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This article, examines the perspectives of rural people in Manicaland on the barriers to community participation in tourism. A qualitative approach was selected to give local people from the four d...

Agritourism has grown rapidly in many countries worldwide. However, for all this success, little is known about the concrete implementation, actual extent, and effectiveness of public and private agritourism support measures aimed at keeping up farming and promoting agritourism. Hence, the objective of this study is to provide an overview and a comparison of agritourism supports and policies in different countries. To this purpose, specific political, legal, financial, and promotional instruments for agritourism have been investigated. The focus is on three countries with strong agritourism sectors and different socio-cultural characteristics: Italy, the USA, and South Africa. The analysis of these case study areas is motivated by examination of agritourism from different continents with a diverging status of development as well as history. Italy and the USA are two countries with well-established and successful agritourism sectors; however, these are based on very different framework conditions, resulting in specific development paths and various supportive driving factors. South Africa has been included as a representative case study of a developing country where agritourism operations are growing rapidly through the support of an active private sector association. By assessing commonalities and differences in public and private support backgrounds in three different continents, the present study represents the first exploratory attempt to understand the influences of public and private national and regional framework conditions for agritourism development. Our findings suggest that both public and private supports contribute to success; however, clear criteria and further research are needed in order to fully understand the implications.

There has been an increase in research tourism and community empowerment. Yet, most of the research has denied local people an opportunity to be heard concerning their views and perspectives on tou...

Agri-tourism, which involves tourists visiting working farms for entertainment and learning, has become more popular over the years. This paper focuses on the supply side of agri-tourism and investigates the motives that South African farmers have for offering agri-tourism activities and attractions on their farm. Based on a study with 557 respondents from all nine provinces of South Africa, 148 respondents indicated that they were currently offering some form of agri-tourism. The results identified the most popular agri-tourism activities and attractions as farm stay/accommodation, hunting, hiking/nature trails, and wildlife viewing and photography. An exploratory factor analysis was conducted, which identified two factors, namely, preservation of culture and heritage and economic advantages. Based on the mean values, economic advantages were the main reason why farmers decided to offer agri-tourism activities and attractions.

Anthropogenic activities cause habitat loss for wildlife, thus increasing human-wildlife conflicts globally. This study focused on highlighting factors that need to be explored when assessing human-wildlife conflicts for managerial actions. To identify critical factors influencing co-existence between humans and wildlife and the role these factors can play in supporting conservation of flora and fauna. A structured questionnaire was developed and administered to four communities around the two divisions of Cross-River National park to collect information demographic characteristics and series of tolerance construct statements to understand tolerance towards human-wildlife conflicts. The factors influencing tolerance in human-wildlife conflicts in Cross River National Park were highlighted using factor analysis on 335 households from communities living near the park. Tolerance in human-wildlife conflicts influences conservation and management in protected areas. The identified factors were a contribution to conservation, wealth & multiple livelihood sources, Compensation & Benefits, and community resilience. Furthermore, it was also discovered that carnivore conservation requires special attention for communities to provide support for conservation. Our results suggest that even though conservation is a central concept in human-wildlife conflict, other factors such as tolerance, the occupation of locals and the benefits to be derived play a critical role in ameliorating human-wildlife conflicts. Human-wildlife conflicts cannot be totally eliminated but having a clear understanding of the factors that play a major role in determining tolerance levels is a huge step towards peaceful coexistence and hence better management of the protected area

This study examined human–wildlife conflicts between border communities to Cross River National Park in Nigeria. The research aimed to assess mitigation strategies and traditional measures used to ...

Introduction. This paper examines the nature tourism satisfaction of tourists visiting Okomu National Park (ONP) in Edo State, Nigeria. Material and methods. Questionnaires were randomly administered to tourists visiting the park. Factor analysis was employed to identify the major issues influencing tourist satisfaction when visiting national parks. Results. The results indicated that the majority of the tourists were youth and were first-time visitors. Furthermore, the results revealed that management, interpretation, accessibility, and expectation are the major requirements for ensuring a good experience and satisfaction when visiting national parks. Conclusion. The results of the research reveal that in order to promote tourist satisfaction, managers of national parks need to pay attention to the proper management of the flora and fauna, including the interpretation of natural features.

This article examines the perceptions of local people concerning the potential of tourism to alleviate poverty and bring about community development in the Manicaland Province, Zimbabwe. In-depth interviews, direct observations, and informal conversations were used to collect data in the four districts of Manicaland where there were functional community-based tourism (CBT) projects. After establishing a poverty criterion, data were collected from 43 local poor people in the four districts of the case study area. The results show that tourism development in Manicaland brought about community development through social, economic, environmental and cultural benefits. The authors suggest that there are interrelationships between tourism, poverty alleviation and community development. They show these interrelationships through a tourism and community-development framework which they developed based upon the results of the various methods of data collection used in this study.

