The aim of this study was to evaluate the utility of PPGIS in park
visitor activity planning, exemplified in the context of mountain
biking in Northern Sydney. The methods used and the findings of
our study are relevant to the full spectrum of travel experiences on
a continuum ranging from recreational activity to tourism experiences
(McKercher, 1996). Our specific research questions include:
(1) What are the spatial distributions and location-based reasons
for mountain biking in the region; and (2) What location-specific
management actions are required to improve existing experiences.
We analyse our study results at different spatial scales: the
Northern Sydney region, inside vs. outside national parks, and for
individual tracks. To our knowledge, this is the first study to use
PPGIS methods to evaluate mountain biking activities. Participant
characteristics, collected from survey questions, are integrated with
the spatial data to address more complex questions such as how
rider preferences vary with skills and motivations. Finally, we
examine PPGIS mapping results, conducted in the field or on-line,
with GPS tracking results to validate the accuracy of the PPGIS
methods.