Counting users of informal recreation facilities

Visitor monitoring is increasingly frequently applied as a management tool for informal recreation sites and as a basis for strategic regional planning for recreation. Visitor monitoring comprises two distinct components; visitor surveying and visitor counting. This paper concentrates on visitor counting as an aid to recreation management and planning. The methodologies applied to counting visitors on three case study sites are described in detail. The case studies include an area-wide site, a network of canal towpaths, and a linear cycle route. Parameters dictating visitor counting methodology are defined, and the benefits and limitations of data from visitor quantification programmes are considered.