The tourism industry is becoming increasingly more competitive, making it essential for tourism destinations to understand why tourists travel to specific destinations. Travel motives are seen as important factors affecting tourist behaviour. Understanding the travel motives of tourists is essential information for the development of a tourism product and its marketing strategy. Tourists to different destinations have different internal reasons for doing so, and wish to fulfil certain needs. These needs motivate tourists to choose a certain destination and, therefore, identifying the travel motives of tourists to tourism destinations will help the destination to better target their marketing strategies to tourists with common motives. The aim of this study is to determine the travel motives of tourists to selected national parks in South Africa as well as to determine whether there are differences and/or similarities between these motives. The parks concerned are the Addo Elephant-, Augrabies Falls- and Golden Gate Highlands National Parks. This will assist SANParks in their future marketing efforts and help to better understand why the tourists choose to visit the respective parks. A literature review regarding tourist behaviour was carried out to achieve Objective 1, which was to conduct a theoretical analysis of tourist behaviour. The primary reasons for understanding tourist behaviour are to be able to retain your customer for life, to fulfil the tourists’ needs and to develop better target marketing strategies. To understand tourists’ travel motives better, studying tourist behaviour becomes important. The tourist’s decision-making process (that forms part of the tourism behaviour model) is divided into six stages. These are, awareness of a need; seeking information; evaluation of information; decision making; action or buying and postpurchase evaluation. The tourist behaviour model consists of a number of factors that influence this decision-making process, including internal (for example perception, learning and motivation) and external (for example culture, social class and family) influences as well as personal (race, gender and age) and market-related (climate, economy and government) influencers. The most important influence relevant to this study is motivation. To achieve Objective 2, which was to conduct a theoretical analysis of travel motives of tourists to nature based products, a literature review concerning the travel motives of tourists was carried out. This revealed that a number of different travel motives to tourism destinations have been identified. Internal needs motivate tourists to travel to specific destinations, in the hope of fulfilling these needs. Research on travel motives is based on a number of theories, and some of the important motives that arose were: nature, wildlife, escape, relaxation, education, novelty, socialisation, family recreation and destination attractions. In conclusion, there are similarities as well as differences in the travel motives of tourists to different natural areas. Objectives 3 and 4 included determining the profiles as well as the travel motives of tourists to the selected national parks. Secondary data was used to determine the profiles and travel motives of the tourists. The first section focused on the profiles of the tourists, which proved to be quite similar in all three parks, with minor differences regarding province of residence and the languages spoken. The second section focused on the travel motives of these tourists, and a factor analysis was used to extract six factors from the data. These factors were: relax and socialise, park attractions, nature and wildlife, knowledge-seeking, photography and park activities. The factors of tourists to each park were compared by means of a practical significance test (ANOVA) to determine the differences in travel motives to each park. The results revealed that certain travel motives were more important to certain of the three selected national parks, for example: knowledge-seeking is more important to tourists visiting the Addo Elephant National Park, relax and socialise is more important to tourists visiting the Augrabies Falls National Park, and park activities are more important to tourists visiting the Golden Gate Highlands National Park. By determining the differences and similarities in travel motives to the three selected national parks, the aim of this study was achieved. The results are in agreement with other researchers’ findings that there are a number of travel motives motivating tourists to visit certain destinations, and this study determined that these motives differ from destination to destination. / Thesis (M.Com. (Tourism))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2012.

