백두대간 운영관리전략을 위한 방문객의 이용행태와 만족도 조사 연구

Abstract

Baekdudaegan is the geological system unique in Korea, which incorporates the traditional views on ecology and humanity. Korea’s traditional geological system used to be a concept of ecological space, in which the mountains and water were not recognized to be in a competitive relationship, but rather in an organic relationship. Through the Japanese colonial period, the significance of Baekdudaegan and the geological titles in the system were fell into oblivion until the 1980s when Sangyeongpyo, a geographical book that describes the Baekdudaegan system, was discovered. From then on, the titles and the geological system have been getting a fresh recognition. The rediscovery of the place names and promulgation thereof were initiated by pioneering individuals and social organizations who were devoted to preserving Baekdudaegan, and at last, the government answered to this endeavor by enacting a law for protecting Baekdudaegan. Baekdudaegan received legal status and became the criteria for setting Baekdudaegan Retention Area, and these were partly possible because of the fact that Baekdudaegan holds the national identity, biodiversity, and enormous ecological status. The policies related to Baekdudaegan is no longer than two decades since they started in the 1990s. The basic policy perspectives toward Baekdudaegan are sometimes contradictory or in consensus among different entities such as the central government, civil organizations, mountain climbers’ clubs, regional governments, the Ministry of Environment, the Korea Forest Service and the Korea National Park Service. In other words, each agency conducts different administrative policies, and this makes it challenging to manage Baedudaegan as a whole with an identical policy. Baekdudaegan is an ecological axis with a length of 701km across the north and south of the Korean peninsula. As this axis passes through a number of regional governments, national parks, national forests under the management of the Korea Forest Service, the interests of various agencies are intricately intertwined. This study conducted a survey of the visitors who visited Baekdudaegan between 2015 and 2018. The survey aims to understand the fundamental usage pattern and satisfaction and to provide a policy concept that might help future policy-making in related issues. The results of the analysis on the survey are as follows: This study conducted a face-to-face survey of the visitors who visited Baekdudaegan during a four-year period between 2015 and 2018. In total, 2,519 responses were analyzed. According to the answers, the most typical usage pattern of Baekdudaegan was of visitors in their 30s or 40s who tripped Baekdudaegan for a day on weekends. They traveled about three hours to reach Baekdudaegan, and most of them had visited Baekdudaegan more than three times. Residents of Seoul, Gyeonggi-do or Chungcheong-do were most common among the Baekdudaegan visitors; visitors spent about 44 thousand Korean won; and most visitors utilized information on the internet concerning the climbing plans. This paper selected nine factors that most influenced the satisfaction of the visitors to Baekdudaegan and conducted a multiple regression analysis. According to the analysis in regards to the influence of independent variables on dependent variables, the primitive landscape appeals the most to the satisfaction of the visitors. The sense of accomplishment when reached the top and the accessibility to the Baekdudaegan followed as the second and third prominent factors. This study, based on the results of the surveys of the visitors, suggests that the basic policy for the Baekdudaegan give priority to the conservation of natural ecosystem and natural environment. The policies for Baekdudaegan are still unfolding, and as related laws have been enacted, the fundamental direction of policies have shifted toward connecting ridges, reverting past reckless developments on Baekdudaegan and prohibiting further damage on the ecosystem. Nevertheless, various interest groups and administrative units which have a stake in Baekdudaegan conflict in regards to the future of Baekdudaegan. In this situation, this study is significant as it can provide a basic data for promoting mutual-understanding and relieve these conflicts in interests between those entities.