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Looking for the Focus Groups? Click here...
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Yosemite National Park, winter 2008 |
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Who are park visitors?
Where are they from?
What do they do?
What do they think about the facilities they use and the interpretive
programs they attend?
What park features and qualities are most important to them?
Visitor Services Project (VSP) visitor studies answer these
questions--and more. The VSP, an ongoing research project of the
National Park Service (NPS) Social Science Program, provides
superintendents with usable knowledge about visitors. |
"The
survey results are definitely useful. The results help us understand our
visitors and their needs. That helps us provide better service. As we
prepare for our Core Operations workshop in November, the survey results
provide very valuable information for discussions on the purpose and
mission of the monument. As we continue work on an interagency center,
which will include a visitor center, the survey results help us refine
appropriate facilities and services." Superintendent
Timpanogos Cave National Monument
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VSP Brochure
The VSP brochure (PDF format) provides a brief description of the VSP,
highlights project benefits, and explains how parks can participate in a
VSP study.
Download the
2007 VSP Brochure |
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Fort Casey SP Lighthouse at
Ebey's Landing NHR, 2007 |
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History
The Visitor Services Project (VSP) began in 1982 when the National Park
Service (NPS), recognizing the need to learn more about visitors and
their opinions, asked the University of Idaho Park Studies Unit (UI PSU)
staff--formerly the Cooperative Park Studies Unit--to develop a new
approach to visitor studies. The UI PSU developed a method that
provides an easy-to-understand, consistent, and efficient means of
studying visitors.
Since 1988, when the survey methodology changed significantly, the VSP
has conducted 213 in-depth visitor studies in 167 units of the National
Park System. The results provide NPS managers with scientific
information about visitors that have been used to improve services,
protect resources, and manage parks more efficiently.
To learn more about the VSP survey process, contact:
Margaret Littlejohn
NPS VSP Director
Phone: 208-885-7863
email: littlej@uidaho.edu |
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