<p>Личност дестинације као и њена веза са личношћу туристе још увек је релативно<br />неистражена област којом се бавио мали број аутора. Такође, у литератури се не&nbsp; проналазе радови који повезују личност туристе и његову перцепцију&nbsp; имиџа дестинације. Слично је и са утицајем личности туристе на понашање и одабир<br />понуде активности на дестинацији. Ово је прво истраживање које проучава везу између личности туристе мерене моделом Великих пет и избора односно занимљивости активности на дестинацији. Важан теоријски допринос ове тезе<br />је и у креирању нове скале личности дестинације, која је у потпуности&nbsp;&nbsp; прилагођена туристичкој дестинацији као производу, и садржи ајтеме који<br />се односе искључиво на личност, у овом случају приписану туристичкој дестинацији.&nbsp; Нова скала базирана је на 5 основних димензија оригиналног<br />модела личности бренда (Искреност, Узбудљивост, Компетентност, &nbsp; Софистицираности и Сировост), али су ставке сваке димензије сада прилагођене специфичности туристичке дестинације као производа.&nbsp; У&nbsp; тези је истражено такође и&nbsp; како одабир активности на дестинацији, као и занимљивост активности повратно утичу на перцепцију личности бренда и имиџа туристичке<br />дестинације. Такође, један од циљева био је и утврдити да ли се перцепција имиџа и личности дестинације од стране туриста разликује од перцепције туристичких стејкхолдра.</p><p>Истраживање је спроведено на 502 посетиоца&nbsp;различитих локалитета културне руте &bdquo;Пут римских царева&ldquo;. У истраживању су тестирана 3 структурална модела&nbsp; -структурални модел одабира активности (модел 1), структурални модел занимљивости потенцијалних (модел 2) и&nbsp;структурални модел занимљивости постојећих активности (модел 3). Такође, тестиран је један мерни модел (нове скале BPS). Сви модели су на крају показали прихватљиве индикаторе фита (CFI, NNFI&gt;0.9 и RMSEA, SRMR&lt;0.08).</p><p>Истраживање је показало да постоји утицај личности и соцеиодемографских&nbsp; карактеристика испитаника на перцепцију имиџа и личности бренда. Такође, потврђен је утицај социодемографских карактеристика на избор активности, док су резултати указали на то да личност туристе не утиче на избор активности на<br />дестинацији. За разлику од тога, на занимљивост активности утичу и личност туристе и социодемографске карактеристике. Личност дестинације не утиче на&nbsp; избор активности на дестинацији, а такође ни да избор активности не утиче на перцепцију личности дестинације. Међутим,&nbsp; начин на који видимо дестинацију као особу може утицати на то које ће нам активности бити занимљиве, али исто тако и да занимљивост активности на дестинацији може утицати на то да ми доживимо дестинацију на одређени начин. Имиџ дестинације утиче на избор активности, док избор активности не утиче на перцепцију имиџа.За разлику од тога, постоји обостран утицај занимљивости активности и перцепције имиџа&nbsp; дестинације. Истраживање је показало и имиџ утиче на перцепцију личности&nbsp; бренда, као и да туристички радници имају позитивнију перцепцију&nbsp; имиџа и личности бренда у односу на туристе.&nbsp; Сазнања до којих се дошло&nbsp; кроз овај рад<br />ће омогућити маркетинг стручњацима али и осталим запосленима у туристичкој индустрији јасне смернице шта све утиче на перцепцију личности и имиџа дестинације, чиме ће се олакшати формирање конкурентске предности дате дестинације као и њено позиционирање на туристичком тржишту.</p> / <p>Ličnost destinacije kao i njena veza sa ličnošću turiste još uvek je relativno<br />neistražena oblast kojom se bavio mali broj autora. Takođe, u literaturi se ne&nbsp; pronalaze radovi koji povezuju ličnost turiste i njegovu percepciju&nbsp; imidža destinacije. Slično je i sa uticajem ličnosti turiste na ponašanje i odabir<br />ponude aktivnosti na destinaciji. Ovo je prvo istraživanje koje proučava vezu između ličnosti turiste merene modelom Velikih pet i izbora odnosno zanimljivosti aktivnosti na destinaciji. Važan teorijski doprinos ove teze<br />je i u kreiranju nove skale ličnosti destinacije, koja je u potpunosti&nbsp;&nbsp; prilagođena turističkoj destinaciji kao proizvodu, i sadrži ajteme koji<br />se odnose isključivo na ličnost, u ovom slučaju pripisanu turističkoj destinaciji.&nbsp; Nova skala bazirana je na 5 osnovnih dimenzija originalnog<br />modela ličnosti brenda (Iskrenost, Uzbudljivost, Kompetentnost, &nbsp; Sofisticiranosti i Sirovost), ali su stavke svake dimenzije sada prilagođene specifičnosti turističke destinacije kao proizvoda.&nbsp; U&nbsp; tezi je istraženo takođe i&nbsp; kako odabir aktivnosti na destinaciji, kao i zanimljivost aktivnosti povratno utiču na percepciju ličnosti brenda i imidža turističke<br />destinacije. Takođe, jedan od ciljeva bio je i utvrditi da li se percepcija imidža i ličnosti destinacije od strane turista razlikuje od percepcije turističkih stejkholdra.</p><p>Istraživanje je sprovedeno na 502 posetioca&nbsp;različitih lokaliteta kulturne rute &bdquo;Put rimskih careva&ldquo;. U istraživanju su testirana 3 strukturalna modela&nbsp; -strukturalni model odabira aktivnosti (model 1), strukturalni model zanimljivosti potencijalnih (model 2) i&nbsp;strukturalni model zanimljivosti postojećih aktivnosti (model 3). Takođe, testiran je jedan merni model (nove skale BPS). Svi modeli su na kraju pokazali prihvatljive indikatore fita (CFI, NNFI&gt;0.9 i RMSEA, SRMR&lt;0.08).