Page 97 - Clackamas County Watertourism Strategic Plan. Final.v3

STRATEGIC PLAN FOR WATER-BASED TOURISM IN CLACKAMAS COUNTY, OREGON THE MARKET
5-55

The national and Oregon market tend to be 60-65% male, and younger than the national
Table 5-12: Non-motorized Water-based and Beach Activities average (except canoeists who are about even with the national average). Most (60-70%) are

Average # married with kids and are more likely to live in urban areas compared to the average U.S.
% Average #
User Household outdoor consumer. Windsurfers and Stand Up paddlers are the most ethnically diverse group
Activity Population of Time for
Occasions Members xxv
Participating Participant of paddlers with 25% of the participants being Hispanic . Non-motorized boaters in Oregon
Participating
are generally well educated, with over half in a state-level survey reporting a bachelor’s
White-water canoeing,
2,911,759 12.5 5.8 2.2 degree or higher, and 75% reporting incomes greater than the Oregon median income, after
kayaking, rafting
adjusting for inflation. Households with whitewater only boaters are more likely to have
Flat-water canoeing, sea
kayaking, rowing, Stand Up 3,982,657 11.7 10 2.2 above average household incomes while flatwater only paddlers are more likely to have
Paddle boarding, tubing, below average household incomes. Residents who engage in both activities are also more
/floating likely to be in the below average income category. This may be due in part to the high
Surfing / ocean stand-up 906,839 1.6 13.6 1.9 xxvi
paddling proportion of young people who engage in both activities . Non-motorized boating occurs
at all ages, though it is particularly high amongst people in the 18 to 34 age range and
Windsurfing / kiteboarding 696,961 <1.0 32.7 1.4
declines with age. Whitewater participation declines quicker than flatwater.
Sailing 1,235,451 1.8 16.3 2.2
Beach activities – ocean 17,274,553 53.2 8.3 2.8
Table 4-12 shows the participation rates of the most popular water-based activities. The data
Beach activities – lakes, 15,415,008 32.5 11.8 2.8 were collected through household surveys in which the respondent could list all activities in
reservoirs, rivers
which they participate. Therefore, these data are not mutually exclusive. For example,
Swimming / playing in outdoor
14,776,997 20.7 15.2 2.7 respondents who would check “surfing” on the survey form were also allowed to list “beach
pools / spray parks
activities- ocean,” and considering how people surf, they most likely would. Therefore, the
Snorkeling / SCUBA diving 1,013,127 1.3 15 1.7 percent of population participating includes double counting, however the user occasion data
source: SCORP 2011
does not since one cannot perform two activities at the same time. The most important
information for Clackamas County in Table 4-12 is the user occasions and the frequency of participation for whitewater, flatwater boating/floating, and for freshwater beach
activities.

There are approximately 2.9 million visitations to whitewater recreational areas in the state on an annual basis. Households with whitewater boaters go approximately 6 times
per year and have about 2 people on each trip. Flatwater boaters go more often. There are approximately 3.9 million visitations to flatwater areas and these households go
about 10 times per year with about 2 people per trip xxvii . Data from this study’s statewide survey shows that the average party size for non-motorized boaters is about 3 people.