This thesis describes the relation between the tourism industry and crisis from a consumer perspective. The impacts on consumers have been receiving little attention in earlier tourism research. This study contains an empirical research with a focus on the attitudes of travellers during the refugee crisis of 2015. The attitudes are seen as interesting for this study since they can affect the traveller before, during and after the trip. In this work the attitudes further are divided into four different sub-categories, which were detected to be important in order to describe how the attitudes of travellers can be affected from a crisis. The performed study shows that the attitudes can be affected from a crisis in different ways. It also shows that the refugee crisis of 2015 had impacts on travellers, that might vary from person to person and that they might not be aware of themselves.

Resandet har blivit en självklarhet i det moderna samhället där mötet med nya kulturer och människor är viktiga beståndsdelar. I och med detta har backpackerresor blivit ett vanligt förekommande fenomen där människor väljer att resa under längre tid till platser längre bort. Studien hoppas kunna bidra till turismforskningen genom att skapa en större förståelse över resemotiv vilket kan förutspå framtidens behov inom backpackerresandet. Studien syftar till att undersöka resemotiv till en backpackerresa och om nya kulturmöten bidrar till identitetsskapande hos individen. Nyckelorden som genomsyrar studien är resemotiv, identitet och kulturmöten. Studien använder ett kvalitativt tillvägagångssätt som består av åtta intervjuer med respondenter mellan åldrarna 20-30 år som har backpackat i Sydostasien och Australien. Intervjuerna transkriberades och bearbetades för att kunna analyseras tillsammans med de valda teorierna. Uppsatsens resultat stöds av teorier inom det aktuella forskningsområdet, där Abraham Maslows behovshierarki har hjälp till att styrka resemotiv. Erving Goffman, George Herbert Mead, Anthony Giddens och Émile Durkheims teorier har används för att förstå hur en identitet skapas. Edward Hall och Gert Jan Hofstede, Paul Pedersen & Geert Hofstede har används för att styrka kulturmötens betydelse i en individs utveckling. Resultatet i studien visar att motivet till en backpackerresa ligger i känslan av frihet och kravlöshet. Respondenterna har blivit stärkta av den aktuella backpackerresan men en identitetsförvirring kunde tydas efter resan. Identitetsförvirringen bestod i att respondenternas världsbild vidgats och att intrycken medförde en tvetydig syn på framtiden. / Travel has become a matter of course in modern society, where the meeting with new cultures and people are important elements. Backpacking travels has become a common phenomenon in which people choose to travel longer to places further away. The study hopes to contribute to tourism research by creating a greater understanding of travel motives, which can predict future needs in the backpacking industry. The study aims to look into the motives of a backpacking trip and if cultural meetings contribute to a personal development for the individual. The keywords that permeates this study is travel motives, identity and cultural meetings. The study uses a qualitative approach which consists of eight interviews with respondents between the ages of 20-30 years old and who has been backpacking in Southeast Asia and Australia. The interviews were transcribed and processed to be analyzed together with the selected theories. Selected theories in the field of research have been produced to strengthen the results, where Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs has helped to establish travel motives. Erving Goffman’s, George Herbert Mead’s, Anthony Giddens and Émile Durkheim's theories has been used to understand how identity is created. Edward Hall’s and Gert Jan Hofstede, Paul Pedersen & Geert Hofstede’s theories has been used to prove the role of cultural impact in an individual's personal development. The results of the study show that the travel motives for a backpacking trip is the feeling of freedom and permissiveness. The respondents have been strengthened by the backpacking trip, but an identity confusion could be deciphered after the trip. The identity confusion where laying in an enlarged worldview and an ambiguous view of the future of the respondent.

