본 연구의 목적은 자연경관이 수려한 섬진강변에 조성된 자전거 길의 이용객 행태를 분석하고 중요도와 성취도의 관계성을 파악하여 섬진강 자전거길 이용활성화를 위한 기초자료를 얻는데 있다. 설문조사는 일대일 면접법으로 종주인증센터가 설치된 3곳에서 실시하였다. 유치권은 전국이며 처음 방문자와 일박이일 이상의 일정이 상대적으로 많았다. 방문목적은 신체적 보다는 정신적 건강을 위한 것이 더 많았으며 섬진강변의 아름다운 경관이 가장 큰 매력요인이다. 동호회의 참여가 저조하며 일정상의 이유로 주변관광지의 방문율은 낮았다. 자전거길 이용에 있어서 중요한 것은 접근성, 안전성, 자전거길 상태, 쾌적성, 편의성이며 이용연계성은 상대적으로 낮았다. 자전거 길은 수려한 경관 속에 안전하고 쾌적하게 조성되어야 하나 용이한 접근성을 확보하는 것도 매우 중요한 것으로 파악되었다. 성취도에서는 쾌적성과 안전성은 높게, 접근성과 편의성은 낮게 평가되었다. 세부항목을 분석해보면 성취도는 수려한 주변경관과 혼잡하지 않는 것이 높았으며 자전거 정비 시설의 미비가 가장 낮았다. 중요도와 성취도를 비교하면 성취도가 중요도에 비하여 낮았으며 통계적으로 유의하였다. 외부적 환경요인인 접근성이 가장 큰 차이가 있었다. 반면에 세부항목에 있어서는 혼잡정도, 주변경관 및 체험활동은 통계적으로 유의하지는 않았지만 성취도가 더 높아 섬진강 자전거 길의 가장 큰 만족요인인 것으로 판명되었다. IPA 결과, 지속적인 유지가 필요한 항목은 주변경관, 안내판, 보행과 차량으로부터 안전성 및 용이한 접근성이며 집중적인 개선이 필요한 항목은 자전거 여행 후 귀가 시 교통 편리성, 포장재료 및 훼손정도 등이다. 반면에 현 상태를 유지하는 것이 효율적인 항목은 인근 농촌마을에서의 체험, 인근 관광지로의 접근성, 주변 관광지이며 자전거 정비시설은 중요도에 비하여 성취도가 아주 낮았다. 중요도는 낮으나 성취도가 높게 평가된 항목들은 그 노력을 다른 항목에 투자하는 것이 더 효과적이다. 그러나 여기에 포함된 혼잡정도 항목에 있어서는 자전거길 활성화를 위해서 오히려 이용객을 더 유치하는 노력이 필요하다고 판단된다.
The purpose of this study is to analyze the behavior of users of the Seomjin River cycling road, which is surrounded by gorgeous natural landscape. Further, we aim to understand the correlation between the importance and performance of various factors rated by users to obtain baseline data that can help to increase the usage of the bike path. We conduct a survey by performing one-on-one interviews at three locations, all of which have a certification center that verifies the completion of the bike path. The bike path attracts visitors from all over the country. First-time visitors and travel plans involving stays of at least one night account for a relatively high percentage of users. The primary purpose of the visit was more related to mental health issues rather than physical health issues. The most attractive feature of the Seomjin River is the beautiful landscape. However, the participation rate from clubs is low, and the visit rate to nearby tourist attractions is also low for scheduling reasons. Important factors that are considered using the bike path are accessibility, safety, bike path condition, amenity, and convenience, while the connectivity has a relatively low importance. We confirm that the convenience of the bike path is as important as providing a safe and amenity while surrounded by gorgeous landscape. The amenity and safety are rated highly for performance and while accessibility and convenience have low rating. The analysis of the detail evaluation items showed that the performance was high for surrounding gorgeous landscape, and non-crowded setting and performance was lowest for inadequate bike repair facilities. A comparison of the importance and performance showed that the performance lower than the importance, and had statistical significance. Accessibility, which is an external environmental factor, had the largest difference. On the other hand, for the detail evaluation items, the degree of crowding, surrounding landscape, and experience opportunities did not have statistical significance, but had a higher performance. This confirmed that they were factors that had the highest satisfaction for the Seomjin River cycling road. Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) results indicated that the items requiring consistent maintenance were surrounding landscape, bike path signs, safety from pedestrians and vehicles, and convenient accessibility. Items that required specific improvement were convenient transportation for returning home, pavement material, and the degree of damage. On the other hand, items that were more effective in terms of their ability to maintain the current conditions were experiences of nearby rural villages, accessibility to nearby tourist attractions, local tourist attractions, and bike repair facilities. The bike repair facilities option had a considerably low performance compared to the importance. For items that were rated with low importance but high performance, it was more effective to allocate the effort for corresponding sections to other items. However, for the degree of crowding, which belonged to this particular category, it was actually more efficient to place on attracting users in order to increase the usage of the bike path.