</p><p>Istraživanje je pokazalo da postoji uticaj ličnosti i soceiodemografskih&nbsp; karakteristika ispitanika na percepciju imidža i ličnosti brenda. Takođe, potvrđen je uticaj sociodemografskih karakteristika na izbor aktivnosti, dok su rezultati ukazali na to da ličnost turiste ne utiče na izbor aktivnosti na<br />destinaciji. Za razliku od toga, na zanimljivost aktivnosti utiču i ličnost turiste i sociodemografske karakteristike. Ličnost destinacije ne utiče na&nbsp; izbor aktivnosti na destinaciji, a takođe ni da izbor aktivnosti ne utiče na percepciju ličnosti destinacije. Međutim,&nbsp; način na koji vidimo destinaciju kao osobu može uticati na to koje će nam aktivnosti biti zanimljive, ali isto tako i da zanimljivost aktivnosti na destinaciji može uticati na to da mi doživimo destinaciju na određeni način. Imidž destinacije utiče na izbor aktivnosti, dok izbor aktivnosti ne utiče na percepciju imidža.Za razliku od toga, postoji obostran uticaj zanimljivosti aktivnosti i percepcije imidža&nbsp; destinacije. Istraživanje je pokazalo i imidž utiče na percepciju ličnosti&nbsp; brenda, kao i da turistički radnici imaju pozitivniju percepciju&nbsp; imidža i ličnosti brenda u odnosu na turiste.&nbsp; Saznanja do kojih se došlo&nbsp; kroz ovaj rad<br />će omogućiti marketing stručnjacima ali i ostalim zaposlenima u turističkoj industriji jasne smernice šta sve utiče na percepciju ličnosti i imidža destinacije, čime će se olakšati formiranje konkurentske prednosti date destinacije kao i njeno pozicioniranje na turističkom tržištu.</p> / <p>Destination personality and its&nbsp; relationship with tourist personality is still unexplored area which hasn&#39;t been a subject of many scientific publications untill now. Moreover, in the existing body of literature, there are no scientific papers connecting tourist personality and its destination image perception. The similar case is also with the impact of tourist personality on tourist behaviour, especially its choice of tourist activities on destination.Thus, this is the first study to examine the relationship among tourist personality, measured by Big Five Traint model, and the choice and&nbsp;preference of activities on destination. The important theoretical contribution od this thesis is in creation of a new scale of destination personality, which is completely adapted to tourist destination, as a specific tourist product. This scale contains items which refer only to personality traits, in this case personality traits of tourist destination. The new scale is based on five dimensions of original Brend Personality Scale (Sincerity, Excitement, Competetivness, Sofistication and Rugidness), but each&nbsp; of these dimensions contains items adapted to tourist destination. In this thesis, it is also explored how can choice and preference of tourist activities on destination affect tourist image and brend personality perception. In addition, the aim was to determine whether there is a difference in image and destination personality&nbsp; perception among tourist and tourism stakeholders. The research was carried out on a sample of 502 tourists who have visited different sites on the cultural route &ldquo;The trail of Roman Emperors&rdquo;. In this research, the three structural model have been tested &ndash; Structural model of choice of tourist activities (Model 1), Structural model&nbsp; of preference of potential activities (Model 2), and Structural model of preference of existing activities (Model 3). Moreover, model of a new scale of destination personality has also been tested. All tested model have showen satisfactory fit indexes (CFI, NNFI&gt;0.9 и RMSEA, SRMR&lt;0.08).</p><p>The research has shown that there is an impact of tourist personality and its sociodemografic features on image and destination perosnality percepction. In addition, It is confirmed that sociodemografic features affect a choice of tourist activities on destination. On contrary, tourist preference of activities is affected by both tourist personality and sociodemografic features. Destination personality does not affect tourist choice of activities, and tourist choice of activites does not affect tourust perception of destination personality. However, the way we pereceive tourist destionation can affect our preference of activities, and vice verca. The study have shown that destination image affects choice of activities on destination, which choice of activities doesn&rsquo;t affect tourist image perception. On contrary, there is a mutual influence between preference of tourist activities and image perception. The study has &nbsp; also shown that image affects destination personality, as well as that tourist stakeholders have more positive perception of image and brend personality than tourist. The results obtained through this thesis could provide marketers and other employees in tourism with detailed information about what affects image and destination personality perception. This could positively influence the positioning of this cultural route and obtaining of the competetive position on tourism market.</p>

