Leisure Studies Commons^™

Assessment Of User Environmental Perceptions Associated With Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary, Marieke Johanna Lemmen

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Resource management in marine protected areas is confronted with the challenging conflict of use and conservation of resources. Increased visitation in marine environments has led to the need of management due to negative ecological and social impacts. Understanding environmental values, attitudes, and perceptions is important to the success of environmental protection. Using online surveys sent via Qualtrics asking questions regarding the users’ knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of ocean resources, goods and services, this research is focusing on identifying user profiles and understanding their environmental perception associated with Gray’s Reef National Marine Sanctuary, an offshore marine protected area, and surrounding coastal …

Event Tourism, Public Policy And Socio-Cultural Development In Dublin, Bernadette Quinn, Ana Maria Fernandes Dr, Theresa Ryan Dr

Articles

In a highly globalised, competitive world, urban strategies often highlight festivals and events as activities which can attract tourists and investors, extend the tourism season and boost the economy. Event tourism as a term is now well established in the tourism lexicon, however, it is usually employed in quite a limited way that offers only partial insights into a complex phenomenon. To redress this deficit, this paper examines the case of Dublin, where for the last twenty-five years, policy-makers have been using festivals and events to boost the city’s international standing. The aim is to investigate whether policy-makers can strategically …

Hosts And Guests: Surfers' Experiences Of Travel And Tourism In The First Wave Of The Covid-19 Pandemic, Lindsay E. Usher

Human Movement Sciences Faculty Publications

In the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of people experienced travel disruptions and tourism destinations felt the economic sting of low visitor numbers. Using online interviews, this study followed 29 surfers over the course of 6 months to explore their experiences of the pandemic as travelers and hosts within tourism destinations in the US, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Australia, the Caribbean, and Latin America. It examines the effect of the pandemic on their travel plans, travel experiences, and tourism destinations where they lived. Many participants experienced travel disruptions and had to go through different decision-making and behavioral …

Exploring Climate, Wellbeing, Resilience, And Resistance In 2slgbtq+ Leisure Spaces: A Mixed Methods Study To Advance Inclusion, Tin Vo

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

Participating in queer sports groups, rainbow choirs, trans virtual discussion groups and other Two-Spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other sexually and gender diverse (2SLGBTQ+) leisure activities can offer participants safety from societal heterosexism and cisgenderism and opportunities for community connection and peer support, as well as foster their overall wellbeing. Yet, transgender/gender nonconforming (TGNC), racialized, and/or disabled individuals, and those with other diverse identities are often marginalized in these spaces. Though researchers have studied exclusion within 2SLGBTQ+ leisure spaces, relatively little is known about how the climate of these spaces shapes social and mental health outcomes. Connected to …

Mountain Biking Mountaineers: Insights Into The West Virginia Mountain Biking Community, Connor Mullin

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

Mountain biking is one of the most popular recreational activities in the United States. Beyond the increasing popularity of the sport, the technology is also changing, especially in terms of electric mountain biking. This new type of bike blends traditional mountain bikes with electric bikes, creating a potential new group of recreationists. The research on mountain biking, and more specifically electric mountain biking, is limited. The purpose of this study is to examine West Virginian mountain bikers by studying behaviors and motivations. There are no published studies focused on mountain biking in West Virginia, and therefore a need to fill …

An Educational Website To Foster The Participation Of Summer Campers With Disabilities, Abby Vander Laan, Steven M. Gerardi

Fall 2021 Virtual OTD Capstone Symposium

ABSTRACT NEEDED

Reflections On Co-Creating, Developing And Evaluating Virtual Reality Fieldtrips (Vrf): The Student’S Perspective, Catherine Gorman, Jennifer Stewart, Louise Bellew

Conference papers

To ensure graduates have the skill to work within the tourism industry, and spurred on by the paradigm shift in teaching due to Covid 19, this research focused on developing innovative solutions using technology. Using virtual assessment techniques, industry co-created evaluation, and integrated assessment, it explored how virtual field-trips can be developed as part of remote teaching methods. To provide context to the topic of sustainable tourism and technology, a student-led virtual seminar with industry was undertaken linking with TU Dublin Green Week 2021. In place of a fieldtrip using Google Earth and Screen-casto-matic, students created videos incorporating the sustainability …

