1 Introduction
This study continues and extends a review of the nature and scale of tourism and holidaymaking in the lower Waitaki Valley, defined as the relatively unmodified stretch of river extending from the Waitaki Dam, above Kurow, to the sea (Kearsley & Middleton, 2004). As a result of timing and scheduling imperatives, the earlier study reported on the supply side (operators, accommodation facilities, service providers and other formal and informal organisations) but was not able to report on visitor attitudes, behaviour and perceptions. Previous studies, carried out as a part of the Project Aqua hydro-electricity resource consent process, had reported on recreational behaviour, principally the recreational patterns of the local community, but also those of a small number of international tourists and other domestic holidaymakers from outside the region.
What had not been estimated, at any point, was the extent and importance of river-oriented activity for the tourist and holidaymaker markets, their perceptions of the scenic and amenity value of the river valley, the significance of the river itself as a tourism resource and the relative significance of the lower Waitaki in the overall regional context. Thus, while it was known that substantial numbers of tourists travelled through the valley and sometimes used local services and facilities, it was not known whether this was as a purposive visit to the lower Waitaki, of itself, or simply the result of needing to traverse the area in order to arrive somewhere else, such as Mount Cook or the hydro lakes of the upper Waitaki. In the same way, while it was known that significant numbers of visitors stayed at such accommodation complexes as the Kurow motor camp or in bed and breakfast accommodation, there was no sense of how far the lower Waitaki was a significant component of their holiday, what they did or how they perceived the scenic, amenity and recreational values of the river.
In order to fill this information gap, which is critical to the understanding of the current scale of regional tourism and its future prospects, the objective of this study is to survey samples of both groups, the travelling population and those in accommodation, in order to establish patterns of behaviour and perceptions of the environment.