This research segments whale watchers in South Africa according to the factors regarded as important for a memorable experience by these natural event viewers. The segmentation gives an ACC-typology of viewers, namely abundant experience seekers, convenience experience seekers and comprehensive experience seekers. The results show that such segmentation is a useful research tool for producing a clear visitor profile, enabling us to provide strategic insights into managing the whale viewing experience, as well as similar natural events, according to the preferences of specific market segments. The findings, however, shows that the Hermanus Whale Festival has to revise the current management and marketing strategy to emphasise the natural phenomenon of the whale migration as the primary festival attraction and the ‘festivalscape’ elements surrounding entertainment as ancillary to the visitor experience. This management approach is recommended to these types of festivals that are organised around natural events, as it is vital that these events remain true to their initial objective of educating visitors about the natural phenomenon and the conservation thereof.

Currently, the majority of land used in South Africa for wildlife by the private sector has been converted from livestock farms to game farms and covers more land than state-owned provincial and national parks conservation areas combined. One animal that stands out above most wildlife regarding its popularity is the lion. From a private land owners’ point of view, lions are amongst the most sought after animals for photographic safaris and trophy hunting, leading to the increase of lion breeding and populations on private land to the point where the private sector is responsible for managing the largest portion of the lion population in South Africa. Therefore, the aim of this research is to determine the economic significance of lion breeding within the South African wildlife industry. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 21 breeders in South Africa. The results revealed that lion breeders contribute R500 million (US$ 42 million) annually to the South African economy. The contribution of this research is twofold. Firstly, it was the first time such research has been conducted amongst lion breeders, and secondly, it points to the economic significance of lion breeding regarding the amount spend by breeders as well as number of jobs maintained by this breeders. Key words: Consumptive and non-consumptive wildlife tourism, economic significance, ecotourism, lion breeding, wildlife tourism.

Accommodation plays such an important role in the tourist’s experience that one would imagine that many studies concerning this topic have been conducted. However, surprisingly, very few studies have focused on this subject despite the growth in both demand and supply. This gap or lack of research led to the present exploratory study that addressed the question: ‘What are visitors’ accommodation preferences when they select accommodation in the Kruger National Park?’ Based on a visitor survey in the Northern region of the Park during December 2015 where 294 fully completed questionnaires were administered, respondents were segmented based on their accommodation preferences (self-service, serviced and safari). Three distinct segments were identified, Self-service seekers, Servicescape seekers and Self-safari seekers. These segments differ regarding their socio-demographic characteristics and especially regarding the factors they regard as important when selecting accommodation and campsites. This was the first time that the accommodation preferences of visitors to the flagship national park in South Africa have been analysed. The results demonstrated that while visitors to the Kruger National Park appear homogeneous regarding their demographic profile, they differ significantly when it comes to accommodation needs and preferences. The findings from the research are valuable to park management, especially when developing and expanding accommodation options in the park as it shows the preferences of each distinct market. This research furthermore contributes to the current literature regarding ecotourism and ecotourists’ accommodation preferences.

The world of travel and tourism have perhaps changed forever as a result of COVID-19; considered the worst global pandemic to affect the world, post World War II. The spread of the Coronavirus diseases was considerably attributed to the travel and tourism industry, and with the attempt to curb the spread of the virus, the industry experienced calamitous effects and suffered staggering financial losses. The same accounts for wildlife tourism (Southern Africa's largest product) - bringing the hunting and ecotourism sector of South Africa to a complete standstill. The pandemic accompanied concerning and devastating effects, not only from a financial point of view, but also in terms of the conservation of these sectors within the industry. This paper presents a comprehensive analysis using the data obtained from the members of Wildlife Ranching South Africa (WRSA) to quantify the actual and potential financial losses in the private wildlife industry due to cancellations of hunters and ecotourists, live game sales and finally, game meat sales in the industry. From the results, the estimated financial impact of COVID-19 on the private wildlife industry is R6.694 billion (ZAR). The study made the following three contributions: Firstly, it determined the economic impact of COVID-19 on the private wildlife industry. Secondly, it provides the industry with a tangible document that can be used in securing funding and assistance from government and other non-profit organisations. Thirdly, it shows the importance of this industry to the South African economy and employment, although only applicable to private-owned reserves.