Marine tourism has been growing over the years to a diverse and large industry providing for a variety of markets. Across the world tourists enjoy activities of different types including kayaking, scuba diving, snorkelling, surfing and travelling to beaches for leisure reasons. Travelling to coastal towns with the purpose of visiting a beach has always been a great attraction for people across the world. Not only resulting in beaches becoming one of the tourism industry’s biggest markets but also a great contributor to local economies. In 200,1 South Africa adopted the Blue Flag Programme, a beach award which focuses on clean bathing water and pollution free environments. The programme was first established on the French coastline in Europe by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE). Since then 244 beaches and 208 marinas across 10 countries now boast with a Blue Flag award. The award requires beaches to adhere to four sets of criteria. These are water quality, environmental management, environmental education and information and safety and security. The programme also has specific periods allocated to beaches in which the beach has to meet all the stipulated standards.  Previous research has stated that the programme has great drawing power for tourists.  In contrast, other studies revealed that it has no benefits for the tourism industry, whatsoever.  Some studies have stated that it is a symbol of quality recognised by all across the world. The literature review conducted for this study revealed that the programme holds great benefits for conservation of the environment. Seen from a tourism point of view, however, it is still unclear whether the programme benefits the tourism industry or has any impact on it whatsoever. The primary goal of this dissertation is to determine the influence of Blue Flag status on the decision-making process of beach visitors when they select a beach, thereby determining whether or not the Blue Flag programme adds any value to the tourism industry. A literature review was conducted on important aspects concerning this study, namely the Blue Flag Programme, the tourist decision-making process, travel behaviour of tourists and tourist behaviour, to gain insight into the type of research. Thereafter an empirical study was conducted on six beaches in KwaZulu-Natal which involved the distribution of a self-administered questionnaire. The sampling method used for the study was quantitative, probability sampling with systematic sampling which involved the fieldworkers to approach every second person/group of people on the beach. The survey took place from 28 March to 4 April 2013. A total of 572 usable questionnaires was collected from a sample of 600 beach visitors. The data was captured using Microsoft™ Excel™ 2010 and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 21). Exploratory factor analyses were performed as well as a linear mixed-effect model analysis to analyse the impact of the Blue Flag Programme on tourism. To achieve the goal set for this study, two articles were produced. The aim of chapter 3 (article 1) was to determine the push and pull motives of beach visitors. The results revealed the profile of respondents to be female, married with an average age of 39 years and originating from Gauteng. They have a diploma or degree from a tertiary institute and like to visit the beach for an average of eight nights at a time. To identify the push and pull motives of beach visitors, the travel motives were first identified by means of a principal axis factoring analysis, with Oblimin and Kaiser Normalisation. The aspects yielded three factors, familiarity, family relaxation and escape and beach characteristics. The most important factor was determined to be familiarity. The analysis further revealed two push and two pull motives. The push factors are escape and relaxation (most important push motive) and familiarity. The pull motives are beach attributes (most important pull motive) and cognizance. This article showed that the familiarity of a beach plays an important role as to the motives of beach visitors as well as the fact that visitors to these beaches want to escape and relax away from everyday life. The aim of the chapter 4 (article 2) was to identify the influence of Blue Flag status on visitors’ decision-making when selecting a beach as well as to determine whether any statistically significant differences exist between the visitors to Blue Flag beaches and visitors to non-Blue Flag beaches. A principal axis factoring analysis was conducted to determine the decision-making aspects of beach visitors. This analysis yielded five actors, environmental education, safety and access, cleanliness, landscape and popularity. The most important factor was identified as cleanliness with a mean value of 4.37. Furthermore, a linear mixed-effect model analysis was conducted which identified one statistically significant difference with the factor popularity, which has a p-value of 0.002. No other differences were identified. This study thus found that Blue Flag status does not influence visitors’ decision in selecting a beach. What was interesting was the fact that the aspects which are of importance to beach visitors (such as cleanliness) form part of the criteria on which the programme is based (environmental education and information, environmental management, safety and security and water quality). Thus having Blue Flag status does impact positively on tourism. Since this was the first study of its kind in South Africa, it can benefit all beach destinations in the country. From the