Understanding Millennials’ Motivations to Visit State Parks

Abstract

Many state parks have been identified as National Natural Landmarks as a result of their extraordinary representation of flora, fauna, and geological resources. While many state park’s scenic stretches of flowing rivers and large lakes are popular for canoeing, kayaking, and tubing, it’s influence on millennials is worth studying. This study aims to understand millennials’ motivations to visit state parks and the influence of pictures of the outdoor activities on social media. Push factors of motivation such as sightseeing, social interaction, and relaxation, and pull factors such as local activities, amenities, variety, and uniqueness were used to assess their preferences. Data was collected using an online survey on Qualtrics platform from undergraduate students at a state university in Pennsylvania. This study is unique as it focuses on millennials’ motivations to visit state parks, which is not heard in the literature.