Sandy beaches offer invaluable services, the overexploitation of which threatens their survival. Management responses may be inappropriate, focussing on limited aspects of beaches and neglecting key characteristics. This study developed and tested a new integrated assessment tool for sandy beaches, using seven recreational South African beaches as case study. The tool was based on a beach description matrix, forming the Beach Description Index; an assessment of beachgoers’ attitude and opinion, forming the Human Dimension Index; and a monetary assessment, forming the Monetary Index. Values for each index were classified according to management attention/recreational favourability, opinion/attitude, and economic value, respectively. The average of the indices formed a Beach Evaluation Index, which was used to rate the performance of and compare the case study beaches. Within limits, the evaluation tool successfully identified management priorities, public concerns, and economic aspects regarding the beaches, all of which can be generalised to other beaches worldwide.

The aim of the study upon which this paper is based was two-fold: firstly, to determine what motivates individuals to join a fitness club, and secondly, to determine their sport and leisure behaviours. This is done in an industry that is growing but in which very little research has been conducted in the past from a South African perspective. A quantitative research approach was followed. Data collection took place at Virgin Active clubs in Gauteng, South Africa. A probability sampling, namely random sampling, was conducted. Questionnaires were distributed among Virgin Active members at three different fitness clubs. In total, 474 usable questionnaires were obtained, after which three factor analyses were conducted. For the first-factor analysis (reasons for exercising or being a member of a fitness club), five factors were identified; for the second-factor analysis (type of sport participating in), four factors were identified; and for the third-factor analysis (leisure time participation), three factors were identified. The research firstly revealed that the primary motives for being a member of a fitness club are for health reasons, part of my lifestyle, and to improve my quality of life. Secondary motives are interaction and being sociable, as well as being goal orientated. The second finding of the research is that traditional sport codes such as rugby, tennis, netball, and soccer remain the most popular sports to participate in. Lastly, the research proposes the CAP (creative, active and passive) leisure typology needs to be tested in future research in this field. This is the first time that these aspects (motives, sport and leisure behaviour) have been tested at fitness clubs in South Africa.

Lucrezi, S. and van der Merwe, P., 2015. Beachgoers' awareness and evaluation of the Blue Flag Award in South Africa. Beach awards such as the European Blue Flag are increasingly adopted in many countries as an environmental brand to promote better beach management and encourage tourism. However, the validity of the Blue Flag award has been criticized in the literature, and research shows that the award is still not widely known and has marginal influence on tourists' beach selection. This study, conducted at six popular South African beaches, three with and three without Blue Flag status, investigated awareness and evaluation of the Blue Flag award among 579 beachgoers. Results from a structured questionnaire showed that over half of the participants, mostly people on the Blue Flag beaches, knew about the Blue Flag award and its criteria; however, approximately one-third of the participants were unaware of it. Participants tended to be less tolerant of supposed water-quality degradation than the...

During the last decades, youth and student travellers aged 15 to 30 have become an important part of the international tourism market. However, global ecotourism trends found that ecotourists are mainly middle-aged to elderly. Based on this, the present research is aimed at investigating, on the basis of ecotourism key tenets detected from a number of studies aimed at analyzing contemporary ecotourism definitions, the knowledge of issues, attitudes and intentions towards ecotourism among a sample of young people. The total sample was drawn from university students from different countries, totalling 613 respondents. The research revealed that for the majority of respondents surveyed their knowledge of ecotourism remains scarce, although some differences were found by country of residence. It is therefore important to develop ecotourism courses where the core differences among ecotourism, nature-based tourism and mass tourism are emphasized to a greater extent. Finally, one cannot expect students to unders...

The ecosystem services provided by sandy beaches are increasingly recognised and valued globally. Nevertheless, sandy beaches remain under threat from the overexploitation and degradation of these services, mostly attributable to human pressures. Management challenges for sandy beaches include taking into account their diversity and their inherent aspects, from environmental to social. In developing countries, in particular, lack of resources exacerbates these challenges. Therefore, low-cost strategies focused on interventions with spatial priority and aimed at cooperative governance, while addressing the diversity of sandy beaches, are favoured. The inclusion of social drivers, a prescription designed to contribute to Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM), appears to fit this role by means of actions engaging stakeholders. In this context, users data are receiving more attention with an eye to designing and implementing management strategies for different sandy beaches. Recreational ones, in particular, are under pressure, including development and direct use by visitors, and their functions can be easily jeopardised through homogeneous, partial or blanket management. This paper discusses the utility of users data so as to assist differential management of recreational sandy beaches in South Africa. This country was selected as a case study given that it is developing rapidly and its long coastline is dominated by sandy beaches, many of which are valued and exploited for recreation and tourism. The data under investigation concern sandy beach visitors or beachgoers. These data, collected through self-administered questionnaire surveys, included socio-demographic profiles, travel motivations, beach selection criteria and an evaluation of the state of the beach. Twelve recreational sandy beaches with different urbanisation levels were selected for fieldwork. Between April 2013 and April 2014, 1200 questionnaire surveys were distributed to the beachgoers; 953 of these were completed and returned. There was a notable variability in the profile and perceptions of the beachgoers according to urbanisation and geographic location of the beaches. Such variability supported the case for differential and ad hoc management of recreational sandy beaches. In addition, some users’ views matched with actual scenarios encountered on the beaches under study, confirming the validity of users data in assisting sandy beach management. Implications for the findings of this study are discussed and span actions based on users’ priorities, regulations and interventions to better educate users on the functionality of sandy beaches and the importance of conservation.

