Year: 2014
Type: dissertation
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: The National Zoological Gardens of South Africa is an animal-based tourist attraction that \nneeds to offer a competitive product in order to remain relevant and to meet its various \nmandates. Functioning within the experience economy it strives to stage experiences that \nsatisfy the motivations and expectations of its visitors. The study aimed at determining who \nvisits the zoo, what motivates them to visit the zoo as well as what their expectations are \nand whether the zoo meets their needs in this regard. It also aimed at determining whether \nor not different demographic groups had different needs and whether their specific needs \nwere being met. The study employed two self-administered questionnaires, using \nconvenience sampling, whereby visitors entering and leaving the zoo where requested to \ncomplete the questionnaires. The data was analysed using SAS 9.2 programme and a \nfurther G-Test for goodness of fit was performed to determined dependency between race \ndemographic and response. A total of 572 entry questionnaires and 293 exit \nquestionnaires were completed. The two largest demographic groups that visit the zoo are \nwhite and black visitors who responded as a relatively homogeneous group. It was \nconcluded that there were not responses in these two groups that indicated dependency \nbetween race and response. For the smaller demographic groups some of responses \nindicated a dependency between race and response but these form a small component of \nthe zoo’s visitors. A high revisit and referral intention are good indicators of visitor \nsatisfaction with 279 indicating their intention to revisit and 277 to recommend the zoo to \nfamily and friends. This study emphasises the importance of understanding the \nmotivations, expectations and satisfaction of demographic groups as part of effective \nexperience management.
Author: Maurice Craig Allenby
Language: English
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W131191802