Abstract or Keywords
Understanding visitor use has become a major research focus within coastal protected areas (CPAs). Increased visitor use may lead to impacts to the visitor experience and to natural resources. Empirical information and baseline data, collected through rigorous research procedures, is needed to deliberately plan for and manage visitor use to protect coastal natural resources and the quality of visitors' experiences. This study explores the use of location-based services (LBS) data to better understand the capabilities of the technology and to determine if LBS data utility can grow beyond general visitor estimation to answer more detailed management questions. The results of this study found that although LBS data can provide reliable data for high use areas, its ability to address research questions in low use areas is nominal in their current state. The outcomes and benefits of this study are to create reliable visitor-based data and results necessary to better understand and manage visitor use. These data are also intended to help inform and guide visitor use management decisions at coastal areas and to allow future monitoring of the area to proactively protect both the visitor experience and key resources.