Culture has been demonstrated in the literature to have an effect on tourism behavior, including the way that tourists perceive their travel experience; different cultures often hold different values (LeBlanc, 2004 & Sussman and Rashcovsky, 1997). Thus, understanding visitors’ values in comparison to those of the host destination may alter how tourism businesses should relate to tourists, how a tourist may perceive their experience, as well as a tourist’s motivation to travel to a destination (Devesa, Laguna & Palacios, 2010). The combination of heritage and tourism, specifically the UNESCO world heritage site designation, has had a significant impact on tourist motivation as well through the prestige that the designation presents (Parks Canada, 2009). Current research lacks a focus on the individual in relation to the UNESCO world heritage site designation (Marcotte & Bourdeau, 2006). There is also a lack of research with a Canadian focus as well as comparisons amongst cultures (Kay, 2009). Although there has been some focus on Canada, the demographics have been skewed toward English speaking individuals; a lack of demographic information and data concerning native tongue has been collected (Gibson, McKelvie & DE MAN, 2008). The current study will take a Canadian focus by situating the research within Canada, specifically the UNESCO world heritage site of Quebec City, and compare the Anglophone and Francophone cultures. Anglophone and Francophone tourists are defined in this study as “people whose mother tongue is French (Francophone) or English (Anglophones)” (Gibson et al., 2008, p. 137). This study uses a questionnaire; which combines the questionnaires found in Lee, Lee and Wicks (2004) and Kozak (2001), in order to collect data on tourist travel motivations and satisfaction. The survey was conducted during October 2011, and involved the researcher travelling to different tourist sites, such as the Citadel and Le Musee de la Civilisation. The final data set consisted of 375 cases, and an effective response rate of 443. The objectives of this study were: 1.To examine the motivational differences between Canadian Anglophone and Francophone visitors. 2.To examine whether there are cultural differences in the travel needs of Francophone and Anglophone travelers.3.To examine whether tourism sites and businesses in Quebec City are meeting the needs and desires of tourists. To accomplish these objectives, the following research questions were asked: 1. Why do people visit heritage sites? Specifically, what motivates people to visit heritage sites? 2. Do Canadian Anglophone and Francophone cultures have different motivations for travelling? Sub-questions could include: in general, do different cultures have different motivations for travelling? For example, tourists may aim to connecting with their ancestral roots and culture. 3. Are Anglophone and Francophone tourists satisfied by their travel experience to Quebec City? In particular, are there differences in satisfaction levels between Anglophone and Francophone tourists? The computer program SPSS (version 19) was used to conduct statistical tests on, and interpret, the data that was collected. Independent samples t-tests, one-way ANOVAs,Two-way ANOVAs and frequencies, modes and medians were performed in order to reach the research objectives and answer the research questions. This study provides insight into the travel motivations and satisfaction levels of Anglophone, Francophone, and bilingual visitors to Quebec City. The main implications of this study concern marketing, interpretation of sites, and service provision. The findings of this study present conflicting results surrounding the influence of family and culture on travel motivations of tourists. However, the findings of this study suggest that gender has a strong influence on tourist motivation, and marketing efforts should be targeting females as they were more significantly affected by the motivations examined in this study. There are also implications related to interpretation as there were significant differences found between Anglophone and Francophone participants on the motivation factor ‘cultural exploration experiences offered’. Finally there are implications surrounding service provision as the findings suggest that activities may be more geared towards the Anglophone travelers. This study will expand on these implications further.