Residents’ Perceptions Of Small-Scale Rural Events: A Dual Theory Approach, Xu Li

Consumer Sciences Faculty Publications

Previous studies have focused on residents’ perceived impacts on the host communities (perceived impacts at community level), and neglected residents’ perceptions of event impacts on their personal lives (perceived impacts at individual level). Built upon social exchange theory and social representation theory, this study explored how local residents perceived the impacts of small-scale recurring events in a rural area. A total of 208 valid responses were obtained through a self-administrated online survey. Paired sample t-tests and independent samples t-tests were employed to test the hypotheses. The results showed that rural residents perceived greater economic, social and environmental impacts at the …

“You Can’T Hide Behind Being A House”: Examining The Policy Process, Design, And Implementation Of Short-Term Rental Regulations, A Case Study Of Nashville, Tn, Jamie L. Cathey

All Dissertations

Following the economic crash of 2008, the rapid expansion of platform capitalism and the recruitment of others to work for themselves using a company’s platform, has led to a ‘paradigm shift’ in which a sharing economy business model has enabled small entrepreneurial endeavors to become industry giants (Srnricek, 2017). One such platform, Airbnb, has created a new, informal tourism accommodation sector that is bringing with it questions of regulation and community impact. Airbnb regulation thus is a growing national and international trend affecting cities of all sizes and forcing policy response and change at the local government level. Current trends …

An Intergenerational Photo Exploration Of Self Care Actions In Self-Identifying Strong Black Women, Vanessa Patrice Goodar

Dissertations

The current study sought to expand upon the Giscombé Superwoman Schema (2010) specifically exploring the role of vulnerability resistance and help obligation as potential barriers to changing comprehensive self-care health commitments in self-identifying Strong Black Women (SBW). The Superwoman Schema characteristics of vulnerability resistance and help obligation along with socio-economic factors of income, religious affiliation and marital status were assessed in the project using a visual-ethnography approach to Photo Voice methods and five intergenerational focus groups of SBW's born between 1946 and 2002. The collective self-care knowledge of these eighteen participants was analyzed using a participatory action research discussion framework …

Interpreting Summer In The Parks In The National Capital Area Of The National Park Service, Brendan J. Kane

Human Movement Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Washington D.C. has witnessed many watershed events throughout the history of the United States of America. One of these events was the Summer in the Parks (SITP) program organized by the National Park Service (NPS) from 1968-1976. Summer in the Parks was a community-based series of events including concerts, park visits, and exhibitions designed to quell racial tensions and promote park usage. Researchers have begun chronicling SITP, but have yet to explore how the story of SITP is conveyed by park interpreters to visitors and subsequently what themes are shared to inform public understanding of the historic relationship between NPS …

Profiling Food Festivals By Type, Name And Descriptive Content: A Population Level Study, Muhammet Kesgin, Rajendran S. Murthy, Rick Lagiewski

Articles

Purpose: This research aims to classify and describe food festivals and examine the patterns in food festival naming and festival descriptions in online media. Design: This research represents the first population-level empirical examination of food festivals in the United States using a purpose-built dataset (N=2626). Methodology includes text mining to examine food festival communications. Findings: Food festival size varies across local and regional spheres within the country. Food festivals employ geographical (place-, destination-based) associations in their names. Food festivals’ descriptions and online communications showcase a welcoming environment predominantly emphasizing family-oriented and live entertainment experiences. Food festivals across the country show …

Efficacy Of Flotation Aids Attached To The Pelvis And Thighs Of Beginning Swimmers, Yasunori Watanabe, Shin-Ichiro Moriyama, Kohji Wakayoshi

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

The study aimed to experimentally verify the efficacy of wearing flotation aids to add buoyancy from the pelvis to the side of the thigh on the swimming performance of beginning swimmers who were capable of swimming around 25 meters at a time. The study recruited seven male university students who were members of the Physical Education Department and who lacked experience in specialized swimming instruction. The study found statistical difference in prone flotation between the use of flotation aids (7.27±1.92 sec) and without flotation aids (3.50±0.72 sec). During swimming for distance in a 5 min. swim test, we found statistical …

Body Composition Assessment In Masters Level Swimmers, Megan E. Larson, Amy Morgan, Jessica Kiss, Mary-Jon Ludy

