World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument socioeconomic monitoring pilot implementation: Summer 2016

Resource Systems Group (RSG)

This report describes the results of a visitor study at World War II (WWII) Valor in the Pacific National Monument (NM) conducted from July 29 through August 7, 2016. During the sampling period, 1,327 visitor groups were contacted to participate in the survey. Of those groups, 880 agreed to participate in the study by accepting a mail-back survey packet. Questionnaires were completed and returned by 353 visitor groups, resulting in a completion rate of 40% among those visitor groups that agreed to participate in the study and an overall response rate of 27% for the study. This report profiles a systematic random sample of WWII Valor in the Pacific NM 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). Thirty-two percent of visitor groups were groups of two, and 29% of visitor groups were groups of five or more members. A majority of visitor groups (72%) identified as groups of family. Eleven percent of visitor were 65 years old or older, 14% of visitors were 55 to 64 years old, 32% of visitor were 35 to 54 years old, 21% of visitors were 18 to 34 years old, and 22% of visitors were under 18 years old. Hispanic or Latino visitors comprised 12% of visitation during the survey period. Most visitors (83%) were white. Fewer visitors were Asian (11%), American Indian or Alaska Native (3%), Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander (2%), or Black or African American (1%). Nearly all visitor groups preferred to speak (97%) and read (97%) English when visiting an area such as WWII Valor in the Pacific NM. Individuals from the United States comprised 80% of total visitation during the survey period. At the state level, 22% of visitors were from California, 7% of visitors were from Texas, 7% of visitors were from Hawai‘i, and smaller proportions of visitors were from 42 other states. International visitors comprised 20% of total visitation with 28% of international visitors from Australia, 24% from Canada, 15% from the United Kingdom, and smaller proportions of visitors from 13 other countries. Ninety-one percent of visitors indicated having visited the park only once during the last 12 months. Forty-three percent of visitors indicated that they had not visited another National Park Service (NPS) site within the past 12 months, while 21% indicated that they had visited one other NPS site and 21% indicated that they had visited other NPS sites three or more times in the past 12 months. Ninety-five percent of visitor groups obtained information about WWII Valor in the Pacific NM prior to this trip. The most commonly reported information sources used were the park website (45%), friends/relatives/word of mouth (43%), previous visits (27%), and travel guides/tour books (23%). The vast majority (93%) of visitor groups had the information they needed about WWII Valor in the Pacific NM for their trip. Sixty-eight percent of visitor groups used a car, truck, or SUV to get from their home to the park and 65% of visitor groups used an airplane. Forty-five percent of visitor groups spent seven to 12 hours traveling from their home to the park. Thirty percent of visitor groups traveled up to 1,000 miles from their home to get to the park. Eighty-three percent of visitor groups indicated that visiting WWII Valor in the Pacific NM was one of several equally important destinations on their trip away from home. The most important reasons for visitors to visit WWII Valor in the Pacific NM included to learn more about American history/culture (90% of visitor groups), to pay respects (84% of visitor groups), and to spend time with friends/family (67% of visitor groups). Sixty percent of visitor groups reported that visiting a cultural or historic site was their primary activity. Twelve percent of visitor groups reported having no primary activity.

World War II Valor in the Pacific National Monument socioeconomic monitoring pilot implementation: Summer 2016

Series

Collections