Mapping tourism-recreational activities of locals and visitors in Hood Canal, Washington using InSEAM, an online mapping tool.

In Washington State, the Hood Canal watershed provides diverse opportunities for tourism/recreational activities such as camping, boating, shellfishing, swimming, and hiking. Current tourism literature does not have a strong focus on local recreation trends and whether locals partake in different recreational activities than tourists who visit the same region. In order to address this gap, I collected and analyzed social spatial data using an online map survey, InSEAM, to understand the activities of Hood Canal locals and visitors. The survey asked various demographic questions, perception questions about the health of the Hood Canal and the impact of tourism-recreational activities. On the online map, participants drew polygons, lines or points to represent locations of where they partake in tourism/recreational activities. Data was recoded into seven broad categories and analyzed using ArcGIS and Pearson chi squared test. Non-motorized shore activities accounted for the majority of recreational activities done in Hood Canal. Results show there are differences among the types of activities locals and tourists participated in as well as in their perception of how their activities impacted the overall health of the Hood Canal. InSEAM was an effective tool in collecting data stored in GIS format and removed the need to digitize paper maps or convert them into GIS formats. It provided a simple way to engage participants by allowing them to complete the survey at their convenience. To make the tool even more effective, educational information about mapping should be sent out to users beforehand. The results provide tourism brokers, local residents, tourists and managers with visual representations of how the watershed is being used for recreation and tourism purposes by locals and visitors