International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education

Body composition of collegiate swimmers has been extensively studied; however, there are limited reports of body composition among Masters swimmers. This study compared the accuracy of air displacement plethysmography (ADP) and bioelectrical impedance (BIA) to the gold standard method of underwater weighing (UWW) in Masters level swimmers. The relationship between percent body fat (%BF) and body mass index (BMI) was also assessed. Recruitment (n = 6 females, 11 males) occurred at two Masters swim clubs. Pearson correlation coefficients revealed no significant differences between ADP, BIA, and UWW (p > 0.05). For both female and male Masters swimmers, the mean %BF …

Cannabis Tourism And The Community: Resident Attitudes In Humboldt County, California, Ara Pachmayer, Reed Switzer, Shawn Reilly

IdeaFest: Interdisciplinary Journal of Creative Works and Research from Cal Poly Humboldt

Resident attitudes towards cannabis tourism in Humboldt County, California were investigated in this exploratory study. The primary purpose was to understand if the variables used to explain resident attitudes towards tourism would show similar patterns when applied to cannabis tourism. The study included a questionnaire distributed to adult residents of Humboldt County and was conducted between March and August 2017, just prior to recreational cannabis sales beginning in California. Correlations and crosstabs were performed on the data. While personal benefit was found to have an impact on resident attitudes towards cannabis tourism, other variables indicate mixed support which suggests that …

Visitors’ Willingness To Pay For Interpretive Services In Alberta Parks, Elizabeth A. Halpenny, Mu He

TTRA Canada 2021 Conference

Interpretive services provided at protected areas can add value to visitors’ experiences. They can also serve as conservation management tool in mitigating negative behaviours and inspiring pro-environmental action through educational and entertaining content and delivery. With shrinking investment in conservation from public coffers, protected area managers are increasingly forced to charge for specific services such as interpretation. While some research has examined visitor’s willingness to pay park fees, far fewer have examined WTP for interpretation. A sample of 730 visitors to four Alberta, Canada World Heritage sites was used to investigate visitors’ willingness to pay for park interpretation services. In-person …

Mrpa Focus Groups: Understanding Member Needs And Expectations, Brooke N. Burk, Carrie Anderson, Janelle Crossfield, Carissa Goebel, Priya Tandon, Kevin O'Brien

Recreation, Parks and Leisure Services Department Publications

From March – October 2021, the MRPA Membership Resources Committee recruited MRPA members and non-members to participate in focus groups about their needs and perceptions of ideal professional organizations.

Social Justice Through Service-Learning In Parks & Recreation Management Education, Anne L. Demartini

Experiential Learning & Teaching in Higher Education

This practice-based approach argues service learning can teach social justice in parks & recreation management education. The US parks system creation and history is rooted in injustice. Use of US parks and park service employment remain inequitable today. Significant work must be done in the provision of recreation and park services to all members of the community, including those who have been traditionally marginalized or underserved. The industry requires recreation and parks professionals at all levels who are informed and intentional about inclusion and social justice, which starts with parks and recreation management education.

Service-learning, a form of experiential learning …

The Art Of Breaking Up: Ending Romantic Relationships, Emma Salzwedel

Honors Thesis

This thesis reviews research on the most difficult aspect of dating: the breakup. The process of ending a romantic relationship follows a particular pattern which begins when problems begin to arise in the partnership and ends when both individuals have accepted the breakup and received closure. Using various peer-reviewed studies, the literature review deliberates the common predictors of a breakup, common methods of breaking up (and how each is perceived by the other person), common reactions to the breakup based on gender, and finally, the aftermath of the breakup. It is determined that personal and individual relationship factors ultimately decide …

How Have Adventure Playgrounds In The United Kingdom Adapted Post-March Lockdown In 2020?, Pete King

International Journal of Playwork Practice

Adventure playgrounds have been a feature in the United Kingdom since the 1950s. Their growth and development was underpinned by ‘thinking together’, a concept in the Communities of Practice (CoP) approach. In March 2020, the United Kingdom (UK) went into lockdown. This study aimed to find out how adventure playgrounds responded to the Covid-19 situation when they reopened in July 2020. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 18 adventure playground staff from 14 adventure playgrounds. Thematic analysis of the data constructed themes and sub-themes within four main headings: preparation for opening; reduction; targeted service and play behaviour. The results showed how …