Culture has been demonstrated in the literature to have an effect on tourism behavior, including the way that tourists perceive their travel experience; different cultures often hold different values (LeBlanc, 2004 & Sussman and Rashcovsky, 1997). Thus, understanding visitors’ values in comparison to those of the host destination may alter how tourism businesses should relate to tourists, how a tourist may perceive their experience, as well as a tourist’s motivation to travel to a destination (Devesa, Laguna & Palacios, 2010). The combination of heritage and tourism, specifically the UNESCO world heritage site designation, has had a significant impact on tourist motivation as well through the prestige that the designation presents (Parks Canada, 2009). Current research lacks a focus on the individual in relation to the UNESCO world heritage site designation (Marcotte & Bourdeau, 2006). There is also a lack of research with a Canadian focus as well as comparisons amongst cultures (Kay, 2009). Although there has been some focus on Canada, the demographics have been skewed toward English speaking individuals; a lack of demographic information and data concerning native tongue has been collected (Gibson, McKelvie & DE MAN, 2008). The current study will take a Canadian focus by situating the research within Canada, specifically the UNESCO world heritage site of Quebec City, and compare the Anglophone and Francophone cultures. Anglophone and Francophone tourists are defined in this study as “people whose mother tongue is French (Francophone) or English (Anglophones)” (Gibson et al., 2008, p. 137). This study uses a questionnaire; which combines the questionnaires found in Lee, Lee and Wicks (2004) and Kozak (2001), in order to collect data on tourist travel motivations and satisfaction. The survey was conducted during October 2011, and involved the researcher travelling to different tourist sites, such as the Citadel and Le Musee de la Civilisation. The final data set consisted of 375 cases, and an effective response rate of 443. The objectives of this study were: 1.To examine the motivational differences between Canadian Anglophone and Francophone visitors. 2.To examine whether there are cultural differences in the travel needs of Francophone and Anglophone travelers.3.To examine whether tourism sites and businesses in Quebec City are meeting the needs and desires of tourists. To accomplish these objectives, the following research questions were asked: 1. Why do people visit heritage sites? Specifically, what motivates people to visit heritage sites? 2. Do Canadian Anglophone and Francophone cultures have different motivations for travelling? Sub-questions could include: in general, do different cultures have different motivations for travelling? For example, tourists may aim to connecting with their ancestral roots and culture. 3. Are Anglophone and Francophone tourists satisfied by their travel experience to Quebec City? In particular, are there differences in satisfaction levels between Anglophone and Francophone tourists? The computer program SPSS (version 19) was used to conduct statistical tests on, and interpret, the data that was collected. Independent samples t-tests, one-way ANOVAs,Two-way ANOVAs and frequencies, modes and medians were performed in order to reach the research objectives and answer the research questions. This study provides insight into the travel motivations and satisfaction levels of Anglophone, Francophone, and bilingual visitors to Quebec City. The main implications of this study concern marketing, interpretation of sites, and service provision. The findings of this study present conflicting results surrounding the influence of family and culture on travel motivations of tourists. However, the findings of this study suggest that gender has a strong influence on tourist motivation, and marketing efforts should be targeting females as they were more significantly affected by the motivations examined in this study. There are also implications related to interpretation as there were significant differences found between Anglophone and Francophone participants on the motivation factor ‘cultural exploration experiences offered’. Finally there are implications surrounding service provision as the findings suggest that activities may be more geared towards the Anglophone travelers. This study will expand on these implications further.

Cultural heritage tourism is still the growing segment of tourism industry. Moreover, many tourists prefer exploring something new, cultural heritage tourism (CHT) has become one of the major "new" segments of tourism demand. Therefore, it is true that cultural heritage tourism has been one of the major sources of both quantitative and qualitative growth of tourism industry in many countries. In regard to the context of cultural heritage tourism industry, by identifying the relationship and impacts between tourist motivations, tourist satisfaction, and overall sense of tourist well-being, tourism marketers and administrators who are engaged in cultural heritage tourism can improve strategies for creating tourist's distinctive experiences, allowing tourists to become more physically and emotionally engaged in cultural heritage tourism destinations. However, there is, if any, very limited work that explores the link between cultural heritage tourism experiences and overall sense of tourist well-being induced by these experiences. Therefore, this study examines what attributes on tourist motivation contribute to the overall sense of well-being of tourists who visit cultural heritage tourism destinations. Therefore, this study examines what attributes on tourist motivations contribute to the satisfaction and the overall sense of well-being of tourists who visit cultural heritage tourism sites. An online survey using panel data from a marketing research company was used to collect 350 completed questionnaires. Tourist motivations (HONs and LONs), tourist satisfaction, and overall sense of tourist well-being were measured using different scales from previous researches discussed in the literature review. This study conducted various analyses including a profile of 350 respondents based on descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis of tourist motivations, correlation analysis of all constructs, and path analysis for the conceptual study model to understand the relationships between tourist motivations and tourist satisfaction, tourist motivations and overall sense of tourist well-being, and tourist satisfaction and overall sense of tourist well-being and identify impacts of each construct on the study model. This study contributes to the growing body of knowledge in understanding the link between cultural heritage tourism and overall sense of tourist well-being and identifying the perceived value and critical role of tourist motivations and tourist satisfaction connecting to overall sense of tourist well-being by establishing a theory based on empirical link between tourist motivations and overall sense of tourist well-being via tourist satisfaction in the context of cultural heritage tourism business. / Master of Science