findings it is clear that marketing needs to be conducted regarding the Blue Flag programme and the benefits that could be reaped for both the local community and beach visitors. Furthermore, beach management can make use of the motives identified in chapter 3 as well as the decision-making aspects identified in chapter 4 to increase visitor numbers to the beach and gain competitive advantage. Tailor-made marketing strategies can be implemented which will improve the efforts of beach managers and municipalities as well as managers of the Blue Flag Programme to market the programme and raise awareness. Recommendations are made regarding further study on the Blue Flag programme to identify ways in which awareness of the programme amongst the public can be raised. Similar research can also be conducted on other environmental and tourism award systems, such as the Seaside award. This research contributes to the literature on marine tourism, seeing as this was the first time such a study was conducted in a South African setting. / MCom (Tourism Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Marine tourism has been growing over the years to a diverse and large industry providing for a variety of markets. Across the world tourists enjoy activities of different types including kayaking, scuba diving, snorkelling, surfing and travelling to beaches for leisure reasons. Travelling to coastal towns with the purpose of visiting a beach has always been a great attraction for people across the world. Not only resulting in beaches becoming one of the tourism industry’s biggest markets but also a great contributor to local economies. In 200,1 South Africa adopted the Blue Flag Programme, a beach award which focuses on clean bathing water and pollution free environments. The programme was first established on the French coastline in Europe by the Foundation for Environmental Education (FEE). Since then 244 beaches and 208 marinas across 10 countries now boast with a Blue Flag award. The award requires beaches to adhere to four sets of criteria. These are water quality, environmental management, environmental education and information and safety and security. The programme also has specific periods allocated to beaches in which the beach has to meet all the stipulated standards.  Previous research has stated that the programme has great drawing power for tourists.  In contrast, other studies revealed that it has no benefits for the tourism industry, whatsoever.  Some studies have stated that it is a symbol of quality recognised by all across the world. The literature review conducted for this study revealed that the programme holds great benefits for conservation of the environment. Seen from a tourism point of view, however, it is still unclear whether the programme benefits the tourism industry or has any impact on it whatsoever. The primary goal of this dissertation is to determine the influence of Blue Flag status on the decision-making process of beach visitors when they select a beach, thereby determining whether or not the Blue Flag programme adds any value to the tourism industry. A literature review was conducted on important aspects concerning this study, namely the Blue Flag Programme, the tourist decision-making process, travel behaviour of tourists and tourist behaviour, to gain insight into the type of research. Thereafter an empirical study was conducted on six beaches in KwaZulu-Natal which involved the distribution of a self-administered questionnaire. The sampling method used for the study was quantitative, probability sampling with systematic sampling which involved the fieldworkers to approach every second person/group of people on the beach. The survey took place from 28 March to 4 April 2013. A total of 572 usable questionnaires was collected from a sample of 600 beach visitors. The data was captured using Microsoft™ Excel™ 2010 and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS version 21). Exploratory factor analyses were performed as well as a linear mixed-effect model analysis to analyse the impact of the Blue Flag Programme on tourism. To achieve the goal set for this study, two articles were produced. The aim of chapter 3 (article 1) was to determine the push and pull motives of beach visitors. The results revealed the profile of respondents to be female, married with an average age of 39 years and originating from Gauteng. They have a diploma or degree from a tertiary institute and like to visit the beach for an average of eight nights at a time. To identify the push and pull motives of beach visitors, the travel motives were first identified by means of a principal axis factoring analysis, with Oblimin and Kaiser Normalisation. The aspects yielded three factors, familiarity, family relaxation and escape and beach characteristics. The most important factor was determined to be familiarity. The analysis further revealed two push and two pull motives. The push factors are escape and relaxation (most important push motive) and familiarity. The pull motives are beach attributes (most important pull motive) and cognizance. This article showed that the familiarity of a beach plays an important role as to the motives of beach visitors as well as the fact that visitors to these beaches want to escape and relax away from everyday life. The aim of the chapter 4 (article 2) was to identify the influence of Blue Flag status on visitors’ decision-making when selecting a beach as well as to determine whether any statistically significant differences exist between the visitors to Blue Flag beaches and visitors to non-Blue Flag