Justin M. Nolan, Research Assistant Professor of Anthropology is presently collaborating with the Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies (CAST) at the University of Arkansas to investigate the cultural, economic, and ecological impact of tourism in Arkansas and the surrounding regions of the Midsouth. Nolan and U of A student Carl F. Keller III have identified the social and psychological determinants of recreational travel among members of eight special-interest groups in Northwest Arkansas. The pilot study, soon to be presented at the 2006 Society for Anthropological Sciences Conference, has revealed a list of 193 "success traits" which fall into three categories: natural resources (e.g., wilderness areas), cultural resources (e.g., historic sites), and commercial resources (e.g., gambling, shopping). Analysis of the results indicates that travelers and daytrippers from all demographic groups prioritize natural and cultural resources significantly over commercial resources when selecting destinations for recreational travel.

The distribution of salient resources identified in the pilot study will be mapped spatially across Arkansas in the subsequent phase of the study, which will entail an extensive survey of 75-100 communities in various geographic regions of the state. The results gained from this survey will inform sustainable economic development strategies to actively benefit rural communities in Arkansas and elsewhere in the US South and Midwest. Further, these data will reveal how tourism can be implemented toward safeguarding biodiversity and regional heritage statewide. Nolan is actively seeking extramural funding to support the remainder of the project.

Methods

To determine the psychological determinants of recreational travel, a freelist task was administered to 83 respondents from various special-interest and occupational groups in Fayetteville, Arkansas, in the fall of 2005. These subgroups included college students, employees at a natural foods store, eagle scouts, hairdressers, truck drivers, a men's golf club, and a ladies' bridge club. Each respondent was asked to list all the attributes they could think of when deciding upon a nearby recreational destination for traveling, touring, or day-tripping. These freelists were analyzed using the software program ANTHROPAC, which calculated the frequency of each attribute listed by the respondents. The results, depicted in the table below, illustrate the shared emphasis on natural and cultural resources, which were listed much more frequently than commercial resources. These data will be used to construct the community inventory of "success traits" in the subsequent phase of research.

To examine the different response patterns between these subgroups, a respondent-by-respondent matrix was constructed, which illustrates the extent to which each respondent's list correlates to each of the other respondent's list. This matrix was converted into a two-dimensional map using multidimensional scaling, which revealed a clear pattern of intra-group agreement with respect to the listed attributes. These results indicate the need to investigate the potential appeal of different regions to different kinds of tourists.

Results

2006 SASci Conference Presentation

Campfires, Cathedrals, and Casinos:
Intracultural Variation in Perceptions of Domestic Tourist Destinations

Justin M. Nolan and Carl F. Keller III
Department of Anthropology
University of Arkansas

Paper Presentation
2006 Conference for the Society for Anthropological Sciences
Savannah, Georgia

In this study, we examine intragroup variation in the perceived significance of tourism destination attributes in the Southern and Midwestern US. Free lists were obtained from 87 residents from eight occupational groups in Northwest Arkansas. Respondents were asked to list all the attractions and attributes they deem important when choosing a domestic travel destination. Analysis of the free lists rendered a total of 193 "success traits", thirty of which are cognitively salient among the composite respondent group. A subsequent pile sort of the most frequently-mentioned success traits revealed three categories of tourism destination attributes: natural resources (e.g., wilderness areas, campsites), cultural resources (e.g., museums, historic sites), and commercial resources (e.g., casinos, nightlife). All subgroups appear to privilege natural and cultural resources over commercial resources when prioritizing recreational travel. However, application of correspondence analysis and multidimensional scaling revealed a constellation of success traits unique to each subgroup's free lists. Our data suggest that regional planners for rural community development can benefit by marketing information about local resources in accordance with recreational demands relevant to tourists of various demographic orientations.