5.2 Visitors
5.2.3 Visitation and travel patterns
Figure 5.2 Self-rating as environmentalists (n=100 in each Park)
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
A strong environmentalist not an environmentalist slightly environmentalist
Percentage
Ezulwini Tala
Figure 5.2 indicates that the majority of the respondents (47%) at the Ezulwini Private Park rated themselves as strong environmentalists and the majority of the respondents (56%) to Tala Private Park were slight environmentalists. In Ezulwini Private Park, 43% of the respondents rated themselves as slight environmentalists and 10% of the respondents rated themselves as non- environmentalist. In the Tala Private Park, 39% of the respondents rated themselves as strong environmentalists and 5% of the respondents rated themselves as non-environmentalists. From (Figure 5.2) it can be deduced that visitors to private Parks (Ezulwini and Tala) perceived themselves as environmentally conscious with the majority indicating some understanding of key concepts and very few respondents stating that they were not environmentalists.
Table 5.13 Main reason for visiting the Parks (in %)
Main reason for visiting Ezulwini
(n=100)
Tala (n=100)
Total (n=200)
Adventure 5 9 7
Business 26 2 14
Experiencing game 15 14 14.5
Relaxation 42 66 54
Study/research purposes - 4 2
To obtain environmental knowledge 7 - 3.5
To visit natural areas 5 5 5
From Table 5.13 it is clear that the majority of the respondents (42% and 66%, respectively) at the Ezulwini Private Park and Tala Private Park declared that relaxation was the most important reason for visiting the respective Parks. This was similar to the reasons for travelling to South Africa identified by the respondents in Table 5.10 where holidays emerged as the main reason why respondents visited South Africa. Comparable results were obtained by Boshoff et al.
(2007) who reported that 78% of the respondents considered peace and quite as an important reason for visitors touring the Addo Elephant National Park in South Africa. Other reasons for visiting Ezulwini Private Park were business purposes (26%), experiencing game (15%), gaining environmental knowledge (7%), adventure (5%) and visiting of natural areas (5%). Other reasons for visiting Tala Private Park were experiencing game (14%), adventure (9%), visiting of natural areas (5%), studying or research purposes (4%) and business purposes (2%). It would seem that visitors visiting Ezulwini Private Park and Tala Private Park also had a preference for adventure, as indicated by Tran and Ralston (2006) whereby they would like to visit unusual and exotic destinations to gain new experiences, enjoy the unique environment or challenge their skills.
Table 5.14 Number of times that respondents visit natural areas (in %)
Times Ezulwini
(n=100)
Tala (n=100)
Total (n=200)
Once 9 21 15
2 to 5 times 60 79 69.5
6 to 10 times 11 - 5.5
10 to 15 times 15 - 7.5
15 to 20 times 5 - 2.5
x=5.8 x=2.9 x=4.4
The level of visitor participation in issues relating to the environment were analysed with respect to the number of visits made to natural areas. Table 5.14 indicates that the majority of the respondents to Ezulwini Private Park (60%) and Tala Private Park (79%) visited natural areas between two to five times. In contrast, only one-third of both cabin visitors and on-site tourists at the Ocala National Park, in the United States visited natural areas between one and three times over the past year (Stein et al., 2003). The average number of times that respondents from the Ezulwini Private Park visit natural areas was 5.8 (ranging from 1 to 20) whereas the average number of times that respondents from the Tala Private Park visit natural areas was 2.9 (ranging from 1 to 5).
Table 5.15 Means of travel to Parks (in %)
Travel Ezulwini (n=100)
Tala (n=100)
Total (n=200)
Airplane - 6 3
Bus - 2 1
Company vehicle - 5 2.5
Packaged tours 52 1 26.5
Hired vehicle 14 7 10.5
Own vehicle 34 79 56.5
From Table 5.15 it is evident that 52% of the respondents to Ezulwini Private Park arrived by packaged tours, 34% used their own vehicles and 14% used a hired vehicle. Seventy nine percent of the respondents who visited Tala Private Park used their own vehicle, 7% hired a vehicle, 6% of the tourist respondents arrived by airplane, 5% used a company vehicle, 2%
arrived by bus and one respondent conducted a tour with a tour operating company. In Tala Private Park, 89% of the visitors comprised of day-trippers (Table 5.26) who use their own
motor vehicles to visit the Park. This is due to Tala Private Park being in close proximity to Durban and Pietermaritzburg. Increase in motor vehicles to Tala Private Park could result in an increase in air pollution as well as environmental degradation in the Park. In Tala Private Park, for example, it was observed that most of the day visitors use their private vehicles to travel in the Park to view the wildlife. While there are rules to where to drive, it was observed that some vehicles, especially the off-road vehicles, go off the designated roads closer to the animals.
Table 5.16 Domestic respondent’s means of travel to Parks (in %)
Ezulwini Tala Travel
(n=48) (n=69)
Airplane - 2.90
Bus - 1.45
Conducted tour - 1.45
Hired vehicle 29.17 -
Own vehicle 70.83 94.20
To determine the mode of transport of day-trippers that travelled to the Ezulwini Private Park and Tala Private Park, the researcher carried out a crosstab analysis (Table 5.16). Results indicated that the majority of the domestic respondents used their own vehicles to travel to Ezulwini Private Park (70.83%) and Tala Private Park (94.20%).
