| Summary: | 博士 === 國立臺灣大學 === 地理學研究所 === 88 === The Penghu Islands, formerly known as the Pescadore Islands by the European, are located off the western coast of Taiwan. Owing to its ecological and landscape natural resources and relatively less development, Penghu is very suitable for tourism development. The external driving forces of visiting Phenghu for tourists from mainland Taiwan are very diverse, including climate, the availability of public facilities, and the promotion of private firms, etc. Tourists in Penghu are very different from those traveling inside Taiwan in terms of behavior and perception. In terms of “time budget”, the tourists tend to take the advantage of the weekend holidays, whole the facilities in Penghu can barely only offer sufficient services to meet the peak flows of tourists during the weekends. In terms of the “spatial behavior”, maritime and fishery activities are the most popular types for the tourists. In terms of “environmental perception”, environmental components perceived by the tourists include (1) weather, (2) beach and its ecosystems, (3) marine species, (4) sea and coast, (5) geologic formation of basalt, (6) plants, (7) islands, (8) sight-seeing landscape, (9) attractive landscape familiar to tourists, and (10) landscape of fishing village. Through the exercise of these contacts, the interaction between the tourists and the different environmental components is getting intensified. In terms of the “decision making”, for tourists the most important reason to visit Penghu is that they had never been there.
Through the participation observation and questionnaire, the information about the behavior and perception of tourists in Penghu can properly be derived. One major research finding is that the activities of tourists are subject to the external driving forces of Penghu. Owing to the remote characteristics and limited information before taking a trip to Penghu, the island images perceived by the tourists are quite vague rather than the specific recreational resources. Finally, the research results can provide a new dimension to tourists, government agencies, private firms, mass media, and residents in Penghu for their needs.
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