Executive Summary
Several themes emerged from analyzing the survey results and these themes are included in an Executive Summary (.pdf document). Click on each of the themes below to learn more. (Clicking on the link again will compress the text)
The majority of our respondents have been visiting beaches in Maine (74%) and New Hampshire (69%) for over 15 years. These loyal, repeat visitors expressed a strong willingness to continue to visit (and bring their families to) the Maine and New Hampshire coast. Written responses shared by our respondents suggest these beachgoers treasure their experiences visiting Maine and New Hampshire beaches. When asked about actions that could improve their experiences and entice them to continue visiting in the future, many of these respondents noted support for limited change; this nostalgic, multi-generational user base often emphasized the importance that beach regions grow and develop in a way that remains familiar and consistent with the “Maine” brand and the shared memories of these loyal, repeat visitors. Accordingly, this segment of visitors present both challenges and opportunities to the coastal tourism industry, local businesses, and resource managers. Written responses from our respondents suggest a range of approaches for building on this loyal user base and recruiting new, first-time visitors to the states’ coastal beaches and regions.
Local (Maine and New Hampshire residents) and regional (Massachusetts and Quebec Province) visitors account for the majority of our respondents. Though our respondents were mainly from New England and southeastern Canada, some respondents were from as far west as Washington and California, and as far south as Florida. Generally, our respondents visit ocean beaches relatively frequently, and they visit beaches in Maine and New Hampshire as well as in many other East coast states and provinces.
When our respondents choose to visit coastal areas and ocean beaches, they consistently place a high importance on access to various types of outdoor activities, clean waters, swimming areas, and wide, sandy beaches. Coastal tourism and recreation contribute significantly to the local economies of Maine and New Hampshire coastal communities. Knowing more details about the ways that beachgoers place importance on coastal area and beach characteristics can help inform plans for future community & economic development and natural resource management.
The majority of our respondents report using knowledge from their own past experiences and recommendations from friends, family, and local residents to plan their coastal visits. The importance of social networks to planning visits presents challenges and opportunities to those who advertise to and communicate with beachgoer populations. While our respondents also rely to a lesser extent on traditional tourism resources such as brochures, websites, and tourism offices, it seems evident that diverse public education and outreach approaches may be necessary to target specific areas or networks of beachgoers.
Our respondents share much in common. Those who take trips of different lengths (day trips, short overnight trips, long overnight trips) do not vary much in terms of demographic characteristics or rating of important coastal and ocean beach characteristics. These commonalities may help to simplify different types of public information and marketing campaigns.
The majority of our respondents do not seek information about surf conditions & riptides and water quality. Those that do seek information rely on a variety of information sources, including signs and flags on the beach, lifeguards, family & friends, and websites. The majority of our respondents ranked the water quality at New Hampshire and Maine beaches as excellent or very good and stated that New Hampshire and Maine beaches were safer and cleaner than beaches in other areas. Should greater provision of beach water quality/safety information become a priority, the responses of our respondents suggest that presenting water quality information and surf conditions jointly may increase awareness of water quality issues amongst beachgoer populations.
Our respondents stated that positive framing of beach safety issues – including signs indicating that the ocean water quality is excellent today, and encouraging users to engage in water contact activities – might change their behaviors or opinions of a beach. If managers are concerned that advisories will change opinions of beaches, emphasizing strong records of good water quality through signs or information on the beach may help to minimize the impact that sporadic advisories have on beachgoers’ opinions of a beach.
