Using Tech to Expand Access to the Great Outdoors

This summer saw continued increases in travel by Americans craving vacations and exploration in a post-COVID environment. Millions have been hitting the road or taking to the air in search of the great vacation—in June alone, the Transportation Security Administration screened a record-breaking 2.99 million passengers in a single day.

The great outdoors is a popular vacation destination for Americans, and as Americans seek to explore the beauty of the nation’s parks and recreational sites, there is a demand for technology that can enhance important aspects of these experiences. Planning summer adventures can be exciting, though it sometimes involves navigating many details—such as researching parks, booking campsites, and understanding hours, amenities, and availability.

As the senior leader overseeing Booz Allen’s support of the Recreation.gov platform, and as an avid hiker and outdoor enthusiast himself, Will Healy is continually thinking of ways to increase the visitor experience and make the great outdoors more accessible for everyone.

Recreation.gov is an interagency program run by the Forest Service. It provides a modern reservation management platform that serves as a resource for planning outdoor recreational activities on federal lands. Will’s role has given him a unique perspective on the opportunities that new technologies can offer in improving accessibility and streamlining the planning process.

“We can leverage innovative technologies to put data to work for good,” Will says, “ensuring more inclusive and user-friendly experiences for everyone.”

In a recent Outdoor Recreation Consumer Study, Booz Allen surveyed 3,000 people from across the United States to gather data on how technology might enhance outdoor experiences and improve accessibility to federal lands.

With more than 4,500 recreation locations and more than 125,000 reservable activities across the country, Recreation.gov offers plenty of options for getting outdoors. Many of these reservable activities are in iconic places, are used to capacity, and are reserved months in advance. So, when it comes to planning trips to these amazing locations, user experience matters.

The survey results reflect how technology impacts and improves the park experience for travelers:

• Eight out of 10 U.S. adults say that technology can enhance their park experience.
  
• Nearly half of travelers with a disability who responded indicated they are more likely to visit a national park, national forest, or other federal land if they can book in advance.
• 44% of respondents are more likely to visit if they can find information online about the accessibility level of a park.
• Seven out of 10 say the ease of booking is an important factor when planning a trip to a national park.

With findability tools, smart search, planned alerts, a robust mobile app, and guest checkout options, Recreation.gov has been a model for consumer-friendly design for the federal government, paving the way and setting the standard for a modern travel planning experience.

“There is a clear demand for enhanced digital tools that make planning travel to and accessing public lands more seamless and inclusive,” Will says.

Will and the Booz Allen team that supports Recreation.gov are passionate about the federal government’s commitment to accessibility, driving new innovations that will further enhance experiences for visitors with disabilities.

This need is underscored by a telling data point: Nearly 50% of survey respondents say that it’s important to have information on accessibility in national parks and other federal lands. And eight out of 10 respondents agree that technology can create a more accessible national parks experience for disabled citizens.

However, accessibility looks different depending on a person’s disability. Someone who uses a wheelchair may need paved paths and ramps to get around a campground, while someone on the autism spectrum may require low-sensory areas, away from crowds and loud noises.

“That’s why people must have access to data-enabled recommendations and personalized information to make decisions about travel planning,” Will says. “Otherwise, those with a disability may arrive at a site only to discover that it doesn’t meet their needs. For many, this may be more than a mild disappointment. It may make it so that they are unable to stay.”

Will wants to provide individuals “with as much contextual information as possible, so they can feel confident that, when they venture into the great outdoors, they’ll have an experience that matches their needs.”

Finding worthwhile information can be tricky. Searching through every campsite or national recreation area to find one that meets very specific needs can be tedious. “That’s like visiting a library and trying to read the first page of every book,” Will explains.

Search features have reduced some of the strain, but don't always go far enough. For example, if a user searched for “accessible camping near Yellowstone for 5 people in August,” the results would use filters for ADA compliance, location, site size, and dates. These individual filters might narrow down the results, provided the data is there.

However, “it still doesn’t tell the user everything they need to know to decide if the site is optimal for them,” says Will, “Especially if they need to plan for a particular disability.”

Enter the hive mind.

One-third of survey respondents say they factor visitor reviews into their decision making, and 40% of respondents crowdsource information from fellow visitors about accessibility.

Message forums, site ratings, and online reviews mean people’s opinions and insights are readily available, and customers are likely to use them to find the information they need to plan an amazing trip.

With AI, Booz Allen is taking the next step—putting that crowdsourced data more readily at people’s fingertips.

"Leveraging AI to crowdsource data and implement it into search platforms can transform the customer experience,” Will explains. “We want to make this content a larger part of contextual search in order to take a major step forward in helping visitors of all abilities find outdoor recreation activities and opportunities that fit their needs.”