The tourism industry is an extremely competitive industry which is mainly caused by the ever changing needs of tourists. However, despite the constant change in tourist behaviour, violent terrorist attacks on countries across the globe and the weakening of the world economies, the tourism industry showed significant growth over the last few decades. The fast growth rate of tourism has also lead to the tourist being more aware of ecotourism destinations and the key role these destinations play in conserving the natural and cultural environments in the midst of globalisation and urbanisation. The pressure on ecotourism destinations such as national parks is increasing as more and more natural land are being taken up for urban development. In the case of South African National Parks (SANParks), the decrease in government funding pressurizes the resources and national parks have to identify ways to generate their own income through tourism activities. SANParks manages 22 national parks across South Africa with the aim to conserve South Africa’s biodiversity, provide recreational activities for tourists and build long-term relationships with the local communities to enhance the communities’ quality of life. Hence, in order to remain competitive it is important to determine the parks' competitive advantages. Therefore the aim of this study was to develop a competitiveness model for SANParks by using the Kruger National Park as case study. The Kruger National Park is not only one of the largest and most recognised national parks in the world, but also boasts with a large variety of fauna and flora, variety of accommodation facilities such as bush lodges, chalets and camping facilities as well as various tourist activities. The literature review indicated that destinations differ from each other and therefore ecotourism destinations such as national parks would have a distinct set of competitive advantage factors. However, these factors can only be determined if the needs of tourists are anticipated and park specific products and services are developed to satisfy the needs of visitors to the park and ultimately lead to tourist loyalty. Once a competitive position has been established, a national park can obtain benefits such as an increase in tourist numbers and revenue delivery of high quality products and services at the park as well as trigger a higher quality of life for the local community. If managed accordingly, the park might experience sustainable growth as well as increased profit margins. The data for the study was collected by means of a questionnaire survey at four of the Kruger National Park's rest camps during the period 26 December 2013 and 4 January 2014 which is the festive season in South Africa. The rest camps that were included in this survey were Olifants (74 questionnaires); Skukuza (213 questionnaires); Lower Sabie (98 questionnaires) and Berg-&-Dal (51 questionnaires). A total of 436 completed questionnaires were administered and further analysed. Descriptive statistics were used to profile the respondents while two factor analyses were done on the competitive advantage factors and tourist motives for travelling to the Park. The factor analyses identified five competitive advantage factors of which Wildlife Experiences and Marketing and Branding were regarded as the most important factors. The other three competitive advantage factors were Accommodation and Retail, Visitor Management and Suprastructure and Amenities. Four motivational factors were identified namely Experience and Relaxation, Lifestyle, All-Inclusive Destination and Value. The identified factors were further used in an ANOVA analysis and the results showed that socio-demographic characteristics such as home language, province of residence, level of education and marital status have all significant differences based on the five competitive advantage factors as well as the four motivational factors The t-test analysis presented a few statistical significant differences between the independent variables or group of individuals. These differences were based on the respondents’ demographic and behaviour characteristics with regards to the competitive advantage and motivational factors. However, the strongest statistically significant differences were based on the behavioural characteristics of tourists travelling with children to the Park, Wild card holders, tourist reading magazines, previous visits to the Park and differences between tourists making use of chalets and camping facilities. A Structural Equation Model was applied to confirm the results that were obtained from the analyses. The SEM indicated that tourists’ motivations have a significant influence on the factors that tourists identified as competitive advantage factors for the Kruger National Park. This research made three distinct new contributions. Firstly, competitive advantage factors were specifically identified for ecotourism based destinations such as national parks from a demand side. Also, the tourists motivation for travelling proved to hugely influence these competitive advantage factors. Secondly, a competitiveness model was developed specifically for national parks within South Africa. The proposed model could assist national parks across South Africa to obtain a competitive advantage