South Africa boasts 21 national parks managed by South African National Parks (SANParks), which is the leading conservation organization and also the largest provider of ecotourism experiences in South Africa. Because SANParks depends heavily on tourist spending, it is important to successfully develop and manage its tourism products and services. A key aspect of the successful development and management of ecotourism products is to have an understanding of how tourists perceive ecotourism. An insight to tourists' perceptions will assist in developing ecotourism guidelines, which will minimize negative impacts and at the same time add value to the tourist experience. The aim of this article is to determine critical ecotourism factors (CEFs) applicable to national parks from a visitor's perspective. A web survey was conducted via the SANParks' website. A factor analysis was performed and six factors were extracted. The factors include product development, local community involvement, environmentally friendly practices, food and activities, ethical behavior, and policies. It was the first time research of this nature had been conducted in South Africa. The results adhere to ecotourism characteristics. Key findings include: the high value respondents place on ethics and the importance of educational programs, staff training, visitor management, and environmentally friendly practices.

Off-road vehicles (ORVs) are popular in coastal recreation, although they have negative impacts on sandy shores. In South Africa, ORVs are banned from most coastal areas, while some areas are designated for restricted ORV use, providing an opportunity to assess whether ORV traffic restrictions translate into biological returns. In Sodwana Bay, the impact of ORVs on ghost crab populations was investigated. During Easter 2012, ghost crab burrows were counted on beach sections open and closed to traffic. Burrow density in the Impact section was less than a third that of the Reference section, and by the end of the study burrow size in the Impact section was half that of the Reference section. ORV traffic caused a shift in burrow distribution to the Lower beach. However, differences in burrow densities between sections were 14 times smaller than differences obtained at a time when ORV use in Sodwana Bay was not controlled. While confirming the well-established detrimental effects of ORV use on sandy beach ecosystems, results demonstrated that traffic restrictions on beaches measurably minimize impacts to the fauna, thus translating into clear-cut biological returns. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00267-013-0223-5

Coral reefs are threatened by impacts such as from scuba diving, and ongoing research is required to assess diving impacts, diver behavior and environmental knowledge. This study investigated perceived diving impacts, reef condition and norms among scuba divers at Sodwana Bay (South Africa). Divers viewed contact with coral as damaging, and perceived environmental degradation at dive sites. However, most divers saw activities such as photography as causing little or no damage to reefs. One meter or less was believed to be a safe distance from the reef or the wildlife to avoid contact or disturbance, and encounter norms were high. Age and experience influenced most perceptions, although cannot be accepted as reliable indicators of divers' perceptions or behavior, due to the heterogeneous conduct of divers of various experience and age as described in literature. The importance of human perceptions to understand what strategies need implementation in diving management is discussed.

The literature indicates that wildlife tourism has become a major draw card for many countries. This is also true for South Africa where wildlife tourism forms the cornerstone of the South African tourism industry. Wildlife tourism activities can be classified into two main groups: non-consumptive (viewing and photographing of wild animals) and consumptive (such as hunting and fishing). Although hunting is one of the major contributors to wildlife tourism in South Africa little is known about the hunters themselves. Therefore the aim of this article is to understand the reasons why South African hunters hunt and to identify specific clusters. In order to achieve the above, a web-based survey conducted on the SA Hunters’ website was used, which afforded respondents the opportunity to complete and return the questionnaire electronically. A total of 344 (n) completed questionnaires were received. The results revealed seven travel motives why South African hunters hunt, namely: for educational purposes, culture and heritage, family togetherness, nature experience, adventure, wildlife meat products and spiritual reasons. In addition three clusters or markets were identified. Key words: Hunting, Biltong hunting, wildlife-based tourism, travel motives, market segmentation, cluster analysis

