At the heart of Gran Paradiso National Park: monitoring visitor presence and mobility flows for more sustainable tourism management
THE PROJECT
Motion Analytica, in collaboration with , has developed a project to quantify and characterise visitor presence and mobility across a selection of key areas within the Park.
Studying the movements of people within major protected areas is of fundamental importance to ensure an optimal visitor experience while preserving the natural heritage of these protected areas.
I PRINCIPALI RISULTATI OTTENUTI
01.
Seasonality of Attendance
The analyses highlighted a strong seasonality in visitor flows, with clear increases in attendance during weekends in recent years.
02.
Growth of Proximity Tourism
The Park recorded an increase of around 15% in Italian hikers and tourists, with a significant rise in visitors from the Piedmont region driven by the growth of proximity tourism.
03.
Distribution of International Visitors
Foreign visitor numbers declined compared with the pre-pandemic period, with different nationality distributions observed between the northern and southern areas of the Park.
04.
Visitor Loyalty
Only 15% of hikers returned to the same area of the Park more than once in a month, while this figure increased to over 40% among tourists.
THE ANALYSIS
Context analysis to highlight key indicators of both Italian and foreign tourism in the target regions of each park, monitoring aspects such as:
presence trends (foreign and Italian visitors)
regional origin of visitors
distribution of the duration of stays
distribution of the repetitiveness of visits
Analysis by segment and user groups to highlight the main networks of interconnection between the Park and neighbouring areas, supported by a breakdown of visitors by origin (regional for Italian visitors and national for international visitors).
Analysis of mobility dynamics to highlight connections and flows between locations across the region, with details on:
origin and destination of trips
Park entry and exit points
distribution of the number of overnight stays
Analysis of visitor experiences to assess the centrality of the places visited within the overall visitor experience.
These analyses are further characterized by the addition of the visitor’s usual places of residence to accurately intercept tourists:
- Non-park residents, i.e., Italian users whose place of habitation is outside the boundaries of the park under analysis;
- Park residents, i.e., Italian users whose place of residence is within the park boundaries;
- Foreigners, i.e., all roaming users connected to the telephone network.
Finally, visitors were studied and classified in relation to their visitation behavior:
- Park hikers: day visitors and returning for the night to an area outside the park;
- Park tourists: overnight visitors in the park area;
- Park residents: Italian users whose place of residence is within the park boundaries.
CONCLUSIONS
The analyses summarized here provide an innovative approach in studying the movements of people within protected areas. Visitors can be quantified and profiled with in fine detail; this was not possible previously through other methodologies such as interviews, hotel data, and surveys at the visitor centers.