Rocky Mountain Research Station

Title: Place as relationship partner: an alternative metaphor for understanding the quality of visitor experience in a backcountry setting

Author: Brooks, Jeffrey J.; Wallace, George N.; Williams, Daniel R.

Date: 2006

Source: Leisure Sciences. 28(4): 331-349.

Description: This article presents empirical evidence to address how some visitors build relationships with a wildland place over time. Insights are drawn from qualitative interviews of recreation visitors to the backcountry at Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. The article describes relationship to place as the active construction and accumulation of place meanings. The analysis is organized around three themes that describe how people develop relationships to place: time and experience accrued in place, social and physical interactions in and with the setting, and an active reflective process of regulating sense of identity to affirm commitment to place.

Keywords: behavior, emergent experience, identity, place meanings, relationship to place, satisfaction

View and Print this Publication (120 K)

Publication Notes: 

• We recommend that you also print this page and attach it to the printout of the article, to retain the full citation information.
• This article was written and prepared by U.S. Government employees on official time, and is therefore in the public domain.

 Get the latest version of the Adobe Acrobat reader or Acrobat Reader for Windows with Search and Accessibility

Citation

Brooks, Jeffrey J.; Wallace, George N.; Williams, Daniel R.  2006.  Place as relationship partner: an alternative metaphor for understanding the quality of visitor experience in a backcountry setting.   Leisure Sciences. 28(4): 331-349..