Abstract
This study explored the relationships among leisure involvement, sense of place and restorative perception of the place. This empirical study was completed in Big Bend National Park in Texas, USA between 2008 and 2009. The self-reported questionnaire survey and convenient sampling approachs were used to conduct the research. A total of 205 visitors completed the survey, with 145 subjects sampled during the winter, and 60 drawn during the summer. The SPSS 18.0 and LISREL 8.52 statistic software were used to test the study model. Results showed that leisure involvement definitely had significant positive influences on sense of place and restorative perception, and sense of place was the important mediate variable between leisure involvement and restoration perception. However, there was little significant difference in leisure involvement and restorative perception when visitors engaged in different activities, and there was also no significant difference in restorative perception when visitors preferred different kinds of landscape. In this study, it has shown that the enhancement sense of the place could increase visitors' restorative perception, and this should be reference for the recreational department authority.