Analysis of other activities and where individuals stayed the night suggests that multiple day visitors to Maumee treat that site as a destination, but they recreate both in the State Park and the region. In contrast, multiple day visitors to Headlands visit the beach incidentally, while on trips to Northeastern Ohio to visit family or other attractions. These survey data suggest that Lake Erie beaches cannot be summed into one class. Amenities at the State Park and within the region affect visitation patterns for both single and multiple day trips. The average response is shown in panel C of Table 1.
Visitors generally agree that beach maintenance and cleanliness affect their decisions.
Facilities were relatively more important to visitors to Maumee, a result likely related to infrastructure. It is somewhat surprising, given the number of beach closings over the past few years, that water quality is not more important to visitation decisions. Individuals appear to be responding more to general changes in the level of water quality in Lake Erie in recent years, rather than episodic events of contamination in certain locations. These results will be utilized over the next few months to estimate the economic value of these two Lake Erie beaches. Such information can be used by state and local policymakers as they decide how to allocate and use scarce lakefront property in the future.