Accuracy of Planned Length of Stay 



Signs at registration stations directed visitors to register when entering. This 

 meant that visitors could only indicate expected rather than aotual time of departure. 

 Many factors, such as adverse weather and unexpected trail conditions, upset visitors' 

 time schedules. On the average, visitors who registered did not stay quite as long as 

 they had expected. Visitors who did not register, but who were interviewed both upon 

 entering and leaving, overestimated their stay by approximately 5 percent. About 61 

 percent of all registered groups who were interviewed upon exiting estimated the length 

 of their visit correctly (when both the planned and actual stay were expressed to the 

 nearest whole hour). Groups that came out earlier than planned made up 23 percent of 

 the total, and parties that stayed longer than planned accounted for 16 percent. 

 Generally, short stays (under 5 hours] were longer than expected, while longer visits 

 tended to be shorter than planned. Expected length of stay exceeded actual length 

 of stay by 10 percent for those registered groups who were interviewed upon exiting. 



Relationships of Visitor Characteristics, 

 Other Variahles to Rates 



All groups do not register; furthermore, certain types of visitors are less likely 

 to register than others. Therefore, the raw registration data not only gives an incom- 

 plete picture of the use of an area but also a distorted view. Information such as the 

 following on how a number of factors were related to registration rates could aid 

 managers in interpreting registration data and also in planning ways to raise registra- 

 tion rates, which is an important management objective. 



Sex and age. — Groups containing adult females generally registered at higher rates 

 than did all-male or teenage groups (table 3) . The groups that were made up entirely 

 of adult males had an estimated registration rate (66 percent) about equal to the over- 

 all average. All of the types of groups containing teenage boys or girls had below- 

 average rates (with the one exception of mixed adult and teenage females, in which 

 case only two groups were interviewed and both had registered) . 



Size of group. — The medium-sized groups (3 to 5 members) had higher estimated 

 registration rates than either the small or large groups (table 3). One-man groups 

 (all one-person groups were male) had the lowest registration rate of all, but those 

 who did register furnished more complete information than did larger groups. All one- 

 person registrations contained complete addresses, 84 percent provided ZIP codes, and 

 almost all gave date and time both in and out, travel compartment numbers, and planned 

 campsites. Presumably, the lone individual who registers sees some possible security 

 value in providing full information about his wilderness travel plans. 



Length of stay. — Visitors who stayed overnight registered at a higher rate than 

 visitors who did not (table 3). The shorter the stay, the less likely were visitors 

 to register. 



Place of residence. — Local residents (only 8 percent of all interviewed groups) 

 had a slightly lower registration rate than visitors who lived outside the local 

 area (table 3). There was no discernible difference in registration rates between 

 Montana residents and out-of-State visitors. 



Weather conditions. — Interviewers subjectively classified the weather conditions 

 at the time of the interview, and the registration rates for entering parties were 

 related to the weather (table 3). Data from exiting parties were not used because 

 weather conditions at the time they would have registered could no longer be observed. 

 Temperature had little effect on registration rates. Rain and snow, however, reduced 

 registration rates substantially. 



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