What is Outdoor Recreation.

How does it differ from Tourism?

Recreation: 1 The process or means of refreshing oneself; 2 a pleasurable activity

Tourism: the organisation and operation of (esp foreign) holidays esp as a commercial enterprise;

Key Step 4 of DOC’s 2003-06 Statement of Intent is to “Promote recreation and increase public enjoyment of places managed by the Department”. It does not mention tourism. This output takes 30% of DOC’s budget. DOC is evasive about its responsibilities to recreation, however. Its 1996 “Visitor Strategy” purposely blurred the difference between recreation and tourism by calling all visitors “visitors”. DOC has no recreation strategy, and not even a recreation division. Recreation is largely invisible in the department, having been replaced by “facilities”.

Only recreational interests can adequately define what outdoor recreation is, and its essential differences from tourism. These differences are well understood. Once they are pointed out, DOC managers may have a better understanding why the 1996 Visitor Strategy is so unacceptable to recreational users.

The Characteristics of Outdoor Recreation:

Outdoor recreation, like competitive sport, is an important component of the New Zealand experience. Over a million New Zealanders claim to recreate on our public lands and waters. Activities range from mountaineering, tramping, canoeing, fishing, deerstalking, botanising, conservation volunteering, birdwatching, mountainbiking, etc etc

1 Like amateur sport, it is active, voluntary, liberating and self organised. Challenge, uncertainty and unpredictability are part of the attraction eg the weather, where to go? It is a change from routine – ie re-creation, back to nature. We do it because we enjoy it, not for pay.

2 Outdoor recreation is an involving and learning activity, where one starts as a novice, and builds skills over time. For example, fishing, tramping, climbing, deerstalking, underwater diving, canoeing, skiing, jet boating. People with different skill levels enjoy different experiences. For this reason, participants often have strong bonds to areas they learn and recreate in, and feel greater involvement.

3 As with sport, a level of skill and experience are important pre-requisites, and add significantly to the recreation and enjoyment. They are important for risk assessment. Learning, ie increasing one’s experience and skills, and meeting challenges is important.

4 Recreational users take direct responsibility for their own safety and survival

5 Self sufficiency, basic facilities, freedom, meeting nature on nature’s terms and minimum impact are important considerations, especially when one carries all one’s own gear

6 Recreationists often see themselves as users or guardians, not visitors ie they have a greater stake, through greater time spent in the area eg multiple visits, and greater interest in it than transient tourists.

7 Recreational users have to represent themselves. In contrast, tourists are represented by the tourist operators ie the interests of the industry, not the interests of the tourists themselves.

8 Natural or semi natural Settings: This is very important component of the experience for recreation, and for tourism. It is secondary for sport.

9 Healthy Exercise: Increasingly in our urban and car oriented society, both active recreation and sport are seen as worthy, because they improve participants health and reduce public health costs eg SPARC.

10 Mechanisation: Mechanisation is sometimes essential for some outdoor recreations, eg mountain biking, 4WD, jet boating. It may also be necessary for some recreations eg wilderness canoeing/kayaking/rafting, or is seen as important to save time eg flying in for mountaineering, skiing, deerstalking. This can cause conflict with recreationists that go to commune with nature – both through the intrusion and noise of mechanisation, and because it shrinks distance. Tourism operators usually make more use of mechanisation more than recreationists, both because it saves time, and “adds value” to what can be charged for. It seems too, that DOC in some regions (Mt Cook, Westland), prefers aircraft flights because they deliver more income.

Outdoor Recreation and Sport:

Outdoor recreation and sport have similarities eg recreational sport. OED Definition - Sport: 1 a game or competitive activity, esp an outdoor one involving physical exertion eg cricket, football, hunting

There are at least four different types of sport – competitive, recreational (eg recreational tennis), professional, spectator. Outdoor Recreation is akin to those sports that have a recreational component, and sometimes recreation eg climbing, canoeing, kayaking, can be competitive sports. Watching competitive sport is a major consideration, both because of the uncertainty as to the outcome, and to raise funds for the sport. Watching is not a component of (non competitive) recreation, or of tourism (except the tourism that is about watching sport). Both recreation and sport have a strong social component.

Outdoor Recreation compared with Outdoor Tourism:

1 Tourism activities are organised by a professional or company to make money or a living. Outdoor recreation is voluntary, non-work and non commercial.

2 The guide/operator is usually primarily responsible for the risks, not the tourist, because the tourist has paid eg hire guides. The tourist role is more passive than the recreationist’s role

3 Tourists don’t generally need skills. The activity eg bungy jumping, though it may appear dangerous, is made safe so most people can do it. Thrills without skills in many instances. In other instances, eg mountain guiding, client skill level is more important, but not as important as for recreationists at the same level.

4 Tourism in a consumer society is often about “adding value”, usually making it easier eg via mechanisation, helicopters; comfort, expense, throughput, clutter, bums on seats

5 Tourist operators advocate for themselves primarily, and their own commercial interests

Outdoor Recreation, Outdoor Tourism and Sport Compared:

Outdoor recreation is more akin to Sport than to Tourism. Sport is competitive, whereas recreation is generally not, except as a competition against nature, to survive and enjoy, or to catch game. Recreation and sport and both require levels of skill and experience, learning, and fitness. With outdoor tourism, these are usually at a lower level. In both recreation and sport, risk management is with the participant. With tourism this is less so. Recreation and amateur sport are pastimes. Tourism in contrast is an industry with primarily commercial interests, lobbying to protect these interests.

Consequences for DOC Facilities and Recreation Opportunity Spectrum (ROS) Management:

1 Conflicting philosophies and motivations – those wanting to commune with nature on nature’s terms, and escape the pressures of urban life don’t like helicopters, roads or large crowded huts. But having a helicopter or aircraft trip improves visitor comfort, profit, throughput and turnover for a tourist operator. So tourist operators like them. DOC likes large huts as they may reduce unit costs. But they also reduce the quality of the user experience of nature.

2 Tourist industry terms like Back Country Comfort Seeker, are designed to camouflage the reality of the back country, sandflies, rain, wind, mud, blisters and all. They highlight DOC as a tourist oriented organisation, out of touch with recreation.

3 Why the 1996 Visitor Strategy is Unacceptable: The 1996 “Visitor Strategy” was about implementing National’s policy of decimating facilities of those who want recreation with nature, while using taxpayer funds to boost tourism. Labour/Alliance’s 2002 Facilities funding was aimed at redressing the previous government’s bias against recreation.

Now (2003) DOC/NZCA is endorsing the 1996 Visitor Strategy, biased massively against recreation as it is, to drive Labour’s facilities replacement planning process. The NZ Conservation Authority in its present from is not very good at understanding recreational matters. In any case, it is not surprising it did not want to go through the conflict associated with the 1996 Strategy again. However, it could have shown some leadership. It is now seven years, and a much different climate, and a review would seem sensible.

For instance, which parts of the strategy are no longer applicable given the new funding. And how is a balance between the differing types of visitor to be achieved? And what are the consequences for recreational facilities eg huts, and for visitor management. DOC is perceived as having a bias against recreational users, and says it sees them as obstructive and “old fashioned”. It does not even have a recreation division, in spite of its statutory obligation to foster recreation.

Dr Hugh Barr
Secretary, CORANZ

12 Versailles St. Wellington 6005

Tel/Fax (04) 934 2244 Email : hugh@infosmart.co.nz