Abstract

Given the rise in popularity of river rafting, we need to schedule an optimal mix of trips of varying duration and propulsion to meet the needs of travelers and improve the company’s interests. To provide a wilderness experience for travelers, we should try to reduce the contacts during the traveling. We firstly analyze the traveling process. And one contact (on-river) is counted. We apply step-to-step method to this study. We firstly study this relationship when there is only one kind of travel days. Then we add another kind of travel days to draw the universal rule and finally we derive the relationship when there are many kinds of trips. In order to combine the contacts and company’s interests, we define two satisfaction degree functions by using fuzzy logic. We define a satisfaction degree function to describe the contacts. Then we define another function to describe the company’s interests. Lastly, we define a composite index to combine the two functions by giving them different weight. We base this model on maximizing this composite index and obtain the optimal schedule. When determining the carrying capacity of the river, we take contacts, company’s interests and river’s resources into account. In the same way, we define a satisfaction degree function for river’s resources. We finally define a composite index to combine the three factors by giving them different weights. We base this model on maximizing this composite index and derive the river’s carrying capacity.

Keywords:

Carrying capacity, composite index, contacts, step-to-step method, satisfaction degree,

References

Competing interests

The authors have no competing interests.

Open Access Policy

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Copyright

The authors have no competing interests.