among its competitors based on park specific factors. Lastly, the concept of competitiveness has not yet been applied within the ecotourism and nature-based tourism destinations context. This study described the concept of competitiveness with the focus on national parks as ecotourism destinations and the aspects that need to be taken into consideration when analysing the concept in such a context. / PhD (Tourism Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The tourism industry is an extremely competitive industry which is mainly caused by the ever changing needs of tourists. However, despite the constant change in tourist behaviour, violent terrorist attacks on countries across the globe and the weakening of the world economies, the tourism industry showed significant growth over the last few decades. The fast growth rate of tourism has also lead to the tourist being more aware of ecotourism destinations and the key role these destinations play in conserving the natural and cultural environments in the midst of globalisation and urbanisation. The pressure on ecotourism destinations such as national parks is increasing as more and more natural land are being taken up for urban development. In the case of South African National Parks (SANParks), the decrease in government funding pressurizes the resources and national parks have to identify ways to generate their own income through tourism activities. SANParks manages 22 national parks across South Africa with the aim to conserve South Africa’s biodiversity, provide recreational activities for tourists and build long-term relationships with the local communities to enhance the communities’ quality of life. Hence, in order to remain competitive it is important to determine the parks' competitive advantages. Therefore the aim of this study was to develop a competitiveness model for SANParks by using the Kruger National Park as case study. The Kruger National Park is not only one of the largest and most recognised national parks in the world, but also boasts with a large variety of fauna and flora, variety of accommodation facilities such as bush lodges, chalets and camping facilities as well as various tourist activities. The literature review indicated that destinations differ from each other and therefore ecotourism destinations such as national parks would have a distinct set of competitive advantage factors. However, these factors can only be determined if the needs of tourists are anticipated and park specific products and services are developed to satisfy the needs of visitors to the park and ultimately lead to tourist loyalty. Once a competitive position has been established, a national park can obtain benefits such as an increase in tourist numbers and revenue delivery of high quality products and services at the park as well as trigger a higher quality of life for the local community. If managed accordingly, the park might experience sustainable growth as well as increased profit margins. The data for the study was collected by means of a questionnaire survey at four of the Kruger National Park's rest camps during the period 26 December 2013 and 4 January 2014 which is the festive season in South Africa. The rest camps that were included in this survey were Olifants (74 questionnaires); Skukuza (213 questionnaires); Lower Sabie (98 questionnaires) and Berg-&-Dal (51 questionnaires). A total of 436 completed questionnaires were administered and further analysed. Descriptive statistics were used to profile the respondents while two factor analyses were done on the competitive advantage factors and tourist motives for travelling to the Park. The factor analyses identified five competitive advantage factors of which Wildlife Experiences and Marketing and Branding were regarded as the most important factors. The other three competitive advantage factors were Accommodation and Retail, Visitor Management and Suprastructure and Amenities. Four motivational factors were identified namely Experience and Relaxation, Lifestyle, All-Inclusive Destination and Value. The identified factors were further used in an ANOVA analysis and the results showed that socio-demographic characteristics such as home language, province of residence, level of education and marital status have all significant differences based on the five competitive advantage factors as well as the four motivational factors The t-test analysis presented a few statistical significant differences between the independent variables or group of individuals. These differences were based on the respondents’ demographic and behaviour characteristics with regards to the competitive advantage and motivational factors. However, the strongest statistically significant differences were based on the behavioural characteristics of tourists travelling with children to the Park, Wild card holders, tourist reading magazines, previous visits to the Park and differences between tourists making use of chalets and camping facilities. A Structural Equation Model was applied to confirm the results that were obtained from the analyses. The SEM indicated that tourists’ motivations have a significant influence on the factors that tourists identified as competitive advantage factors for the Kruger National Park. This research made three distinct new contributions. Firstly, competitive advantage factors were specifically identified for ecotourism based destinations such as national parks from a demand side. Also, the tourists motivation for travelling proved to hugely influence these competitive advantage factors. Secondly, a competitiveness model was developed specifically for national parks within South Africa. The proposed model could assist national parks across South Africa to obtain a competitive advantage among its competitors based on park specific factors. Lastly, the concept of competitiveness has not yet been applied within the ecotourism and nature-based tourism destinations context. This study described the concept of competitiveness with the focus on national parks as ecotourism destinations and the aspects that need to be taken into consideration when analysing the concept in such a context. / PhD (Tourism Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015