• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.34 no.5
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• pp.454-465
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• 2020

This study measured the present number of encounters and established the evaluation criterion for the allowable number of encounters in the Seoseokdae summit area (SSA) of Mudeungsan National Park to examine managerial conditions of the number of visitors to the Seoseokdae trail section (STS). Data were obtained from a questionnaire survey of 263 visitors to STS selected through convenient sampling during June 2019. The average number of encounters in SSA was 18.7. Most of the respondents (95.4%) encountered fewer than 30 other visitors. The average maximum number of simultaneous users (AMNSU, measured at 15-minute intervals) in SSA was 13.4 persons (range: 3~31 persons). The AMNSU by the hour was the highest with 21.0 persons at 13-14, followed by 19.8 persons at 11-12, 15.5 persons at 14-15, 15.3 persons at 12-13, 12.3 persons at 10-11, and 10.8 persons at 8-9. Acceptable encounter number (AEN) developed by long-question format (LQF) was 59.2 persons, and that by short-question format (SQF) was 55.1 persons. AEN of the respondents who preferred "near-nature experience" at 27.5 persons was fewer than those who preferred "resort/tourism area like experience" at 46.6 persons. The present number of encounters and AMNUS (range: 3~31 persons) in SSA were fewer than AENs derived from LQF (59.2 persons) and SQF (55.1 persons). Eighty-three percent of the respondents preferred "near-nature experience," while only 10.5% of the respondents preferred "resort/tourism area like experience." 78.4% of the respondents did not perceive that SSA was crowded. The absolute majority of the respondents (92.3%) answered higher personal AEN than the perceived encounter numbers (PEN). The gaps between the personal AEN and the PEN were negatively correlated with perceived crowding.