This research was initiated from the necessity of overall review of the desirable direction of projection, efficient construction and management methods of a rural theme park which can create an identity of rural area and can fortify the characteristi...
This research was initiated from the necessity of overall review of the desirable direction of projection, efficient construction and management methods of a rural theme park which can create an identity of rural area and can fortify the characteristics of locality. In Korea, five-days-a-week work system became effective and the Urban-Rural Exchange Promotion Act was enacted in 2004. Beginning in March 2012, five-days-a-week schooling system, pilot test of which had been operated in some elementary, middle, and high schools, was enforced in full scale. Taking into the recent tourism demand, all levels of local governments have been exerting administrative and fiscal efforts to increase income and to enhance local vitality by utilizing local characteristics and agricultural products. In particular, such mood has been diffusing as developing rural theme parks to link local specialty products, natural landscape resources, and locality-specific traditional cultural resources to the income of localities.
A rural theme park is one which, built with the theme of rural locality and rural resources to preserve rural natural landscape, provides such infrastructure as contributes to the improvement of health, relaxation, and emotional living of rural and urban residents. In other words, a rural theme park puts rurality (region), rural resources (theme), and a them park (form) together in the large enclosure of rural natural preservation. Therefore, a rural theme park is supposed to provide non-daily, amusing experience based on a specific theme embedded in the concept of rural tourism. We can define an agricultural rurality experience theme park as a compound experience them park that has the theme of agricultural rurality of a new concept that properly harmonizes rural tourism and basic features of theme parks. The basic purpose of a rural theme park is to increase income of farming households, and to lead to a balanced development of locality by matching endowed natural resources of rural area with the touristic needs of urban residents.
In Korea, designation of rural theme parks started in 2007, and 47 were designated by the end of 2011. For those who are preparing for or constructing rural theme parks, it is a good time that they should give a strategic approach to the development and posterior management of their facilities. According to a new report of April 2012, most of the 270 mountain village eco-villages were ill-managed, while the Korea Forrest Service had built them all over Korea with a budget of 336.4 billion Won since 1997. The reasons were hasty provision and insufficient preparation of posterior management. Each local government should begin construction after establishing plans for construction, operation, and budget securing through prior analysis of local characteristics and strengths.
Reviewing the existing research related with rural tourism, we may say that theoretical and practical challenges have been existing with regard to the tourism motive theory that it is possible to present measures that can meet the needs of tourists if the tourism provider can understand the tourism motive factors and can grasp the needs of tourists. Rural tourism emphasizes on unique environment, education, and experience activities that are different from other public tourist sites. These affect the satisfaction or word-of-mouth effect of visitors, which in turn becomes major variable that decides successfulness of rural leisure market. Also at the time when inter-regional competition becomes severe while the number of villages that utilize rural tourism, these are becoming major marketing tools to increase visitors. Considering the essential meaning of rural tourism, it is required that we should give strategic approach at the planning phase so that experience programs based on the preservation of excellent natural landscape and traditional culture, and original rural living aspects as tourist tools can play the role of bridge connecting urban and rural areas.
Based on these researches, we can understand that tourists' preferences highly affect their satisfaction and intention of repeated visits. When preferences are formed by wonderful experiences of convenience facilities, touristic attraction, and activity in a rural theme park, fortified attitude will make tourists revisit the park and spread affirmative words of mouth to others. Therefore we need strategies to make high-preference tourists transmit affirmative communication and revisit the park.
This research, as a basis for building rural theme parks and establishing their management strategy, was initiated to provide logical approach to the characteristics of rural theme park selection with regard to potential users of rural tourism, and their behavioral intention. IPA (Importance Performance Analysis) is a marketing method that is used in the simultaneous analysis of user awareness of importance and performance regarding major characteristics of goods or services. To measure user satisfaction, this method makes users self-evaluate importance of each characteristic before using, and satisfaction after using, which renders it possible to compare and analyze both the comparative importance and satisfaction of each characteristic. This research, utilizing IPA analysis method, delves into which characteristics potential tourists of rural theme parks value highly, analyzes the difference between importance and satisfaction regarding the user awareness of the characteristics of rural theme park selection, examines the relation between the awareness and the behavioral intention, observes the touristic process of rural theme parks, and empirically reviews how much users believe in the characteristics that they felt important in the tour.
The concepts of characteristics of rural theme park selection and behavioral intention, which are the major variables that this research utilized in its empirical review, are derived from preceeding studies. For the data collection of the empirical study, I have used questionnaire method that is facile for the systematic collection of information from respondents for the purpose of understanding or measuring certain facets of samples that a research is interested in. I carried out the questionnaire research at Anseong Farm Land that opened in April 2012. 300 copies of questionnaire were distributed out of which 235 effective ones were gathered and used for the empirical analysis.
For the analysis of hypothesis testing, frequency analysis was conducted to understand the demographic features and rural theme park use status of the research subjects. Reliability analysis and factor analysis regarding the characteristics of rural theme park selection were conducted, and Cronbach' Alpha value was given. To analyze the difference between the importance and satisfaction of the characteristics of rural theme park selection, corresponding sample T-test and ANOVA analysis were conducted.
This research, through IPA analysis about the characteristics of rural theme park selection, explains what differences occur between importance and satisfaction for each selection characteristic, clarify which factors are over-invested or under-invested, and provides useful data which can be referred to when establishing strategic plans regarding construction and management of rural theme parks. Also, through hypothesis testing, this research arrives at the conclusion that there is a significant difference between the importance and satisfaction of rural theme park selection characteristics according to demographic and visitors' characteristics, and that satisfaction level of rural theme parks gives significant effect on behavioral intention. Such conclusion provides policy implications that can be applied to the phase of construction and operation of rural theme parks. I hope that this research will contribute to researches and actual pursuit of rural theme parks.