Does visitors to Kgalagadi Transfrontier park have different interpretation needs?

Abstract

A park such as the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in South Africa is mandated by the Protected Areas Act (57 of 2003) to offer visitor facilities to boost the visitor's experience and conserve the environment. It is against this background, as well as the recently awarded UNESCO World Heritage Site of the park, that it identified interpretation services as a suitable means to fulfil the mandate. However, in order to do so, it is necessary to establish the market's demands for interpretation services. The aim of this study was therefore to identify different markets for different interpretation needs at the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park. The cluster analysis revealed three markets and was profiled by means of cross tabulations of socio-demographic characteristics, travel motives to visit the park and interpretation preferences. The results suggest that park visitors differ in terms of interpretation preferences and therefore require different managerial and marketing approaches. Management implicationsThe research contributes to visitor management in protected areas in the following way: First, the main motives for visitors to this park were identified, which will assist in the development of products and marketing of the park. Second, the most preferred forms, media, topics, and extent of information in interpretation were identified, which will assist management with interpretation development and management. Third, the study segmented visitors based on the aforementioned interpretation topics, providing product-specific information. Part of this was the new taxonomy for interpretation needs that was developed, namely I.C.E. (I – Interested, C – Committed, E – Engaged), which will segment the market to the park and reveal their interpretation preferences.