Visitor experience and ticketing system surveys at Timpanogos Cave National Monument (TICA)

Timpanogos Cave National Monument (TICA)

Focus group discussion guide for local community members

Introduction:

Hello, my name is [MODERATOR), I work for the Park Studies Unit at the University of Idaho. The purpose of this session is to meet with community members to better understand their experiences as a visitor to Timpanogos Cave National Monument, and also to gather opinions regarding management options at the park.

Before we begin I would like to tell you that the information that we obtain here will be anonymous, this means that your names will not be mentioned in the results. And the information you provide today will not be used for any purposes other than to help the park mangers. I also want to let you know that we are audio recording this session, but the recording will not be shared with anyone and will be used only to create a summary of our discussion. This research has been approved by the Office of Management and Budget and is in compliance with the Paperwork Reduction Act. The Office of Management and Budget control number for this collection is 1024-0224 and the expiration date is 8/31/2014.

This focus group will take about one hour to complete. Do you have any questions?

You do not have to use your full names during this discussion. We will refer to one another by using our first names only. So now, we will go around the room to introduce ourselves. Please tell us your first name, how long you have lived in the area and what you like most about living here.

Now we will start with our first set of questions.

Topic Area 1 – VISITHIS2

1. Tell us about your visits to Timpanogos Cave National Monument.

• About how often do you visit the Monument? When is the last time you visited?

Topic Area 1 – GR1

• Generally, when you visit this site who visits with you?

Topic Area 3 – ACT1

• What do you like to do there?

Topic Area 3 – EVALSERV8

2. How many of you have hiked on the trail to the cave?

• How safe did you feel while hiking the trail to the cave?

• Have you heard from others about their feeling concerning safety on the trail?

• Is there anything you think the park should do to ensure visitor safety?

Topic Area 3 – ACT15 (variation)

3. Have you ever taken the cave tour?

• Please tell us about your experience obtaining tickets for the tour.

  • Were you able to get tickets for the tour times you wanted?

  • Did you use the phone reservation system?

    • Was it satisfactory? If not, why not?

  • Is there anything else you want to share about your experience obtaining tickets?

Topic Area 3 – FVIS20

4. The park is considering changing to an on-line tour ticketing system. Using this system may cause an increase of $3 per ticket to cover the reservation service fee. If this were to happen, visitors would be able to purchase tickets online replacing the phone system and some tickets would still be available on a first come first served basis.

• What is your opinion of this reservation system change?

Topic Area 6 – EVALSERV22 (variation)

5. If you have taken a Cave Tour recently (within the last two years), please tell us about your experience on the tour.

• What did you like most about the cave tour? Why?

• What did you like least about the cave tour? Why?

Topic Area 6 – OPMGMT11

6. Park managers at TICA recently changed the size of cave tour groups from 20 people to 16 people per tour.

• Have you experienced cave tours with these two different tour sizes?

• What is your opinion of this change in the size of cave tours?

Topic Area 6 – OPMGMT11 (variation)

7. Park managers are considering changing the frequency of the cave tours, from every 10 minutes (current) to every 15 minutes (proposed), which would mean fewer tours per day.

• What is your opinion of this proposed change?

Topic Area 3 – EVALSERV11

8. Have you ever purchased anything at the park concession area?

• Please tell us about your experience with the park concession services.

• Please tell us your opinion of the concession service area (e.g., selection, prices, quality, service).

Topic Area 3 – OPMGMT3

9. Is there anything you would like to tell us about Timpanogos Cave National Monument?

Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: The National Park Service is authorized by 16 U.S.C. 1a-7 to collect this information. We will use this information to evaluate visitor experiences at Timpanogos Cave National Monument. Your response is voluntary and anonymous. Your name will never be associated with your responses. A Federal agency may not conduct or sponsor, and you are not required to respond to, a collection of information unless it displays a currently valid OMB Control Number.

We estimate that it will take 60 minutes to complete this focus group session. You may send comments concerning the burden estimates or any aspect of this collection to Lena Le, NPS Visitor Services Project, College of Natural Resources, University of Idaho, 875 Perimeter Drive MS1139, Moscow, ID, 83844-1139; lenale@uidaho.edu (email).

OMB Control Number: 1024-0224

Expiration Date: 8-31-2014

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