Parks and families: addressing management facilitators and constraints to outdoor recreation participation

Families face real challenges when engaging in active forms of leisure. Apart from issues of time and money, other barriers often prevent families from engaging in leisure activities outside the home. One particular form of active leisure that has been shown to provide benefits for family life is outdoor recreation. However, outdoor recreation activities may pose further challenges for family engagement as they often require specific skills and knowledge for safe participation. The purpose of this paper is to examine how management of outdoor recreation spaces, such as national parks or regional parks, contributes to general family outdoor recreation participation. This research presents findings from interviews with 22 families and 10 outdoor park managers from the New Zealand cities of Wellington and Dunedin. The findings indicate that family-oriented marketing practices and information strategies could improve participation when lack of finances, time and energy prevent family recreation activities.