Profiling Latin American tourists to South Africa : the case of wilderness safaris

Abstract

Tourism growth to South Africa is in decline leading to less overseas travel from Europe, United States of America and Australasia. These developed economies are Wilderness Safaris and South Africa's main source markets in terms of overseas tourists. This has resulted in an emphasis shift to identify new markets to offset the slowdown in tourism growth. An emerging market that has been identified with great potential turns out to be Latin America. Consequently, the key aspects that have been identified to drive this study are set out below: - The uniqueness of the Latin American market makes it important to research aspects such as: Who are the Latin American tourists to South Africa and Wilderness Safaris? Why do they travel to South Africa? Which areas do they visit in the country? Why did they choose Wilderness Safaris as their inbound tour operator? - Current research on the Latin American tourists derives mostly from countries such as Australia and New Zealand, but also includes studies from the World Tourism Organisation. - To the best of the author's knowledge no other study in South Africa has focused on profiling Latin American tourists and their travel motives. - There is currently limited data and information available regarding the Latin American tourists traveling to South Africa. With the increased growth in this market, it becomes imperative to research this market through market segmentation. Based on the brief introduction, the main purpose of this study was to profile the Latin American tourists that travel to South Africa and Wilderness Safaris. To achieve this goal, an online questionnaire was sent to Latin American tour operators and travel agents. Only tour operators and travel agents that have an active working relationship with Wilderness Safaris were selected. In turn, the Latin American tour operators and travel agents distributed the questionnaire to their customers. A total of 195 completed questionnaires were returned from places across the Latin American region. All 195 completed questionnaires were used in this study. A literature study was done to define tourism marketing, its context within eco-tourism, the benefits thereof as well as the use and implementation of market segmentation. An in-depth literature study was also done on the Latin American tourist, comparing them with the current tourist profile of South Africa and Wilderness Safaris. Literature was also consulted to compare the Latin American tourist with South Africa as an international competitive destination. Through the use of an empirical survey it became clear that there were various motives for the Latin American tourists choosing South Africa as destination and Wilderness Safaris as tour operator. A variety of data analyses were used in this study such as descriptive data, factor analyses, cluster analysis, t-tests, ANOVAs and Spearman's Rank Order Correlations. Descriptive analysis allowed the researcher to create a profile on the Latin American tourist to South Africa and Wilderness Safaris. The cluster analysis based on the identified motives revealed four distinct segments of Latin American tourists to South Africa, each resembling distinct preferences that need to be catered for. The t-tests, ANOVAs and Spearman's Rank Order Correlations indicated that a variety of socio-demographic and behavioural characteristics influenced Latin American travel motives. Results indicated that the Latin American market was not homogenous and recommendations were made on differences in the market. This study makes a valuable contribution to the current tourism marketing literature by expanding current knowledge on the profile and motives of a, to date, relatively unknown tourist market.