Here's an interesting tidbit: When Americans are asked where their 2009 dream vacation would take them, a national park visit ranked No. 1.
Of course, that's not too surprising to us who love national parks and never find the National Park System boring. But when you consider the endless possibilities when it comes to planning your vacation, this factoid shouldn't be given short shrift.
According to the travelhorizons survey compiled by the folks at Ypartnership, a marketing, consulting, and public relations agency, the National Parks were identified as the dream destination by fully two-thirds of American leisure travelers...
Why is this important? For starters, it's evidence that while national park visitation in recent years might have been flat, national parks are high in Americans' minds when it comes to planning vacations. Too, it speaks to the desire of Americans to enjoy their national parks, and so hopefully will send a signal to Congress and the National Park Service that these lands, properties, and facilities should be both carefully and adequately managed.
Now, it'd be interesting to see the guts of this survey to see if it discusses the affordability of a national park vacation. However, the Traveler's paltry coffers don't allow the expenditure of $2,750 for the report. So if anyone out there has influence with the folks at Ypartnership.....
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I love our National Parks and Monuments. My husband and I and another couple visited 12 in a week. The park employees were very nice and we plan on doing more parks in the years ahead. I love it that they have made it free on 3 weekends this summer.
My husband and I have made it a goal to get our daughters to all 391 National Parks. We're at 131 right now so still a ways to go. There's no better place to go for family vacations than our National Parks!!
Dear anon: Twelve National Parks in one week? The study is about leisure travelers, not those out to break records. I sincerely hope you got a first glimpse of those parks so you were able to pick your favorites.
Now you can return to those for longer stays. Take your time in a national park, explore, relax, enjoy. Get off the beaten track, spend several hours in one beautiful spot and see how the vistas changes with light and weather. Observe wildlife. And take a ranger let walk or attend a campfire program in the evening.
Holy crap, they charge people $2750 to see the full report!? Are they nuts?
If there's a silver lining to the current economic misery, it's the resurgence of patriotic travel. After hauling my kids all over the planet in recent years, this year we're going to 4 national parks. It's a start.
Great news! Let's hope the Ken Burns series does even more to spur interest in our great national treasures.
For those of us who prefer natural wonders and wildness to theme and water parks, the National Park system is a blessing ! There is nowhere I would rather be and I visit them as often as I can.
I won't give it short shrift off-hand, but won't be assuming that its bald conclusions are the simple truth, either. Not until we have better transparency.
Without access to the "guts" of the survey, statements & interpretations derived from the questionaire could mean a wide range of things ... almost anything, or darn near nothing.
Do we have other surveys on the shelf, showing the same ranking for Parks as a vacation-destination? I can't say I've heard of them, but that doesn't mean a whole lot.
I can say, I'm surprised to see this assertion. I would have guessed that Parks would rank 'respectably' high, but if ask do I think they'd rank #1, I'd have comfortably shaken my head no: Too many other more-commanding choices for most of the public, would be my hunch.
If after proper access is obtained and a common-sense review of how the questions were put together (oh! the very devil!) shows it's all on the up & up, then it will be time to get excited about the implications ... which if true are certainly news to me, and will indeed be of potent interest to Congress and other offical bodies.
"There's lies, damn lies, sordid statistics ... and surveys". Caveat emptor. ;-)