beaches. A principal axis factoring analysis was conducted to determine the decision-making aspects of beach visitors. This analysis yielded five actors, environmental education, safety and access, cleanliness, landscape and popularity. The most important factor was identified as cleanliness with a mean value of 4.37. Furthermore, a linear mixed-effect model analysis was conducted which identified one statistically significant difference with the factor popularity, which has a p-value of 0.002. No other differences were identified. This study thus found that Blue Flag status does not influence visitors’ decision in selecting a beach. What was interesting was the fact that the aspects which are of importance to beach visitors (such as cleanliness) form part of the criteria on which the programme is based (environmental education and information, environmental management, safety and security and water quality). Thus having Blue Flag status does impact positively on tourism. Since this was the first study of its kind in South Africa, it can benefit all beach destinations in the country. From the findings it is clear that marketing needs to be conducted regarding the Blue Flag programme and the benefits that could be reaped for both the local community and beach visitors. Furthermore, beach management can make use of the motives identified in chapter 3 as well as the decision-making aspects identified in chapter 4 to increase visitor numbers to the beach and gain competitive advantage. Tailor-made marketing strategies can be implemented which will improve the efforts of beach managers and municipalities as well as managers of the Blue Flag Programme to market the programme and raise awareness. Recommendations are made regarding further study on the Blue Flag programme to identify ways in which awareness of the programme amongst the public can be raised. Similar research can also be conducted on other environmental and tourism award systems, such as the Seaside award. This research contributes to the literature on marine tourism, seeing as this was the first time such a study was conducted in a South African setting. / MCom (Tourism Management), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

I den här uppsatsen görs en studie över svenskarnas resemotiv till Mallorca. Studien utgörs av tre studieområden. Den första behandlar hur resemotiven ser ut idag, den andra ser till hur utvecklingen av resemotiv sett ut från 1960-talet och den sista fokuserar på researrangörernas syn på sina kunder och deras resemotiv till Mallorca. Uppsatsen utgörs av en kvalitativ del samt en kvantitativ del då insamlandet av empirisk data har gjorts. Den primära delen i undersökningen utgörs av den kvantitativa insamlingsmetoden. Det gjordes en enkätundersökning där 91 respondenter deltog och besvarade frågor om sina resemotiv. Den kvalitativa delen består av intervjuer som har gjorts med två researrangörer och en resebyrå som fick svara på frågor om vilka deras kunder är, deras resemotiv, hur utvecklingen sett ut över en 50-årsperiod och vilka trender man kan se inom charterturismen. Teorierna som är använda i uppsatsen utgår ifrån två olika teorifamiljer, den ena familjen handlar om teorier knutna till begreppet resemotiv och den andra om teorier knutna till begreppet resepersonligheter. Resultatet presenteras i form av diagram och text där en sammanställning av svar från intervjuer och enkätundersökning har gjorts. I resultatet syns bland annat vilka resemotiv resenärerna har nu och hur det sett ut sen 1960-talet. Därefter kommer analysdelen där teori och empiri kopplas samman och sambandet dem emellan analyseras för att förstå varför resultatet blev som det blev. I slutsatsen presenteras de resultat som uppkommit under denna undersökning. Den främsta slutsatsen är att det varma klimatet är det primära resemotivet och har varit det över hela perioden. / This thesis is a study of Swedes' travel motives to Majorca. The thesis consists of three areas of study. The first area deals with the travel motives today, the other area looks at the development of the travel motives since the 1960s and the last area focuses on the travel agent's view of their customers and their travel motives to Majorca. The essay consists of a qualitative part and a quantitative part of the empirical data. The primary component in the study consists of the quantitative collection method. It consists of a survey in which 91 respondents participated and answered questions about their travel motives to Majorca. The qualitative part consists of interviews made with two tour operators and one travel agent who answered questions about which their customers are, what their travel motives are, developments of the motives during a 50 years period and which trends can be seen in the charter tourism industry. The theories that are used in the paper are based on two different theory families; one family is about theories related to the concept of travel motives and the other dealing with the theories linked to studies of travel personalities. The results are presented in the essay in form of graphics and text that concludes responses from interviews and questionnaires. The result shows the travel motives now and the motives since the 1960s. Next up is the analysis section where we connect theories and empirical findings and find connections between them to understand why the result ended up like it did. In the conclusion, we describe what we come up with in this whole investigation. The main conclusion is that the warm climate is the primary travel motive and has been throughout the whole period.

