ABSTRACT
In the preceding two chapters we have explored the demand for the whole outdoor recreation experience (as we define it) and for the recreation resource. Our concern there was primarily with the factors affecting the demand for an outdoor recreation area at any given time period, such as a year. The analysis concentrated on two factors—population and costs per visit. The effect of population changes over time or of differences between areas was largely or wholly eliminated by expressing visits in terms of number per 1,000 of base population. The costs per visit were measured by either conventional money costs or mileage traveled. Other factors, such as leisure and per capita real incomes, were considered in a more general way, and primarily as factors causing shifts in the demand curve. Demand was taken as the relation between volume of visits per 1,000 of base population and cost per visit. The emphasis in these two chapters has not been primarily upon factors operating over time to change the demand for outdoor recreation.
