Abstract
<title>Abstract</title> <p>National parks promote nature-based tourism, significantly contributing to regional economic development and ecological conservation. Despite their importance, more comprehensive research is needed to assess the effectiveness of national park management from both economic and visitor satisfaction perspectives. This study proposes a framework to address this gap by combining the economic contribution of national parks and visitor satisfaction, and then conducting a case study. A survey-based, quantitative approach was employed to assess the management effectiveness of Huangguoshu National Park in Guizhou, China. Four hundred twenty-four responses were collected from park visitors between August and December 2022. The economic contribution analysis revealed that Huangguoshu National Park generated a direct economic contribution of $546.3 million and a total of $978 million in 2022. Visitor satisfaction was rated at an average score of 3.87 out of 5, indicating a generally satisfactory trip for park visitors. These findings suggest that Huangguoshu National Park contributes to the local economy while providing a nearly satisfactory visitor experience. This highlights the significance of the evaluation framework in assessing and enhancing park management practices. The proposed framework effectively evaluates the effectiveness of national park management, offering novel and valuable insights for improving park management and development strategies, and provides a reference for future studies on the same topic.</p>