Research in tourist behaviour follows the cognitive approach. This contains the behavioural cycle of stimulation (motivation and intention formation), the actual behaviour and experience, and finally the evaluation of consequences. These stages are referred to in tourism as: the pre-trip experience (motivation and intention formation), travel stage (actual behaviour) and the post-travel stage (evaluation of the travel experience). The characteristics, which influence tourist behaviour, indicate that travel motivations are the result of how tourists behave (tourist behaviour). These characteristics are: the decision-making process, demographical factors, marketing mix, external/social factors and internal/ psychological factors (motivations). Motivations to travel have a major influence on the travel behaviour of tourists. Tourists' motivations to satisfy their needs directly influence their behaviour, or the actions they take, in order to satisfy these needs. Due to its impelling and compelling nature, motivation is considered to be one of the most important variables in explaining tourist behaviour. As countries and destinations strive to increase their share of the international and national tourism market, it becomes important to understand why people travel and why they choose a specific ecotourism destination. If travel motivations of tourists are known to the product, it will be an aid when developing a competitive marketing strategy. From the literary review, the following travel motivations occurred regularly: leisure, excitement, socialisation, relaxation, family togetherness, escape, culture, novelty, attractions, knowledge seeking, adventure, prestige, nature, facilities, recreation, attributes, nostalgia, photography, exploration and activities. The literary review further revealed that there are travel motivations commonly found with regard to tourism destinations, and on the other hand, there are travel motivations which are product related. The aim of this research was to determine the travel motivations of tourists to selected national parks in South Africa: Karoo-, Kgalagadi Transfrontier- and Tsitsikamma National Parks. Secondary data was used to determine the visitors' profile, as well as the factor analysis on travel motivations. For the visitors' profile, 286 questionnaires were administered for Karoo National Park, 468 for the Tsitsikamma National Park and 582 for Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park. For the factor analysis, 318 questionnaires were administered for Karoo National Park, 673 for the Tsitsikamma National Park and 534 for Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park. Primary data was used to determine the reasons for visiting these parks. 101 Questionnaires were administered for Karoo National Park, 192 for the Tsitsikamma National Park and 104 for Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park. The foremost findings of the research were divided into three categories, namely: visitors' profile, reasons for visiting the parks and travel motivations. Regarding visitors profile; it was found that profiles for the three parks were quite similar, except for the following: expenditure of tourists at Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park, where the average spending of tourists was higher and directly linked to the duration of stay; duration of stay indicated that tourists visiting Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park stayed longer. Two major markets were revealed by the research for all three parks, namely: Gauteng and Western Cape, with the exception of Tsitsikamma National Park, which had a third market of importance, namely Eastern Cape. This information is important when developing marketing strategies. It was especially evident that 4x4 vehicles are the preferred mode of transport for visitors to Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park. Therefore, this park can be marketed as a 4x4 destination. From these results one can conclude that the profile of tourists to the three selected national parks showed minor differences. Primary data was used to determine the reasons why tourists visit the selected parks. Among the most important travel reasons why tourists visit the selected parks, was: to relax, for family recreation, to get away from regular routine and for the benefit of the children. The factor analysis regarding travel motives revealed the following: five factors were identified for Karoo National Park and six factors were identified for both Tsitsikamma- and Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Parks. Results illustrated that these parks have common and unique motives. Common travel motives in these parks include: park attributes, escape and relaxation, as well as knowledge seeking. Unique to Karoo National Park, was attractions and family togetherness, compared to photography and adventure for Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park, and adventure and attractions for the Tsitsikamma National Park. A combined factor analysis was also conducted, which showed knowledge seeking, park attributes, as well as escape and relaxation as the most important travel motives of tourists visiting the three selected national parks. This research, therefore, confirmed that different attractions and destinations feed different travel motives, even when classified as similar types of products. Marketers can use this information to position these parks and to develop better marketing strategies, to enable national parks to outwit their competitors. / Thesis (M.A. (Tourism))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Literature indicates that pharmacists of South Africa experience high levels of stress as a result of their working conditions. Seeing that the definition of subjective well–being (SWB) entails that a person feels positive affect (positive moods) and experience infrequent feelings of negative affect (such as stress), pharmacists have low SWB since they experience high levels of stress. It is thus vital to lessen the stress seeing as this low SWB may entail a