Most visitor groups preferred to speak (89%) and read (92%) English when visiting an area such as Biscayne NP. • Individuals from the United States comprised 96% of total visitation during the survey period. At the state level, 74% of visitors were from the state of Florida and less than 10% came from Georgia, Texas, and New Jersey. International visitors comprised 3% of total visitation and less than 30 visitors. Of international visitors, 23% were from Germany, 15% were from Canada, 15% were from Scotland, and 15% were from Venezuela. • Forty-four percent of visitors indicated that they had visited Biscayne NP five times or more in the last 12 months, while 33% had only visited the park once during the last 12 months. Thirty percent of visitors indicated that they had not visited another National Park Service site within the past 12 months. • Eighty-seven percent of visitor groups obtained information about Biscayne NP prior to this trip. The most commonly reported information sources used were previous visits (55%), the park website (21%), and friends/relatives/word of mouth (21%). The majority (96%) of visitor groups had the information they needed about Biscayne NP for their trip. • Ninety-eight percent of visitor groups used a car, truck, or SUV to get from their home to the park, and 14% reported utilizing water-based transportation (note, respondents could have checked more than one form of transportation). Sixty-nine percent of visitor groups spent up to 1 hour traveling from their home to the park. About half of visitor groups (47%) traveled up to 10 miles from their home to get to the park, while 20% of visitor groups traveled more than 50 miles from their home to get to the park. • Sixty-four percent of visitor groups indicated that visiting Biscayne NP was the primary or sole purpose of their trip away from home. About one-quarter of visitor groups (26%) indicated that visiting Biscayne NP was one of several equally important destinations.

Biscayne National Park socioeconomic monitoring pilot implementation: Summer 2016

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