Determining the Effects of Pre and Post Rafting Experience on Perceived Crowding: A Quasi-Experimental Study

Abstract

Identifying crowding norms is a crucial part of modern management frameworks intended to assist in protecting park resources and the quality of the visitor experience. Determining the factors affecting perceived crowding is a subject that has always been emphasized by park and protected area managers and researchers. Experience is typically regarded as having previously visited the area or engaged in an activity in prior literature. This study aims to analyze the potential effects of “experience” in determining crowding, based on visual research methods, from a perspective other than the two approaches in the literature. A quasi-experimental research design was applied to the study. Eleven images created with photography techniques were presented to 32 voluntary participants for data collection. According to the findings, participants had different perceptions about crowding before and after the activity, and at the end of the interviews conducted to understand the reasons for this difference, “enjoy” was determined as the main underlying cause. As a result, it is suggested that personal experiences about the activity should be considered in norm-determining studies.