Visitor Satisfaction Assessment Using Gap Analysis & MUSA (Case Study: Hamoon Protected Area)

The preferences of visitors have begun to play a major role as regards the decisions made by regional recreation managers. The ever increasing significance of applying participatory processes in decision-making management signifies a new approach towards management of protected areas. The goal of development is satisfaction of the managers and the users. In order to improve the current management methods, one of the important steps is to record the views, preferences and satisfaction of people visiting such area. The present study was conducted using questionnaires to determine visitor's satisfaction of recreation facilities in Hamoon Protected Area. In this regard, various factors, such as the region's natural characteristics, recreation facilities, infrastructure and information for visitors were considered. The relevant data was processed using Gap Analysis technique and the MUSA (Multi-criteria Satisfaction Analysis) methodology and the Winqsb, Spss & Excel software. The emerging results focus on identifying the factors affecting visitor's satisfaction level, as well as the critical points that the management authority of the region must concentrate on for improvement of its actions. We found that the natural characteristics and recreational facilities have significant effect on visitor's satisfaction. Also, ancient sites absorbing 97% of the attention of the recreationists were ranked in the higher level of satisfaction and water drinking facilities with 42/1% could provide the lowest level of visitors’ satisfaction.