The literature suggests that a correlation exists between visitor satisfaction and a visitor's choice to re-experience a product. The higher one's satisfaction level, the more likely he/she is to experience the product again and/or provide positive word-of-mouth advertising to friends and family. The Tian-Cole and Crompton model was chosen because of its acknowledgment and explanation of the differences between Visitor Satisfaction (VS) and Service Quality (SQ) and how their relationship influences satisfaction and contributes to Future Destination Selection. In addition to identifying a theoretical framework that explains why visitors return, it was necessary to identify a survey methodology to be used in developing the Mountain Pine Ridge Forest Reserve (MPRFR) visitor satisfaction surveys. It was determined that a combination of the Relative Performance Assessment (RPA) and Customer Service Questionnaire (CSQ) was an appropriate survey framework for a visitor satisfaction survey. As a result of the research, two visitor satisfaction surveys were developed: Intercept Survey and Mail-back Survey. The Intercept Survey will be administered at a MPRFR site. It was designed to be concise and not take much of the visitor's time. This survey will be used to gather general information about visitor characteristics and level of satisfaction while at a site. The Mail-back Survey will be sent to the visitor after their trip so more time can be devoted to answering a more detailed visitor satisfaction survey. This survey asks visitors to indicate what site characteristics are important to them and then rate their satisfaction with each item. Instruments from the report entitled "A Front Country Visitor Study for Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument" were used as an example of how to format a visitor satisfaction survey and how to use the collected data as a managerial tool. The two main objectives of this research were accomplished and have established a foundation upon which subsequent research efforts will begin. This work serves as a catalyst to improving Belizean site planning, design, and management by better understanding what site characteristics contribute to visitor satisfaction.

Over the past several years destination loyalty has begun to take up an increasing amount of focus within the tourism research field. While there are still a number of question marks of its different aspects and true value to the destination, the subject has been described as prioritized. On that account, the purpose of this study has been to seek understanding of how Stockholm relate to this, and how their expressed strategies towards the international market can be understood within a destination loyalty perspective. Furthermore, the DMO Visit Stockholm’s marketing and communication strategies towards foreign followers on digital platforms have been examined. To reach knowledge of this, a document study of Visit Stockholm and Svensk Turism was carried out, whereafter three interviews took place with representatives from these two organizations. Lastly, a netnographic examination was carried out of Visit Stockholm’s official webpage and their accounts on Facebook and Instagram. The results showed that strategies have yet to be expressed formally regarding destination loyalty, but that there is an awareness of the issue and that it most likely will play a bigger role in the future. In addition to that, there have been empirical findings which show that marketing and communication in fact is conducted, which can relate to destination loyalty. A challenge for Stockholm in the future will be to further take advantage of the possibilities that the digital channels offer. An active approach will be required in imposing new relations to followers and visitors, and in the retaining of existing relations. / Under de senaste åren har destinationslojalitet börjat ta upp alltmer fokus inom den turistiska forskningen. Medan det ännu finns kvar flera frågetecken över dess olika aspekter och egentliga värde för destinationen, så har ämnet beskrivits som speciellt prioriterat. Med anledning av det har syftet med denna undersökning varit att söka förståelse för hur Stockholm förhåller sig till detta, och hur deras uttalade strategier mot den internationella marknaden kan förstås utifrån ett destinationslojalitetsperspektiv. Vidare har undersökts hur DMO:n Visit Stockholms faktiska marknadsföring och kommunikation till utländska följare förs på digitala plattformar. För att nå denna kunskap utfördes en dokumentstudie av Visit Stockholm samt Svensk Turism, därefter ägde tre intervjuer rum med representanter från dessa två organisationer. Till sist utfördes även en netnografisk undersökning av Visit Stockholms officiella hemsida, samt deras konton på Facebook och Instagram. Resultaten visade att det ej i dagsläget finns några uttalade formella strategier kring destinationslojalitet, men att det finns en medvenhet kring frågan och att det troligtvis kommer att bli mer aktuellt i framtiden. Utöver detta har empiriska fynd gjorts som visar på att det faktiskt förs marknadsföring och kommunikation på sociala medier som kan kopplas till destinationslojalitet. En utmaning för Stockholm inför framtiden blir att ytterligare ta till vara på de möjligheter som de digitala kanalerna kan erbjuda. Ett aktivt arbete kommer att krävas inför skapandet av nya relationer till följare och besökare, samt bibehållandet av existerande relationer.

