Who is Visiting South African Beaches and Why?

Abstract

South African beaches attract numerous tourists each year, forcing local municipalities to either mitigate or take advantage of the impact of increased tourism to these municipal areas. Knowledge of these tourists' motives and demographic profiles could improve beach marketing and management of tourism sites. However, few articles and information exist on the travel behaviour of visitors to South African beaches. Sustainability gained importance amongst beachgoers and managers. For destination management organisations (DMOs) to reach their goals and objectives related to sustainability, it is important to know who visits South African beaches and why. The research aimed to shed light on the demographic profiles and motives of travellers to South African beaches, which could indicate how beach tourism can effectively be utilised to attract tourists to beach destinations. Six beaches were identified for the study, and a sample of 1 138 structured questionnaires were distributed. Descriptive data analysis and exploratory factor- and cluster analysis were applied. The results presented the demographic profiles of the respondents and identified six factors (motives) i.e., swimming conditions, activities and events, beach quality, popularity of the beach, experience, and accessibility of the beach. Two clusters based on these motives were identified: the quality beach seekers and the escape seekers. Beach managers can utilise knowledge pertaining to these clusters to attract a certain type of tourist according to their motives and profiles. Developing new products and improved marketing can be the starting point for attracting and implementing revisitation to beach destinations.