Scuba diving is a growing form of tourism reflecting positively on the economy of coastal communities. However, any negative impacts associated with scuba diving need to be prevented to safeguard the critical ecosystem services provided by reefs. Studies have explored the behaviour of scuba divers by psychological and skill-related factors to formulate plans for the management of reefs and diving tourism. This study represents a contribution to the growing evidence concerning scuba divers' perceptions according to these factors. Scuba divers at Sodwana Bay, South Africa were interviewed on their diving motivations, excitement for marine life, experience, and perceptions of impacts, reef condition, and norms. It was hypothesised that motivations and marine life preferences had a significant relationship with scuba divers' perceptions and norms, and that experience mediated this relationship. Hypotheses were tested via structural equation modelling. Although motivations varied significantly according to diving experience, the hypotheses were not confirmed by the structural model. These findings highlight the importance of a stronger educational component across all diving specialisation levels, and emphasise the need to further research the potential links between psychological variables and behaviour in scuba divers.

Schoeman, K.; Van der Merwe, P., and Slabbert, E., 2016. The perceived value of a scuba diving experience. Tourists today are more value conscious, which creates challenges for tourism products to keep up with what tourists want and how they perceive certain experiences. Perceived tourism value can be seen as the value that tourists experience and can be defined from separate perspectives, such as money, quality, benefits, and social aspects. The purpose of this study is to determine the perceived value of a scuba diving experience. A survey was conducted at Sodwana Bay, where 402 divers participated by means of stratified sampling. The factor analysis revealed five values, namely perceived emotional value, perceived risk value, perceived functional value, perceived social value, and perceived epistemic value. This insight can assist role players in the marine environment to adapt their scuba diving product where needed and can also assist in the improvement of diver satisfaction, the diving expe...

The Blue Flag is a beach award scheme adopted by coastal municipalities to manage beaches and attract tourism. This paper evaluates beachgoers' views of the Blue Flag award in South Africa, and examines these in the light of beach managers' opinions of the award. Beachgoers (N = 374) on Blue Flag and non-Blue Flag beaches were interviewed to assess awareness, knowledge, and attitudes concerning the Blue Flag award, and perceptions of beach features that are also listed as Blue Flag criteria. Blue Flag managers were interviewed to examine their opinion of and commitment to the award. Beachgoers and managers shared positive views of the Blue Flag award. However, a substantial lack of knowledge on the award's criteria by beachgoers was reflected in managerial and educational flaws by Blue Flag managers. Based on the results obtained, a new environmental education framework is proposed for the Blue Flag award.

Coastal dunes are increasingly at risk due to pressures deriving from global climate change, sea level rise, recreation and development. The consequences of the “coastal squeeze” in which dunes are placed, such as erosion and the loss of critical ecosystem services, are usually followed by expensive restoration and protection measures, many of which are unsuccessful. Due to the poor understanding and acknowledgement of the key attributes of coastal dunes in decision making processes, it is essential to provide scientific data on the impacts of human interference on coastal dunes so as to inform executives and guide them towards a sustainable management of the coastal zone. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of five different levels of infrastructure development on the vegetation community structure of coastal dunes in Jeffreys Bay, South Africa. The effects of infrastructure development on dune vegetation were quantified by measuring the richness, diversity, cover, height and composition of plant species. With an increase in infrastructure development a significant decrease in dune width, average species richness and height of the plants occurred, accompanied by a shift in plant community composition. The foredunes that were backed immediately by infrastructure presented significantly greater species richness, diversity, cover and height compared with the foredunes abutted by primary dunes. This study demonstrated that coastal dunes are environments which are sensitive to varying levels of human impact. Informed and comprehensive management planning of these environments is therefore imperative for the restoration and maintenance of remnant dunes and for the conservation of undeveloped coastal dunes.

This study, the first of its kind involving South African National Parks, aimed to determine which environmental factors in these parks have a negative effect on tourists’ experience, and whether tourists who visit parks frequently are more aware of environmental impacts than those who visit only occasionally. The findings will help to inform South African National Parks (SANParks) management about the impacts of tourism in the parks and how these affect tourists’ experience. Data was obtained from 451 questionnaires completed in a survey on the SANParks official website. A factor analysis identified five environmental factors that had a negative impact on tourists’ SANParks experience: pollution, tourism product offering, park violation, environmental management, and tourism impacts. An ANOVA test was then conducted to examine the relationship between the frequency of tourists’ visits and the effect of these factors on their experience. It was found that the more frequent the visits, the more the environmental impacts of tourism were perceived. These findings should help to develop management strategies to reduce negative nature-based experiences. Key words: Tourist experience, environmental impact, park management, ANOVA, factor analysis, South African national parks.