Table 5.17 Frequency of travel to other destinations (in %) Frequency of Travel Ezulwini
(n=100)
Tala (n=100)
Total (n=200)
Always 16 41 28.5
Frequently 64 46 55
Rarely 20 13 16.5
The globalisation of capital has resulted in an expansion of wealth within many economically emerging countries, providing an increasing number of people with the means and leisure to regularly participate in recreational tourism (Chambers, 2009). Similarly, results from this study shows that 64% of the respondents to the Ezulwini Private Park frequently travel to other destinations, 20% of the respondents rarely travel to other destinations and 16% of the respondents always travel to other destinations. Comparatively, 46% of the respondents to the Tala Private Park frequently travel to other destinations, 41% of the respondents always travel to
other destinations and 13% of the respondents rarely travel to other destinations. Similarly, Boshoff et al. (2007) noted that the majority of the respondents at Addo Elephant National Park in South Africa frequently visited other South Africa’s Private Reserves. Therefore, it is clear that visitors to ecotourism sites travel frequently.
Table 5.18 Domestic respondent’s frequency of travel to other destinations (in %) Ezulwini Tala Frequency of Travel
(n=48) (n=69)
Always 10.42 42.03
Frequently 60.42 46.38
Rarely 29.17 11.59
In order to determine the proportion of domestic visitors that visited other destinations, the researcher carried out a crosstab analysis. Table 5.18 indicates that the majority of the respondents at both Parks frequently visit other tourist destinations. According to Rogerson and Lisa (2005), three domestic tourism surveys conducted during the 1990s revealed that South Africa’s domestic tourism economy showed a surge in the levels of activity and a change in its structure and nature. Furthermore, Koch and Massyn (2001) stated that this could be attributable to the demise of apartheid and an increase in prosperity among previously disadvantaged race groups. Historical racial categories of the visitors were not considered in this study to assess whether more Blacks are travelling to private Parks. Saayman et al. (2001) analysed the issue of leakages and suggested that the greater the leakage to other provinces, the smaller the total output effect of tourist spending within the province. These leakages are as a result of the importation of goods and services as a result of the inability of developing economies to provide the tourist goods and services the tourists expect (Van Harssel, 1994; Niedermeier and Smith, 1995).
Table 5.19 Sources of information about Parks (in %): Multiple responses Sources Ezulwini
(n=100)
Tala (n=100)
Total (n=200)
Television 5 2 3.5
Travel brochures 10 19 14.5
Word of mouth 9 77 43
Internet 46 15 30.5
Printed media 15 14 14.5
Tour operators 41 1 21
Hotels/motels/lodges - 2 1
Environmental organisations 26 8 17
Wedding - 1 0.5
Drive-by - 3 1.5
To identify the important sources of tourism information, the respondents were asked about where they obtained information about the Ezulwini Private Park and Tala Private Parks. Three distinct capabilities made the internet a very powerful tool comprising of interactivity, connectivity and convergence (Sigala, 2002). Respondents to Ezulwini Private Park used the internet (46%) to research areas and to interact with tour operators (41%). Respondents to Tala Private Park felt that word of mouth (77%) was a powerful tool to promote the Park while other sources of information relating to the Park included travel brochures (19%), internet (15%) and printed media (14%). Similarly, when investigating ecotourism ventures in the Western Cape, South Africa, Mannix (2004) found that word of mouth attracts more customers than do promotional pamphlets or printed media.
Table 5.20 Number of times visited South Africa (in %) Many Times Ezulwini
(n=52)
Tala (n=31)
Total (n=83)
Once 75 45.16 60.08
Twice 15.38 12.90 14.14
4 times 9.62 22.59 16.10
5 times - 19.35 9.68
x=0.7 x=1.5 x=1.1
The majority of the foreign visitors (75%) visiting Ezulwini Private Park and 45.16% of the respondents of the Tala Private Park had previously visited South Africa. Mannix (2004: 196)
emphasises that foreign tourists venture to South Africa in part because they know that our currency is weak compared to other currencies and that a similar tourism service offered in the United States of America would be three times as expensive. More importantly, it was noted that 52% and 29% of the foreign respondents to Ezulwini Private Park and Tala Private Park, respectively, indicated that they would visit South Africa again thus contributing to the growing economy of the country. The average number of times that respondents from Ezulwini Private Park visited South Africa was 0.7 (ranging from 1 to 4). The average number of times that respondents from Tala Private Park visited South Africa was 1.5 (ranging from 1 to 5). It is important to note that although for the majority of the foreign respondents (60.08%) this is their first visit to South Africa, a significant proportion (39.92%) of the visitors were repeat visitors.
Specifically, the majority of the foreign visitors to Tala Private Park (54.84%) were repeat visitors to South Africa. Repeat visitation is an important indicator of the attractiveness of a destination and also alludes to the long term sustainability of a tourism site.
Table 5.21 Number of times the private Parks were visited (in %)
Many
Ezulwini (n=100)
Tala (n=100)
Total (n=200)
Once 61 59 60
Twice 15 12 13.5
Thrice - 13 6.5
4 times 11 6 8.5
7 times - 10 5
12 times 13 - 6.5
x=1.5 x=1.1 x=1.3
The majority of the respondents visited Ezulwini Private Park (61%) and Tala Private Park (59%) only once (Table 5.21). The remaining respondents visited Ezulwini Private Park twice (15%), 4 times (11%) and 12 times (13%) whereas, the remaining respondents visited Tala Private Park twice (12%), thrice (15%), 4 times (6%) and 7 times (10%). The average number of times that respondents from Ezulwini Private Park visited this Private Park was 1.5 (ranging from 1 to 12) whereas the average number of times that respondents from Tala Private Park visited this private Park was 1.1 (ranging from 1 to 7). The Ezulwini private Park has a higher number of repeat visitors when compared to Tala Private Park. This could be attributed to visitors purchasing tour packages which include Ezulwini Private Park as a stop-over destination to Kosi Bay Nature Reserve, Sodwana Bay, iSimangaliso Wetland Park and Hluhluwe-Imfolozi
Game Park. Again, a significant proportion of the respondents (40%) were repeat visitors to the private Parks indicating the attractiveness and sustainability of the Parks.