First-time versus repeat visitors at the Kruger National Park

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this research is to segment visitors at the Kruger National Park based on the frequency of visitation in order to distinguish between first-time and repeat park visitors. Problem investigated:The Kruger National Park (KNP) in South Africa is one of the world's most renowned wildlife reserves. The KNP is in great demand because it is regarded as an all-inclusive holiday destination that provides tourists with a unique nature and leisure experience. As a result, the park attracts over one million visitors per annum and is one of the top five international tourist destinations in the country. For the KNP to sustain its visitor numbers, park managers should realise that both first-time and repeat visitor groups play a fundamental role in the overall competitiveness and success of the park, and they should strive to achieve a balance between first-time and repeat visitors. Therefore, the park management should know which attributes of the park attract first-time visitors group and which attract repeat visitors.Design and methodology and approach: A research survey was done at various rest camps in the KNP from 26 December 2010 to 03 January 2011; a total of 436 visitor questionnaires were completed. Two-way frequency tables and chi-square tests as well as analysis of variance and Tukey's multiple comparisons were used to analyse the data and segment first-time and repeat visitors based on socio-demographics and behavioural characteristics as well as travel motivations. Findings and implications:The results indicated that first-time visitors are long-haul visitors, are younger and pay for fewer people whilst repeat visitors are mainly motivated by escape and plan their trips well in advance. These differences indicate that the KNP should follow a twopronged marketing approach aimed at both visitor markets. This would greatly contribute to the long-term sustainability and competitiveness of the KNP. IntroductionVisitors to a destination, including national parks, comprise both first-timers and repeaters. Firsttime visitors could be associated with a 'new' market and are those visitors who are visiting the destination for the first time (Um, Chon & Ro 2006). Repeat visitors can be seen as an established customer base and are visitors who have visited the destination more than once (Kerstetter & Cho 2004;Um et al. 2006). According to Oppermann (2000), Petrick, Morais and Norman (2001) and Vogt, Stewart and Fesenmaier (1998), both the abovementioned visitor groups play a fundamental role in ensuring that an attraction or a destination (such as a national park) sustains its visitor numbers, its overall competitiveness and ultimately its success. Park managers should therefore strive to achieve a balance between first-time and repeat visitors. This is imperative, in view of the economic impact of national parks, especially in South Africa, and the consequent benefits of attracting and retaining visitors. South Africa has in excess of 20 national parks and in addition to this there are many local and prov...

An exploratory investigation towards a visitor motivational profile at a provincial nature reserve in Gauteng

“…Most of the respondents took a spontaneous decision to visit SNR which implies that they did not plan long in advance for their trip. These findings differ considerably from findings of earlier studies by Saayman and Slabbert (2004), Van der Merwe and Saayman (2008), and Kruger et al (2014) who found that visitors to http://www.sajbm.org…”

“…These previous studies by Beh and Bruyere (2007), Kruger and Saayman (2013), Hermann and Du Plessis (2014) and Kruger et al (2014) were proved reliable and thus deemed suitable…”

“…Thus, the reserve appeals primarily to provincial residents and less to visitors from further afield. Although this study did not address visitor spending, past studies indicated that spending is higher among repeat visitors that plan their trips well in advance (Kruger et al 2014). This once again reiterates the importance to entice repeat visitation and attracting intra-provincial and international tourists, as currently, SNR has low repeat visitation.…”

“…Table 1 indicates that, in line with this thought, it is clear that motives such as escape, relaxation and novelty, are common in most studies which have delved into NBT motivations in southern Africa. In addition to the literature on motivations, the studies of Van der Merwe and Saayman (2008), Kruger and Saayman (2010), Kruger and Saayman (2010), Kruger et al (2014) and Hermann et al (2016) also found high levels of visitation to these national parks from source markets outside of the province in which the reserves are situated; thus indicating that these reserves appeal highly towards domestic and international tourist markets. However, it is evident that there is a gap in research with regard to travel motivations to other NBT destinations such as provincial, local and private nature reserves.…”

“…Meng et al (2006) further highlight that, although many factors influencing tourist motivations exist, motivations are still crucial in answering what motivates visitors to visit nature reserves. Effective management of visitor service provision is only realised after the understanding of visitors' travel motivations (Kruger, Saayman & Hermann 2014;Van der Merwe et al 2011). Zhang and Marcussen (2007:18) note that understanding tourism motivations and activities will not only help tourism providers improve their products and services, but also know exactly what their customers want and where they are coming from.…”