ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the importance of parks as critical infrastructure for societal well-being;however, for much of the pandemic, the risk for disease exposure and transmission in these spaces was unclear. Public health messaging by parks continues to attempt to influence health-promoting behaviors, but the impact of advisories may vary due to the message source. In fall 2020, we surveyed park visitors in Virginia, U.S. across political affiliations to understand decision-making factors influencing visitation. Results indicate many similarities in decision-making factors across political affiliations, such as the perceived importance of health benefits derived from outdoor recreation. Significant differences in the perceived importance between message sources (i.e., Trump Administration) (p 2 = .104) and risk perceptions related to COVID-19 (p 2 = .228) across political affiliations were evident. These findings demonstrate the importance of attending to political affiliations when crafting messaging strategies, not limited to the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Park & Recreation Administration is the property of Sagamore Publishing and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to understand the contemporary issues, opportunities, and resource needs of U.S. outdoor recreation professionals. In Spring 2021, we conducted focus groups with members of the Society of Outdoor Recreation Professionals and Association of Outdoor Recreation and Education. Iterative qualitative analysis of professionals' perspectives using both inductive and matrix coding yielded key themes including: 1) justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI), 2) social-ecological health, 3) societal demand, 4) industry direction, and 5) professional identity. While certain themes (i.e., JEDI) existed in previous trends studies, others illustrate the relative novelty of professionals’ experiences of the outdoor recreation boom both pre- and during the COVID-19 pandemic. In sum, we provide an inventory of current issues, opportunities, and resource needs for outdoor recreation professionals, which can inform future advocacy and planning by professional organizations. Management implications The overall development in the field of outdoor recreation will be influenced by the aspects:•Key issues will be 1) justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion (JEDI), 2) social-ecological health, 3) societal demand, 4) industry direction, and 5) professional identity.•JEDI was the most salient theme across organizational membership affiliation, indicating the importance of ongoing social justice efforts led by the outdoor recreation industry.•Participants' focus on the negative ecological health impacts and positive human health benefits stemming from outdoor recreation solidly situates the industry within One Health and other ongoing public health efforts.•In some cases, different needs exist across the supply and demand segments of the outdoor recreation profession, particularly related to professional identity and livable wages.•Workforce development opportunities include, but are not limited to, investment and training in community and stakeholder engagement through SCORP processes, planning for social media's influence of recreation resources, and additional human resources to adapt to surging demand.