danger to the profession as well as the patients' safety. Based on this leisure proves to enhance well–being by producing positive affect (such as happiness) and reducing negative affect (such as stress or depression). Leisure (taking a holiday) is furthermore a means of buffering stress and therefore the perfect solution to pharmacists' stress. Hence the purpose of this research was to determine the role of holiday taking on South African pharmacists' overall well–being. To achieve this goal a database was obtained from The South African Pharmacy Council. This database consisted out of 8000 e–mail addresses of pharmacists registered at the Pharmacy Council. From the 1500 e–mails that were send out 207 completed questionnaires were obtained. A thorough literature analysis on socio–demographic characteristics, travel motives, independent choices and preferred activities when taking a holiday was done in Chapter 2. This chapter gives a detailed understanding of how the afore–mentioned factors influence the decision to take a holiday and the effect of taking a holiday on subjective well–being. Article 1 (Chapter 3) and Article 2 (Chapter 4) was based on this chapter's literature. Chapter 3 (Article 1) of this study determined whether holidays lead to positive SWB of pharmacists. In order to achieve this aim, the chapter made use of the Affectomer 2 and Satisfaction with life Scale to determine the pharmacists' subjective well–being before and after taking a holiday. Dependent t–tests were then applied to compare the A distinction on the other hand can be made amongst pharmacists that imply different working conditions and working hours. Therefore Chapter 4 (Article 2) of this study determined all the factors that influence the different groups of pharmacists' holiday taking which ultimately could lead to the enhancement of the profession's well–being. To achieve this, the chapter made use of factor analysis, ANOVAs and chi–square tests to find differences between different pharmacists. The results showed that the three groups of pharmacists (private, government, and industry), differ based on sociodemographic characteristics. These socio–demographic characteristics furthermore influence the different groups of pharmacists' decisions to take holidays which leads to higher subjective well–being. The results of Chapters 3 and 4 indicate that pharmacists experience enhanced wellbeing after taking a holiday and which have implications for different role players. This study is the first to determine the profile of pharmacists and give an indication of their travel behaviour that will assist destinations to alter their product/services to better suit the profile or travel behaviour of pharmacists. Employing companies on the other hand can have financial benefits in the form of low staff turnover and satisfied patients. Although pharmacists are seen as a homogeneous group, pharmacists differ based on socio–demographic characteristics and therefore the Pharmacy Council may enforce the design of different policies for the different groups of pharmacists to reduce the pharmaceutical profession's stress. / Thesis (M.Com. (Tourism))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Sport tourism, as a segment of tourism, is one of the fastest growing industries. Sport events have grown enormously over the last two decades and, as a part of sport tourism, they are a very powerful tool that is used to market a country. Sport tourism also creates an internationally recognised image and attracts tourists from all over the world. One of the internationally recognised sport events held annually in Cape Town is the Pick In Pay Cape Argus Cycle Tour (ACT). Originally started in 1977, it has grown to attract 32 000 cyclists by 2008. However, as with any event, the ACT's life cycle reached a climax and is currently on a downward slope, in terms of participation figures. This decline was the motivation for starting this study. As such, it was determined that the goal of this study would be to profile the participants in the ACT as this information could provide some of the reasons for the decline in numbers. In order for the researcher to successfully profile the participants, three objectives were formulated. Firstly, the reasons why cyclists participated in the ACT, in other words their travel motives, were examined. Secondly, it was determined which variables had a significant influence on cyclists' spending behaviour while visiting Cape Town. Finally, conclusions and recommendations were presented, and a profile of the participants was compiled. The research was done by means of using a questionnaire with three sections. The first section sought demographic information while section B measured the spending behaviour of the respondents. The last section established what motivated the cyclist to participate in the ACT. The survey took place from 5 - 8 March 2008 during the registration period at the Good Hope Centre of the city of Cape Town. A total of 583 completed questionnaires were received by the fieldworkers. The data analyses were then performed by firstly capturing the data into a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. The statistical program, SPSS, was then used for the further analyses. A factor analysis was performed in order to achieve the first objective of determining what motivated cyclists to participate in the ACT. Then a regression analysis helped to establish which variables influenced cyclists' spending. After all the analytical procedures were completed, the results of the factor analyses indicated the cyclists were motivated by the attractiveness of the event, by personal motivation and by a desire to escape from the daily routines and so to relax. The regression analyses lead to the results that the following variables determine how much money cyclists spend; marital status; province of residence; the number of nights stayed in Cape Town and which accommodation cyclists used. These results both confirmed and contradicted the results of previous research, even though this was the first time this type of research had been applied to a sport event in South Africa. This research can be used by event organisers to apply more effective target marketing and to develop new strategies to encourage an increase in participation figures. This research can also be used to improve business relationships between the different role players in an event. Further, product improvements can be made from certain recommendations. / Thesis (M.Com. (Tourism))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