Arts festivals form a large part of the South African culture originally as many local communities began to share their culture with visitors by means of arts festivals. This has grown into a large industry that has tremendous financial gain for the hosting communities. With over 500 arts festivals each year in South Africa alone, visitors are certain to find a festival to satisfy their specific needs and wants. Therefore, with so many genres available, each festival has created its own niche market and loyal customer base. An extensive literature study was conducted for the purpose of this thesis and it was found that research of small to medium arts festivals has been neglected. This finding motivated the main theme of this research. As mentioned earlier, there are so many genres available that the festival organisers may experience difficulty when deciding what to offer and how many genres to offer in order to still be sustainable and attract a sufficient number of visitors. Furthermore, the large number of arts festivals organised each year makes it increasingly difficult for festivals to build a loyal client base. First-time visitors can be converted into repeat visitors if the marketing strategy is precise. Repeat visitors, as stated in the literature, results in a sustainable income for each festival. Another question that motivated the research was the location of the three arts festivals (Innibos, Vryfees, and Kierieklapper). Three arts festivals in three provinces makes an interesting study to determine whether there is a difference in the three types of visitors that they attract and the spending patterns at each festival. While addressing the problems stated above, this study produced the following three articles: * Article 1: ―Determinants of spending at Vryfees with a focus on genres‖. * Article 2: ―First-time versus repeat visitors at Innibos Arts Festival‖. * Article 3: ―Role of location in the attendance and spending of festinos‖. Article 1 investigates spending determinants that influence visitor expenditure on the different genres offered at the Vryfees Festival in Bloemfontein, based on a survey conducted in 2011. The research is based on the notion that different genres have different spending patterns. Article 2 focuses on the differences and/or similarities between first-time and repeat visitors at the Innibos Arts Festival as an alternative approach to market segmentation. Lastly, the third article focuses on three different arts festivals in three different locations in South Africa. The research was conducted by means of a visitor survey at the three arts festivals during the same year with questionnaires administered at Innibos (428), Vryfees (336), and Kierieklapper (202) respectively. The most significant contributions of this study can be summarised as follows: * the tourist spending behaviour in regards to the difference between first-time and repeat visitors is significant and can be considered an important spending determinant; * the tourist spending behaviour in terms of length of stay between first-time visitors and repeat visitors is significantly different, suggesting that familiarity with the destination (as the repeat visitors are) has an important impact; * different locations attract their own type of tourists and certain locations receive a higher economic injection than other provinces do because of the type of festival held. All three arts festivals attract mainly Afrikaans speaking attendees; and for the first time, a comparative study has been conducted on three arts festivals targeting the Afrikaans speaking community. Additionally, this is the first time a comparative study was conducted on three small to medium arts festivals located in three different provinces; and * the developed spending model described in the last chapter of this thesis can assist the festival organisers with future festival marketing to improve their income and marketing strategy. / PhD (Tourism Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Arts festivals form a large part of the South African culture originally as many local communities began to share their culture with visitors by means of arts festivals. This has grown into a large industry that has tremendous financial gain for the hosting communities. With over 500 arts festivals each year in South Africa alone, visitors are certain to find a festival to satisfy their specific needs and wants. Therefore, with so many genres available, each festival has created its own niche market and loyal customer base. An extensive literature study was conducted for the purpose of this thesis and it was found that research of small to medium arts festivals has been neglected. This finding motivated the main theme of this research. As mentioned earlier, there are so many genres available that the festival organisers may experience difficulty when deciding what to offer and how many genres to offer in order to still be sustainable and attract a sufficient number of visitors. Furthermore, the large number of arts festivals organised each year makes it increasingly difficult for festivals to build a loyal client base. First-time visitors can be converted into repeat visitors if the marketing strategy is precise. Repeat visitors, as stated in the literature, results in a sustainable income for each festival. Another question that motivated the research was the location of the three arts festivals (Innibos, Vryfees, and Kierieklapper). Three arts festivals in three provinces makes an interesting study to determine whether there is a difference in the three types of visitors that they attract and the spending patterns at each festival. While addressing the problems stated above, this study produced the following three articles: * Article 1: ―Determinants of spending at Vryfees with a focus on genres‖. * Article 2: ―First-time versus repeat visitors at Innibos Arts Festival‖. * Article 3: ―Role of location in the attendance and spending of festinos‖. Article 1 investigates spending determinants that influence visitor expenditure on the different genres offered at the Vryfees Festival in Bloemfontein, based on a survey conducted in 2011. The research is based on the notion that different genres have different spending patterns. Article 2 focuses on the differences and/or similarities between first-time and repeat visitors at the Innibos Arts Festival as an alternative approach to market segmentation. Lastly, the third article focuses on three different arts festivals in three different locations in South Africa. The research was conducted by means of a visitor survey at the three arts festivals during the same year with questionnaires administered at Innibos (428), Vryfees (336), and Kierieklapper (202) respectively. The most significant contributions of this study can be summarised as follows: * the tourist spending behaviour in regards to the difference between first-time and repeat visitors is significant and can be considered an important spending determinant; * the tourist spending behaviour in terms of length of stay between first-time visitors and repeat visitors is significantly different, suggesting that familiarity with the destination (as the repeat visitors are) has an important impact; * different locations attract their own type of tourists and certain locations receive a higher economic injection than other provinces do because of the type of festival held. All three arts festivals attract mainly Afrikaans speaking attendees; and for the first time, a comparative study has been conducted on three arts festivals targeting the Afrikaans speaking community. Additionally, this is the first time a comparative study was conducted on three small to medium arts festivals located in three different provinces; and * the developed spending model described in the last chapter of this thesis can assist the festival organisers with future festival marketing to improve their income and marketing strategy. / PhD (Tourism Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014