The need for parks in bangladesh

Çay (2015) observes that in recent years along with the increasing competition and physical as well as mental pressure in daily lives, recreation and entertainment is becoming an indispensable need. She argues that there is a necessity of an open place where people can meet and spend some time together, which might help them to socialize and share views and opinions. She also mentions how recreation and entertainment helps a person to do better in life and enhances the life style as well as the knowledge of a person. They also provide a place for recreation, relaxation and serve as a place for social gathering. She goes on to stress the importance of open spaces and recommends parks to be planned for everyone keeping the mental, physical, social needs in mind Çay (2015) describe parks as open green spaces which gives the busy cities and busy lives a touch of tranquility.

Recently the view regarding the necessity of parks and recreation in people’s life has changed and the idea of it’s contribution to social and personal life has developed. Therefore, the importance of proper design for such parks and also the investment can mark a change in the output that is healthier and active people and future generations. Parks and outdoor spaces along with recreation, which is any activity which are done in leisure time which can be educative or something funny, has a great influence on education. A big practical example is the pre-school stage of children. They go to parks, some take leads in their play, they learn to cooperate, organize, take lead and participate according to their will which is an amazing skill required later.

In conclusion it is perfectly understandable that parks and recreational sectors are very much important in a human being’s life. Therefore, proper research and planning must be undertaken in these sectors, and parks and recreational facilities should be improved for the psychological wellbeing of the general population.

Current Status of Parks in Bangladesh

For last few decades, the travel and tourism (T&T) area in Bangladesh has progressively turned into an essential driver of financial flourishing, also, social advancement. It animates development through employments and venture creation, and gives huge foreign exchange returns. Theme parks or entertainment parks are one of the biggest sectors in tourism industry. Developing countries like Bangladesh are worried about numerous economic and social development issues. Some consider tourism as a noteworthy power for financial change. Therefore, amusement parks are currently under focus. More rides and facilities are introduced in the theme parks to make people satisfied. Environment and weather of the parks also matter.

Currently, investors are more interested to invest in the entertainment parks. Investors are concentrating more on diversification and theme-based parks. They believe that diversification approach will boost the domestic tourism and also attract the visitors including the foreign tourists. Both the private and public sectors are investing in the entertainment parks to ensure high contributions to the national economy.

In 2017, the total contribution of Travel & Tourism to GDP was by 7. 2% which shows a huge development and progress of the tourism sector. And it can be strongly said that amusement parks played a very important role here. Recently, there are a lot of amusement parks are built in Bangladesh. And people can easily spend some fruitful time in a very short span of time. If this area gets more investment and attention, it will contribute to the GDP in larger way and also attract the domestic and foreign visitors easily. But this needs a more standard and proper planning and more diversification with enriched technology. Investors can follow more sophisticated way to make the parks more comfortable to attract the foreign tourists. Government assistance will appreciate the private investors and encourage more to invest on. Therefore, tourism can open another skyline for Bangladesh. And entertainment parks are one of the most potential area in the tourism sector to invest on and attract the tourists. In fact, tourism in Bangladesh is turning into a rising issue both for people in general and private parts to set up their qualification for achieving a fruitful business and advertising exercises advancement.

Attitudinal Factors affecting Visitor Perception

Schiffman & Kanuk (2007) describe three components of attitude: Cognitive, Affective and Behavorial. While the cognitive dimension relates to thoughts or ideas people have about an object, the affective dimension relates to feelings or emotions experienced in regard to the object. Behavorial dimension is how a person acts in regard of the object. Ajzen and Fishbein (1991) emphasize that attitude influences both intention and behavior. Therefore, to properly evaluate the perception a visitor has regarding a park, it is crucial to understand the attitudinal factors of the visitors, which influence their cognitive dimension and behavorial dimension, leading to positive or negative visitor behavior. Several researchers have identified attitudinal factors which are crucial in improving a visitor’s perception regarding the park. Quintal and Ian (2008) used attributes like perceived attractions, perceived quality, perceived risk and perceived value to measure visitor satisfaction while Prayag (2008) made use of comfort facilities, safety and infrastructure, cultural attractions, shopping tourist attractions, ambience, variety and accessibility. However, they failed to rank the factors in terms of importance to the visitor.

Çoban (2012) made use of factors such as tourist attractions, basic facilities, cultural attractions, touristy substructures and transportation options, natural environment, variety and economic factors and found that cognitive and affective dimensions most affected satisfaction. She found the most important factors affecting perception to be tourist attractions, tourist substructures and emotional image factors.

Similarly, Sakip, Akhir & Omar (2015) identified four main factors contributing to the success of a park: Good of access and linkage (GAL), degree of comfort and image (DCI), user and activities (UAC) and sociability (SOC). They found that the GAL factor is the most important factor. A high GAL factor, increases the demand for sociability, which increases the visitor’s social behavior, thus increasing the overall activity in the park, resulting in an improved identity or image of the park. Along with the safety and security of the park, this improved image results in a higher DCI factor. As DCI improves, general perception increases and becomes more positive, leading more people to visit the park. Ray and Hossain (2015) while researching visitor’s attitude in parks in Shaheed A. H. M. Kamaruzzaman Central Park and Rajshahi Zoo, Bangladesh, made use of 6 factors: “ Safety and Security”, “ Food and Beverage”, “ Attractions”, “ Price”, “ Variety of Animals and Birds” and “ Environment”. They found that “ Attraction” factor was the most important to visitors while “ Safety and Security” and “ Variety of Animals and Birds” were the lowest affecting factors contributing to positive visitor perception, followed by “ Food and Beverages”. The second and third most attitudinal factors are “ Environment” and “ Price” respectively.

Similarly, Hossain, Hossain, Alim and Ray (2013) determined ten identical attitudinal factors to measure visitor satisfaction among visitors of Zia Park in Rajshahi, Bangladesh. The attitudinal factors arranged in decreasing order of importance are: “ Environmental (Natural & Artificial) Scenery”, “ Safety and Security”, “ Structure and Location”, “ Transportation and Communication System”, “ Management Services”, “ Ride Facilities”, “ Entertainment and Recreation Facilities”, “ Visitors’ Facility Services”, “ Food and Beverage Facilities” and “ Price Charges” Reviewing the literature, it can be seen that overall, affective dimension most affected visitor perception. Most visitors do not mind about the price charges and are more focused on the tourist attractions and the natural beauty around them. Good mean of transportation is also very crucial to the visitors, which greatly affects their perception regarding a place.

We can also see that overall, most of the researchers have identified and worked with similar fators which result oin positive perception. The minor discrepancies seen is due to the difference in the consumer behavior among different populations.