YOUTHS' OUTDOOR WATER RECREATION PREFERENCES IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

Recreation plays an important part in our development as an individual and improves our overall well-being. Singaporeans recognise this fact as this is shown in the increasing demand for recreation activities, especially in outdoor water recreation. Singapore, being the tropical island where summer is all year round, makes it the perfect place for outdoor water activities to occur. The research documented in this thesis addresses the growing demand in outdoor water recreation amongst youths in Singapore. The limited amount of land coupled with an increase in demand makes it imperative that preferences of our youths are given serious thought. This study investigates the types of outdoor water recreation activities that youths prefer and the determinants of their participation in outdoor water recreation activities. The study results indicate that (1) regular users and youths who are interested in such activities differ significantly; (2) regular users ranked kayaking, wakeboarding and diving as the top 3 favourite activities in order of preference; (3) potential users ranked kayaking, diving, wakeboarding as the top 3 favourite activities in order of preference; (4) the determinants of participation for regular users in decreasing order of importance were cost & facilities, environmental and accessibility and social support factors; (5) and the determinants of participation for potential users in decreasing order of importance were environmental, time and facilities , accessibility, competition and cost.