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Social Carrying Capacity in Island Destinations: Interpreting Visitors’ Opinions in Madeira Island Cover

Social Carrying Capacity in Island Destinations: Interpreting Visitors’ Opinions in Madeira Island

Open Access
|Jun 2022

Figures & Tables

Figure 1

Map of Madeira Island with the Laurel Forest and the Natural Park of Madeira, Source: ifcn.madeira.gov.pt
Map of Madeira Island with the Laurel Forest and the Natural Park of Madeira, Source: ifcn.madeira.gov.pt

Figure 2

Kruskal-Wallis with Independent Samples Relating Age with Dimension 3 - Path Conditions
Kruskal-Wallis with Independent Samples Relating Age with Dimension 3 - Path Conditions

Figure 3

Mann-Whitney U Test Relating Gender with Dimension 3 - Trail Conditions
Mann-Whitney U Test Relating Gender with Dimension 3 - Trail Conditions

Figure 4

Kruskal-Wallis with Independent Samples Relating the Variable Country with the Grouping Variables Dimension 2 - Path Amenities, Dimension 3 - Path Conditions, Dimension 4 - Environmental Conditions, Dimension 5 - Environmental Pollution
Kruskal-Wallis with Independent Samples Relating the Variable Country with the Grouping Variables Dimension 2 - Path Amenities, Dimension 3 - Path Conditions, Dimension 4 - Environmental Conditions, Dimension 5 - Environmental Pollution

Figure 5

Kruskal-Wallis with Independent Samples Relating Education with Dimension 3 - Path Conditions
Kruskal-Wallis with Independent Samples Relating Education with Dimension 3 - Path Conditions

Testing of Sociodemographic Variables for Contributing Factors to Satisfaction with the UNESCO Site Laurisilva of Madeira

HypothesesDImensionNTestMean rankp-valueDecision
H1 (Age)3 (Trail conditions)365Kruskal-Wallis17.3670.004Reject
H2 (Gender)3 (Trail conditions)353Mann-Whitney18.3470.003Reject
2 (Trail amenities)341 19.2140.014Reject
3 (Trail conditions)363 20.8300.008Reject
H3 (Country of residence)4 (Environmental conditions)409Kruskal-Wallis29.7680.000Reject
5 (Pollution level)447 19.9810.010Reject
H4 (Household income)All dimensions481Kruskal-Wallis Accept
H5 (Academic qualifications)3 (Trail conditions)345Kruskal-Wallis8.9540.030Reject

Mean Scores for Satisfaction Levels Referring to Social Carrying Capacity

Social factorMean scoreLevelMean satisfiedMean neutralMean dissatisfied
Dimension 56.171Moderately satisfied92%5%3%
Dimension 16.025Moderately satisfied74%14%12%
Dimension 25.350Slightly satisfied34%21%44%
Dimension 44.969Slightly satisfied62%20%18%
Dimension 33.745Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied93%4%3%
Social carrying capacity5.252Slightly satisfied71%13%3%

Factor Analysis to Know Which Variables Measure Which Factors by Using a Varimax-Rotated Factor Matrix

VariableComponentMean score
12345
Q7.17. Cleanliness of the 25 Fontes trail0.882 5.923
Q7.15. Cleanliness of the Risco trail0.879 5.986
Q7.18. Cleanliness of the 25 Fontes lagoon0.845 5.957
Q7.16. Cleanliness of Risco trail0.842 6.054
Q7.19. Forest condition0.711 6.021
Q7.20. Native plants in the landscape0.653 6.207
Q7.3. Availability of parking areas 0.747 5.081
Q7.2. Information signs 0.678 5.248
Q7.1. Awareness of tourism potential 0.637 5.438
Q7.4. Free admissions 0.588 6.120
Q7.12. Courteousness of personnel 0.532 5.962
Q7.11. Maintenance of the tourist attraction 0.520 5.286
Q7.5. Opportunity to escape crowds 0.399 4.316
Q7.7. Number of toilets 0.852 3.888
Q7.8. Cleanliness of toilets 0.821 3.798
Q7.6. Number of rubbish bins 0.700 3.849
Q7.10. On-site information about emergency services 0.681 3.444
Q7.23. Learn about nature 0.836 4.851
Q7.24. Conscious environmental management 0.799 5.345
Q7.14. Presence of wildlife 0.551 4.711
Q7.21. Levels of noise pollution 0.8196.078
Q7.22. Levels of air pollution 0.7756.264

Eigenvalue7.7082.9071.4421.3641.093
Percentage of variance explained35.03813.2166.5526.2014.966

Total variance explained65.974

Sociodemographic Profile and Trip Description of Visitors of PR6/PR6_1 (N=481)_

Frequency (%)
Gender
Male53.0%
Female47.0%
Age
15 to 242.7%
25 to 3417.3%
35 to 449.4%
45 to 5427.3%
55 to 6432.7%
>6510.6%
Marital status
Single16.4%
Married/Non-marital union78.4%
Divorced3.7%
Widower1.5%
Country of residence
Portugal6.9%
France18.8%
Germany38.2%
Spain2.3%
United Kingdom2.9%
Benelux12.1%
Scandinavia1.3%
Other European countries15.2%
Non-European countries2.3%
Occupation
Employed63.6%
Self-employed13.4%
Student1.5%
Unemployed0.6%
Pensioner16.4%
Other4.5%
Net monthly household income
<500€1.7%
501€–1000€4.8%
1001€–1500€9.0%
1501€–2500€14.0%
2501€–3500€20.2%
3501€–5000€26.1%
5001€–7500€15.7%
>7500€8.4%
Education
Elementary3.8%
Secondary29.0%
University degree45.8%
Master's/PhD degree21.5%
Accommodation
Cruise ship0.0%
Hotel51.1%
Resort3.6%
Serviced apartment3.4%
Tourist apartment14.9%
Lodge1.5%
B&B/Hostel1.7%
Local accommodation8.5%
Friends/relatives house1.9%
Private house12.3%
Camping1.1%
Stay duration (days)
<54.0%
5 to 852.1%
9 to 1542.8%
>151.1%
Group size (individuals)
<373.4%
3 to 518.8%
6 to 103.1%
11 to 201.8%
>202.9%
Local workers2.5%
Visit duration (minutes)
<300.2%
30 to 6017.4%
61 to 12010.1%
121 to 18027.3%
181 to 24028.0%
>24016.9%
Disability
No97.5%
Yes2.5%
Expenditure during the visit
Did not spent9.5%
<10€26.3%
10€–20€31.9%
21€–30€9.5%
31€–50€5.6%
>50€7.5%
I don’t know/Prefer not to answer9.7%
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ejthr-2021-0023 | Journal eISSN: 2182-4924 | Journal ISSN: 2182-4916
Language: English
Page range: 253 - 266
Submitted on: Dec 2, 2021
Accepted on: Dec 13, 2021
Published on: Jun 29, 2022
Published by: Polytechnic Institute of Leiria
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 2 times per year

© 2022 Luís Mota, Mara Franco, Rossana Santos, published by Polytechnic Institute of Leiria
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.