Anson T. H. Ma

Understanding the preferences of scuba divers is crucial for authorities to establish appropriate management plans and for service providers to offer a wide range of recreation opportunities to promote long-term industrial sustainability. This study categorized diving preferences into two subgroups (physical and biological) to explore the association between diving preferences and divers’ sociodemographic characteristics, as well as diving experiences through multiple regression analysis. Questionnaire surveys were administered, with 398 completed responses successfully collected from diving hotspots in Hong Kong. Results revealed that divers’ sociodemographic status, particularly monthly salary, could affect their physical and biological preferences. Meanwhile, divers’ diving experience was found to be a significant predictor in figuring out their biological preferences. However, no relationship between diving experience and physical preference was identified in this study. These results could inform management authorities in implementing ecological and environmental protection because biological conditions are considered the most attractive motivation for divers to dive in Hong Kong. Similarly, these results may help managers better understand divers’ recreation needs based on different sociodemographic characteristics and diving experiences to create diverse recreation opportunities while enhancing their satisfaction by avoiding the negative impacts associated with identified preference attributes.

River revitalization, also called river restoration, has been implemented globally to restore urban river ecosystems that would benefit both the environment and local residents in various ways. The Hong Kong government has been attempting to revitalize local urban rivers; however, the perception and value of river restoration have not been assessed. With the application of a contingent valuation method, a questionnaire survey was designed to capture the attitude, place attachment, and willingness to pay (WTP) of Hong Kong residents in the context of urban rivers and river revitalization, and a proposed scenario for revitalization is given. The relationships among WTP, attitude and place attachment were explored through regression analysis. A total of 400 questionnaire samples were collected from Hong Kong residents, and over 75% of respondents were willing to pay for the proposed scenario. The results from regression analysis indicated that attitude, place dependence, place identity, and place social bonding positively influenced WTP and WTP bid amounts. In contrast, the place effect was unexpectedly found to be negatively correlated with WTP. Implications were drawn from these results, and recommendations were made concerning the features to be restored and conserved in future river revitalization work and the need to provide quality urban nature-based spaces for citizens.

Western studies on nature-based tourism have long explored the relationships among tourists’ sociodemographic characteristics, motivation and satisfaction as a way of predicting their visitation patterns and travel behaviours. Relatively few studies have been conducted in the Chinese context given its varied and extensive landscapes. This paper seeks to fill this gap using data from questionnaire surveys conducted in two popular and prestigious forest nature reserves in Guangdong province between August and December 2015. Data collected were analyzed by multiple regression tests with socio-demographic factors as the predictors of travel motivation and satisfaction in SPSS 24.0. The key findings and observations include the following: First, contrary to some overseas studies, education level was negatively correlated with tourists’ satisfaction with management and educational value. Second, age was positively correlated with the sense of relaxation and nature exploration. Third, education level had a negative correlation with motivation regarding social influence. Fourth, the influence of local culture helps differentiate Chinese tourists from Western tourists, implying that different management strategies should be adopted. All these findings offer insights to nature-based tourism operators that cater to the growing ranks of Chinese ecotourists.