Factors for Recreational Attendance

When it comes to recreational attendance, location, socioeconomic status, fads, and desired personal health levels are amongst several influential factors that contribute to recreational facility attendance. Let’s take a look at a few researched factors that relate to recreational attendance.

The first factor that seems to be a main detriment to a facility's attendance numbers is the distance needing to be traveled to participate in physical activity. One Australian study of a population determined that 53% use a formal recreation facility on a daily basis.1 Upon completion of this study, it is suggested that people are more likely to engage in physical activity when the distance to travel to a facility or park isn’t as far. In result, adding a physical activity center in a central location might result in increased attendance of the facility.

Customer satisfaction is a staple amongst any organization in the world. Customer satisfaction also has an effect on a facility’s attendance as well. A 2006 study found that when high levels of service quality perceptions and satisfaction were present, patrons were likely to re-use and recommend the facility.2 These results suggest that management personnel of recreational centers should focus on improving quality of service, which will in turn, increase satisfaction levels of recreational center users.

Overall, both facility location in a community and customer satisfaction of the facility are vital in maximizing attendance numbers. Pre construction should plan a purchase the correct central or even multiple locations to maximize facility memberships and retention. A facility’s administrative staff should make certain that employees are greeting people like it’s CiCi’s pizza, where they enthusiastically greet you when you walk in, and tell you goodbye upon leaving their facility.

1McCormack, G. R., Giles-Corti, B., Bulsara, M., & Pikora, T. J. (2006). Correlates of

distances traveled to use recreational facilities for physical activity behaviors. International Journal Of Behavioral Nutrition & Physical Activity, 318(10)

2Osman, R. W., Cole, S. T., & Vessell, C. R. (2006). Examining the role of perceived        service quality in predicting user satisfaction and behavioral intentions in a campus recreation setting. Recreational Sports Journal, 30(1)