Comparing tourists’ and residents’ motivations for travelling to Kruger National Park, South Africa

This study analysed the motivations for visiting South Africa‘s Kruger National Park, with the aim of identifying similarities and differences between tourists‘ motives and those of people living near the Park. A factor analysis of the findings revealed five motives: education and learning, relaxation, photography, activities and destination attributes. T-tests revealed three significant differences between tourists‘ and the residents‘ motives to visit the park. =Activities‘ was the most important for tourists and =relaxation‘ and =photography‘ for residents. The Park‘s attributes were the least important motive for both groups. =Education‘ was considered an important motive to visit the park by both groups. It is evident that the type of product, in this case, a nature product, demands certain travel motivations and that motivations differ according to the type of person visiting the park. The needs of the tourists should not be adhered to at the cost of the communities adjacent to the Park since both stakeholders have an important role to play in the sustainability of the Park. Park management and marketers can use this information in their product development and marketing strategies for both markets.Keywords: Nature based tourism, tourist motivation, Kruger National Park, tourists, residents