Predicting GPS Use Among Visitors in Capçaleres del Ter i del Freser Natural Park (Catalonia, Spain)

Sara Hamza-Mayora (), Estela Inés Farías-Torbidoni and Demir Barić
Additional contact information
Sara Hamza-Mayora: National Institute of Physical Education of Catalonia (INEFC), University of Lleida (UdL), 25192 Lleida, Spain
Estela Inés Farías-Torbidoni: National Institute of Physical Education of Catalonia (INEFC), University of Lleida (UdL), 25192 Lleida, Spain
Demir Barić: Faculty of Maritime Studies, University of Rijeka, 51000 Rijeka, Croatia

Tourism and Hospitality, 2025, vol. 6, issue 3, 1-22

Abstract: The increasing use of Global Positioning System (GPS) tools reshapes nature-based recreational practices. While previous research has examined the role of GPS technologies in outdoor recreation, limited attention has been given to the specific factors driving GPS use in nature-based settings such as natural parks. This case study examines the sociodemographic, behavioural, motivational and experiential factors influencing GPS use among visitors to the Capçaleres del Ter i del Freser Natural Park (Catalonia, Spain). A structured visitor survey ( n = 999) was conducted over a one-year period and a hierarchical binary logistic regression model was applied to evaluate the explanatory contribution of four sequential variable blocks. The results showed that the behavioural factors (i.e., physical activity intensity) emerged as the strongest predictor of GPS use. Additionally, the final model demonstrated that visitors who were younger, engaged in higher-intensity physical activities, motivated by health-related goals, undertook longer routes, and reported more positive experiences were significantly more likely to use GPS tools during their visit. These findings highlight the need to adapt communication strategies to diverse visitor profiles and leverage volunteered geographic information (VGI) for improved visitor monitoring, flow management, and adaptive conservation planning.

Keywords: GPS use; outdoor recreation; protected areas; visitor profiling; volunteered geographic information (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Z3 Z30 Z31 Z32 Z33 Z38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2673-5768/6/3/137/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2673-5768/6/3/137/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jtourh:v:6:y:2025:i:3:p:137-:d:1700320

Access Statistics for this article

Tourism and Hospitality is currently edited by Mr. Philip Li

More articles in Tourism and Hospitality from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().