<p>Tourism is typically a hedonic product, and its consumption promotes positive psychology and wellbeing. Industry practitioners and academics have long been advocating sustainable practices and experiences that promote the health and wellness benefits of tourism. Indeed, studies that support designing tourism experiences with positive social and wellness outcomes are needed to better leverage design factors in delivering, communicating, and sustaining the health-related benefits of the tourism experiences. Food is an integral part of the overall tourism experience and has important implications for tourists’ pleasure and wellbeing. Thus, it is important to identify the factors that contribute to a better wellness value of the tourist food experience. </p> <p>Using a multi-qualitative method, the first study explored the communal dining experiences of solo travelers. The results indicate that solo traveler communal dining is affected by many motivations (e.g., socialization and authenticity seeking) and constraints (e.g., safety and health concerns). Other factors that were found to affect communal dining include socio-demographic factors (age, gender, cultural background, previous experiences, and extroversion); other diners’ factors (e.g., attitudes and behaviors, perceived similarity, and cultural barriers); dining place-related factors (e.g., social environment, entertainment, and employees openness); and situation-related factors (food quality, environment safety, group composition, communal dining vibes, and dining time). This study found that communal dining triggers four experiential domains: sensory, intellectual, affective, and behavioral which could result in a transformative and wellness value for solo travelers. Under the right circumstances, communal dining triggers a process of self-change that results in personal and social transformations. </p> <p>Continuing to examine the social experiences of solo travelers, the second study empirically examined the impact of the emotional display of fellow diners on solo travelers’ affect and perceived interpersonal relations during communal dining. The scenario-based experiment showed that other diners' display of emotions influenced solo traveler's affect and rapport perceptions in communal dining. Additionally, fellow communal table diners’ characteristics including their ingroup status and perceived similarity can play a role in impacting solo travelers’ communal dining experience. The perceived similarity was found to act as a trigger or “catalyst” for communal dining experience formation for solo travelers. Further, a positive influence of affect and rapport on solo travelers’ subjective wellbeing was noted.</p> <p>The third study examined the phenomenon of tourist food sharing. The study used experimental design to empirically examine the impact of food sharing on tourists’ interpersonal relationship development, sense of authenticity, and subjective wellbeing. The two experiments showed that tourist food sharing improves interpersonal relationships, tourist perceptions of experience authenticity, and wellbeing. Two culturally divergent tourist groups were compared: U.S. tourists and Chinese tourists. The results showed that U.S. tourists evaluated food sharing higher regarding its impact on authenticity and wellbeing than their Chinese counterparts. </p>

Enquanto alguns paises tem o ecoturismo como a sua principal fonte de renda, o Brasil nao explora a atividade de forma planejada, o que resulta, muitas vezes, na degradacao do meio ambiente e na descaracterizacao da diversidade cultural local. Assim sendo, este estudo pretende contribuir para a compreensao do processo de adaptacao de uma comunidade tradicional ao fenomeno do ecoturismo e dar um alerta para a necessidade de considerar a identidade cultural das populacoes locais como bem patrimonial e como elemento de risco no planejamento da atividade. Com esse intuito, foi realizado um Estudo de Caso, durante os anos de 2000 e 2001, com uma familia residente na praia de Martim de Sa, caracterizada como caicara. Essa comunidade foi escolhida, pois reside em um local onde o ecoturismo esta apenas comecando, fato que permitiu refletir a respeito das consequencias da atividade. Martim de Sa, apesar de estar inserida nos limites de duas Unidades de Conservacao da Natureza, esta sobre forte ameaca de degradacao ambiental devido a especulacao imobiliaria incentivada pelo crescimento do fluxo turistico sem planejamento e facilitado pela falta de fiscalizacao dos orgaos ambientais responsaveis por essas areas. Para o desenvolvimento do Estudo de Caso foram utilizadas nesta pesquisa a Observacao Participante e as entrevistas estruturadas com a finalidade de caracterizar a comunidade local e os turistas e, a Historia de Vida, para a reconstituicao da historia do nucleo receptor.

Enquanto alguns paises tem o ecoturismo como a sua principal fonte de renda, o Brasil nao explora a atividade de forma planejada, o que resulta, muitas vezes, na degradacao do meio ambiente e na descaracterizacao da diversidade cultural local. Assim sendo, este estudo pretende contribuir para a compreensao do processo de adaptacao de uma comunidade tradicional ao fenomeno do ecoturismo e dar um alerta para a necessidade de considerar a identidade cultural das populacoes locais como bem patrimonial e como elemento de risco no planejamento da atividade. Com esse intuito, foi realizado um Estudo de Caso, durante os anos de 2000 e 2001, com uma familia residente na praia de Martim de Sa, caracterizada como caicara. Essa comunidade foi escolhida, pois reside em um local onde o ecoturismo esta apenas comecando, fato que permitiu refletir a respeito das consequencias da atividade. Martim de Sa, apesar de estar inserida nos limites de duas Unidades de Conservacao da Natureza, esta sobre forte ameaca de degradacao ambiental devido a especulacao imobiliaria incentivada pelo crescimento do fluxo turistico sem planejamento e facilitado pela falta de fiscalizacao dos orgaos ambientais responsaveis por essas areas. Para o desenvolvimento do Estudo de Caso foram utilizadas nesta pesquisa a Observacao Participante e as entrevistas estruturadas com a finalidade de caracterizar a comunidade local e os turistas e, a Historia de Vida, para a reconstituicao da historia do nucleo receptor.