Visitor Characteristics
The visitor structure of the national park consisted of
local residents (35% of all visitors interviewed), visitors
from the region (54%), and a low share of tourists from
Austria and abroad (11%). Several significant differences regarding sociodemographics and visit-related
issues could be observed (Table 1). Local residents
reached the park on foot, by bicycle, and by car,
whereas the regional visitors came predominantly by
car or motorbike. About two thirds of the tourists rode
bicycles; these were mainly Germans following an
international cycle route on their tour along the River
Danube. Only 6% of regional visitors arrived by public
bus or train because access by public transport is suboptimal. The average day-trip length by residents was
the shortest: about 70% stayed less than 2 hours
because of the higher shares of typical short-term users
such as dog walkers and joggers, whereas 64% of
regional visitors and 84% of tourists stayed longer than
2 hours. Asked about the role of the national park as
the destination for their trip, 7% of the local residents,
9% of the regional visitors, and only 12% of the
tourists said that the national park label was the reason
for coming. An average of 1.4 other recreation areas,
beside the Danube Floodplains National Park, belonged to the areas frequently visited by local residents, whereas regional visitors mentioned 1.7. About
60% of local residents had visited at least one other
national park, whereas 73% of regional visitors and
88% of tourists had done so.