Interpretation needs and preferences of visitors to Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park

Koedoe - African Protected Area Conservation and Science

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Interpretation needs and preferences of visitors to Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park
 
Creator van der Merwe, Petrus Saayman, Melville Botha, Elricke
 
Subject — ecotourism; wildlife tourism; national parks; education; interpretation; World Heritage Site
Description South African National Parks is one of South Africa’s main drawcards for ecotourists. One of these parks is the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (KTP), which is also a World Heritage Site (WHS). Because tourism is key to national parks and WHSs, visitor management strategies such as interpretation are vital for these destinations to provide tourists with better experiences and knowledge. The aim of this research was therefore to determine the interpretation needs and preferences of visitors to KTP. The factor analyses revealed that tourists felt that park guidelines would add the most to a quality experience. Tourists preferred interpretation topics on nature and heritage and would like to receive in-depth information on these topics. Interpretation should also preferably be offered through audio and visual media. These findings impact the development of relevant interpretation services for the park, which will contribute towards visitors’ experiences. The research is original as it examined visitors’ interpretation needs and preferences on topics, the extent of information tourists would like to receive and the type of media through which information should be presented.Conservation implications: Designing relevant interpretation services based on tourists’ needs and preferences will contribute towards satisfactory experiences. In turn, this may lead to an increase in profits, which can support conservation practices. Effective interpretation messages can also foster additional support towards conservation efforts.
 
Publisher AOSIS Publishing
 
Contributor
Date 2020-08-11
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — —
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/koedoe.v62i1.1613
 
Source Koedoe; Vol 62, No 1 (2020); 11 pages 2071-0771 0075-6458
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://koedoe.co.za/index.php/koedoe/article/view/1613/2490 https://koedoe.co.za/index.php/koedoe/article/view/1613/2489 https://koedoe.co.za/index.php/koedoe/article/view/1613/2491 https://koedoe.co.za/index.php/koedoe/article/view/1613/2488
 
Coverage — — —
Rights Copyright (c) 2020 Petrus van der Merwe, Melville Saayman, Elricke Botha https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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