Temporal Activity Patterns of Theme Park Visitors

Abstract

In this article, we illustrate the importance of time in understanding theme park visitor activity patterns. The study that is described here made use of the GPS (Global Positioning System) technology to track and record the time–space trajectories of visitors at the PortAventura theme park in Catalonia, Spain. The findings suggest that visitors to theme parks do demonstrate distinct diurnal and intradiurnal mass behavior patterns or rhythms of activity. The investigation of temporal activity patterns holds two main advantages: the first is that compared with spatial activity patterns, it is more straightforward to aggregate, present, and compare temporal patterns; the second is that the external validity of temporal activity patterns is generally higher than that of spatial activity patterns. That is to say that temporal activity patterns are more likely to repeat themselves in other environments. Practical, theoretical, and methodological insights that can be relevant to both researchers and site managers are discussed.