Travel motivations of tourists visiting Kruger National Park

Abstract

The Kruger National Park (KNP) one of the largest conservation areas in South Africa, attracts in excess of one million visitors a year and is regarded as an icon destination in international tourism. Since this park attracts more tourists than any other park in South Africa, the purpose of this article is to determine the reasons (the travel motives) why tourists visit the park. Little research has been done on travel motives to national parks and this was the first of its kind in South Africa. The research was conducted by means of questionnaires. A factor analysis was used to determine the travel motives. Six factors were identified, namely nature, activities, attractions, nostalgia, novelty and escape from routine. Some of these motives were confirmed by similar research in other countries, although the similarities are not significant. This research confirmed that different attractions and destinations fed different travel motives, hence the need for more studies of this nature to be conducted

Identifying ecotourists’ accommodation needs and preferences?

“…These tourists prefer self-catering and most of the international visitors were from Germany (50%) and the Netherlands (15%), whereas most local tourists came from the Western Cape (39%) and Eastern Cape provinces (31%). The profile of these results correlates well with previous research that has been conducted by Hermann (2015), Engelbrecht (2015), Cini & Saayman (2013), Kruger et al (2012), Saayman et al (2008) and Van der Merwe and Saayman (2008), who determined the profile of tourists visiting South African National Parks.…”

“…With the growth of ecotourism and wildlife management practices in South Africa, the number of privately owned game farms or game reserves has increased to approximately 9 000 (Van Hoven, 2005). The number of national parks is 21 and in addition, there are more than 130 provincial parks; this makes the ecotourism environment very competitive (Van der Merwe & Saayman, 2008). In South Africa, like in most Southern African countries, nature-based products are located in areas where one can encounter dangerous animals such as the Big 5 (elephant, rhino, lion, buffalo and leopard), which implies that lodges need to take these aspects into account as well.…”

“…The questionnaire consists of three sections: Section A determined the socio-demographic profile (including aspects such as age gender, language and place of residence) (see Kruger et al, 2012;Van der Merwe & Saayman, 2008); Section B determined accommodation preferences (including aspects such as accommodation types, where units are located and bathroom preferences); and Section C determined the travel motives of respondents (including aspects such as relaxation, escape and novelty) (Saayman, Van der Merwe & Pienaar, 2009). Section B (that is relevant to this research) was based on the work of Metha, Baèz and O'Loughlin (2002), the International Financial Corporation (2004), Lewis (TIES) and the International Ecotourism Society (TIES) (2015).…”

Segmentation by motivation of tourists to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

“…The questionnaire that was used to conduct the survey remained similar throughout the period (2010 to 2012) of data collection and was divided into five sections and based on research conducted by Van der Merwe and Saayman (2008) and Kruger, Saayman and Saayman (2009). Section A asked for information on socio-demographic variables, for example, gender, age, marital status, level of education and province of origin.…”

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

“…Thus, tourist satisfaction is an essential factor in improving the destination image, attracting more consumption of the tourism product and services, and generating repeat business (Van der Merwe & Saayman 2008). …”