The main concept of social carrying capacity is based on the principle that 'there are limits to the number of users a given recreation site can accommodate in order to provide quality of recreation experience'. The quality of the experience is reveal...
The main concept of social carrying capacity is based on the principle that 'there are limits to the number of users a given recreation site can accommodate in order to provide quality of recreation experience'. The quality of the experience is revealed as user's satisfaction and perceived crowding. In this respect, studies of social carrying capacity have been frequently conducted by measuring perceived crowding and satisfaction. The purpose of this study is to identify the variables affecting perceived crowding, and causality bet-ween satisfaction and perceived crowding. Four hundred seventy six visitors were selected at Naejangsan National park on peak day of autumn excursion through on-site survey. The collected data were applied by factor analysis for categorizing the research variables, and multiple regression for finding the causality among variables. The study results are follows. The expectation of crowding, as a normative variable for perceived crowding, are categorized by three factors; circulation, user facility, and landscape. The circulation factor is the most powerful affecting perceived crowding among three factor. The landscape factor, however, do not have statistical significance on perceived crowding. The causality between satisfaction and perceived crowding is found. Although this relation is significant in statistics, magnitude of the coefficient is very small. It might be interpreted that satisfaction cannot be predicted simply from a user's perception of crowding, but a multi-dimensional concept such as adaptation and coping behavior.