Research in tourist behaviour follows the cognitive approach. This contains the behavioural cycle of stimulation (motivation and intention formation), the actual behaviour and experience, and finally the evaluation of consequences. These stages are referred to in tourism as: the pre-trip experience (motivation and intention formation), travel stage (actual behaviour) and the post-travel stage (evaluation of the travel experience). The characteristics, which influence tourist behaviour, indicate that travel motivations are the result of how tourists behave (tourist behaviour). These characteristics are: the decision-making process, demographical factors, marketing mix, external/social factors and internal/ psychological factors (motivations). Motivations to travel have a major influence on the travel behaviour of tourists. Tourists' motivations to satisfy their needs directly influence their behaviour, or the actions they take, in order to satisfy these needs. Due to its impelling and compelling nature, motivation is considered to be one of the most important variables in explaining tourist behaviour. As countries and destinations strive to increase their share of the international and national tourism market, it becomes important to understand why people travel and why they choose a specific ecotourism destination. If travel motivations of tourists are known to the product, it will be an aid when developing a competitive marketing strategy. From the literary review, the following travel motivations occurred regularly: leisure, excitement, socialisation, relaxation, family togetherness, escape, culture, novelty, attractions, knowledge seeking, adventure, prestige, nature, facilities, recreation, attributes, nostalgia, photography, exploration and activities. The literary review further revealed that there are travel motivations commonly found with regard to tourism destinations, and on the other hand, there are travel motivations which are product related. The aim of this research was to determine the travel motivations of tourists to selected national parks in South Africa: Karoo-, Kgalagadi Transfrontier- and Tsitsikamma National Parks. Secondary data was used to determine the visitors' profile, as well as the factor analysis on travel motivations. For the visitors' profile, 286 questionnaires were administered for Karoo National Park, 468 for the Tsitsikamma National Park and 582 for Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park. For the factor analysis, 318 questionnaires were administered for Karoo National Park, 673 for the Tsitsikamma National Park and 534 for Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park. Primary data was used to determine the reasons for visiting these parks. 101 Questionnaires were administered for Karoo National Park, 192 for the Tsitsikamma National Park and 104 for Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park. The foremost findings of the research were divided into three categories, namely: visitors' profile, reasons for visiting the parks and travel motivations. Regarding visitors profile; it was found that profiles for the three parks were quite similar, except for the following: expenditure of tourists at Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park, where the average spending of tourists was higher and directly linked to the duration of stay; duration of stay indicated that tourists visiting Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park stayed longer. Two major markets were revealed by the research for all three parks, namely: Gauteng and Western Cape, with the exception of Tsitsikamma National Park, which had a third market of importance, namely Eastern Cape. This information is important when developing marketing strategies. It was especially evident that 4x4 vehicles are the preferred mode of transport for visitors to Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park. Therefore, this park can be marketed as a 4x4 destination. From these results one can conclude that the profile of tourists to the three selected national parks showed minor differences. Primary data was used to determine the reasons why tourists visit the selected parks. Among the most important travel reasons why tourists visit the selected parks, was: to relax, for family recreation, to get away from regular routine and for the benefit of the children. The factor analysis regarding travel motives revealed the following: five factors were identified for Karoo National Park and six factors were identified for both Tsitsikamma- and Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Parks. Results illustrated that these parks have common and unique motives. Common travel motives in these parks include: park attributes, escape and relaxation, as well as knowledge seeking. Unique to Karoo National Park, was attractions and family togetherness, compared to photography and adventure for Kgalagadi Transfrontier National Park, and adventure and attractions for the Tsitsikamma National Park. A combined factor analysis was also conducted, which showed knowledge seeking, park attributes, as well as escape and relaxation as the most important travel motives of tourists visiting the three selected national parks. This research, therefore, confirmed that different attractions and destinations feed different travel motives, even when classified as similar types of products. Marketers can use this information to position these parks and to develop better marketing strategies, to enable national parks to outwit their competitors. / Thesis (M.A. (Tourism))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2009.

