Community and visitor benefits associated with the Otago Central Rail Trail, New Zealand
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Authors
Date
2002
Type
Thesis
Fields of Research
Abstract
Outdoor recreation and heritage resources have the potential to provide a wide range of
benefits to individuals, groups of individuals and the economy. An increased knowledge of
these benefits can give recreation managers and planners a better understanding of how their
actions and decisions regarding a resource may impact upon the visitors and communities that
they serve. Placed within a climate of increasing public sector accountability, this information
might also prove useful in justifying the allocation of scarce resources to recreation and
heritage preservation.
Justifying the value that recreation adds to society is an issue recognised by Benefits Based
Management (BBM), a recreation management and planning framework that seeks to identify
and target the positive outcomes realised by individuals, groups, local businesses and
communities that result from participation in recreation and leisure. To date, recreation
planners and managers have not been presented with a BBM research effort that seeks to
describe and understand the visitor and community benefits associated with a rail to trail
conversion. This study aimed to identify and describe benefits gained by visitors and
neighbouring communities, with specific reference to the Otago Central Rail Trail (OCRT),
Central Otago, New Zealand.
Information was gathered from seventy-seven semi-structured interviews with visiting users
of the OCRT, residents of neighbouring communities and trail managers. The results of the
study indicated that community stakeholders reported benefits such as local economic
development linked to visitor expenditure, heightened sense of community identity and
solidarity and social contact with people from outside the local area. An additional finding
was that the perceived benefits of the OCRT have reportedly had a positive influence on local
people's attitudes towards the rail trail.
Visitor interviews revealed that personal and social well-being benefits such as physical
activity, aesthetic appreciation, sense of achievement, psychological refreshment, family
togetherness and social interaction with friends and local people were outcomes of an OCRT
visit. Reported visitor benefits were further linked to physical fitness and health, enhanced
mood and positive mental state, leading a balanced lifestyle and stronger relationships within
families and between friends. Visitors also perceived that an OCRT visit had forged a greater
knowledge and awareness of railway heritage through gaining insight into railway and Central
Otago history and appreciation of the engineering skills and craftsmanship associated with
19th century railway construction. Following the benefit chain of causality (Driver, 1994;
Driver & Bruns, 1999; McIntosh, 1999), interview responses were linked to potential
community and visitor benefits that could be realised off-site such as enhanced quality of life,
community satisfaction and a greater connection with and appreciation of New Zealand's
historic and cultural heritage.