A Bibliography of Research on Visitors to Public Conservation Areas in New Zealand 1995–2010

Increasing the participation of New Zealanders and overseas visitors in recreation and tourism activities in public conservation areas is a priority task for the Department of Conservation (DOC). DOC has recognised that, as an organisation charged with the management of over one third of New Zealand’s land area, it needs to become more customer-focussed in its provision of recreation opportunities and visitor experiences. Maintaining and growing public participation in DOC-managed areas requires a broad understanding of the nature, interests, preferences and motivations of visitors, and an in-depth understanding of their recreation patterns, trends and constraints. To help to anticipate its future requirements, DOC commissioned a programme of research to review existing literature on tourism and recreation research, focussing on visitor demand for, participation at, and segmentation at public conservation areas, both in New Zealand and Australia. The programme has a specific focus on literature pertaining to outdoor recreation, nature-based tourism, ecotourism and heritage tourism. The current study undertook an intensive scan of a wide range of information sources including university libraries, academic journal databases and public websites to compile an annotated bibliography of New Zealand sources. The bibliography includes nearly 240 literature references, which are indexed alphabetically and accompanied by keywords, which are also searchable.