Ecotourism plays an important role in the protection and conservation of the natural environment, particularly in protected areas such as Mt. Pulag National Park. However, unregulated tourism threatens the biodiversity of protected areas and affects the satisfaction of the recreational tourist. This is where carrying capacity comes into play. In the case of Mt. Pulag National Park, it has been observed that there is an increasing trend in the annual number of visitors climbing Mt. Pulag, which is already beyond the limits suggested by the Ecosystems Research and Development Bureau. This situation led the researcher to study and determine the social carrying capacity of Mt. Pulag National Park in terms of the visitors' perception towards crowding and its impact on their overall quality of experience. The study employed a descriptive research design. A total of 416 respondents were selected through purposive sampling method. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the researcher used online or web-based survey using Google Forms. The selected respondents were visitors who have climbed Mt. Pulag and have posted photographs about their climb through Instagram.
Statistical analysis was used to determine the strength and association between each of the variables used in the study. Based on the survey, it appears that there is a seasonality of climb during the peak months of December to March, especially on weekends or long holidays. During those times, there were reports of perception of crowding by the tourists, particularly at the summit. As a result, the level of satisfaction of the tourists were affected. The study further investigated the motivations of the climbers and its effect on the quality of their experience after the climb. Based on the survey the importance of purpose of climb, perception of crowding, level of botheredness. likelihood to return, likelihood to recommend the climb, and overall quality of experience have statistical significance.
The study recommends that the government should ensure that a social carrying capacity study in terms of the quality of satisfaction of visitors should be integrated in the ecotourism planning, particularly in protected areas. This will hopefully ensure that the quality of experience of the ecotourists will not be diminished and will further promote the conservation of protected areas through ecotourism.