Forecasting recreation demand in the upper Savannah River Basin

Abstract Saunders, Paul R., Herman F. Senter, and James P. Jarvis, Forecasting Recreation Demand in the Upper Savannah River Basin. Annals of Tourism Research 1981, VIII(2):236–256. The Upper Savannah River Basin in Georgia and South Carolina, USA, offers opportunities for a variety of recreation activities. Four major reservoirs, and a fifth one under construction, are available for recreation use. Most users live within 80 to 160 kilometers of the two principal reservoirs, Hartwell Lake and Clark Hill Lake. A recreation demand model was developed for these two reservoirs and the soon to be completed Russell Lake, basing total demand on projected population and participation rates for fourteen selected activities. Total demand, consisting of met and unmet demand, was predicted for 1976, 1980, 1990, 2000 and 2010. The model is a relatively simple tool which can be used by state, local, and regional planners to predict both demand for facilities, and the supply of facilities needed to meet future demand.