Literature indicates that pharmacists of South Africa experience high levels of stress as a result of their working conditions. Seeing that the definition of subjective well–being (SWB) entails that a person feels positive affect (positive moods) and experience infrequent feelings of negative affect (such as stress), pharmacists have low SWB since they experience high levels of stress. It is thus vital to lessen the stress seeing as this low SWB may entail a danger to the profession as well as the patients' safety. Based on this leisure proves to enhance well–being by producing positive affect (such as happiness) and reducing negative affect (such as stress or depression). Leisure (taking a holiday) is furthermore a means of buffering stress and therefore the perfect solution to pharmacists' stress. Hence the purpose of this research was to determine the role of holiday taking on South African pharmacists' overall well–being. To achieve this goal a database was obtained from The South African Pharmacy Council. This database consisted out of 8000 e–mail addresses of pharmacists registered at the Pharmacy Council. From the 1500 e–mails that were send out 207 completed questionnaires were obtained. A thorough literature analysis on socio–demographic characteristics, travel motives, independent choices and preferred activities when taking a holiday was done in Chapter 2. This chapter gives a detailed understanding of how the afore–mentioned factors influence the decision to take a holiday and the effect of taking a holiday on subjective well–being. Article 1 (Chapter 3) and Article 2 (Chapter 4) was based on this chapter's literature. Chapter 3 (Article 1) of this study determined whether holidays lead to positive SWB of pharmacists. In order to achieve this aim, the chapter made use of the Affectomer 2 and Satisfaction with life Scale to determine the pharmacists' subjective well–being before and after taking a holiday. Dependent t–tests were then applied to compare the A distinction on the other hand can be made amongst pharmacists that imply different working conditions and working hours. Therefore Chapter 4 (Article 2) of this study determined all the factors that influence the different groups of pharmacists' holiday taking which ultimately could lead to the enhancement of the profession's well–being. To achieve this, the chapter made use of factor analysis, ANOVAs and chi–square tests to find differences between different pharmacists. The results showed that the three groups of pharmacists (private, government, and industry), differ based on sociodemographic characteristics. These socio–demographic characteristics furthermore influence the different groups of pharmacists' decisions to take holidays which leads to higher subjective well–being. The results of Chapters 3 and 4 indicate that pharmacists experience enhanced wellbeing after taking a holiday and which have implications for different role players. This study is the first to determine the profile of pharmacists and give an indication of their travel behaviour that will assist destinations to alter their product/services to better suit the profile or travel behaviour of pharmacists. Employing companies on the other hand can have financial benefits in the form of low staff turnover and satisfied patients. Although pharmacists are seen as a homogeneous group, pharmacists differ based on socio–demographic characteristics and therefore the Pharmacy Council may enforce the design of different policies for the different groups of pharmacists to reduce the pharmaceutical profession's stress. / Thesis (M.Com. (Tourism))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.