Motivational factors for participation in domestic marine tourism: the case of marine protected areas of Dar es salaam coast, Tanzania
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Date
2024-05-09
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
European Journal of Development Studies
Abstract
Domestic tourism has rapidly become one of the better options for
enhancing social, economic, and environmental development in many
countries. For a country to benefit from this option, the participation of
citizens in tourism activities is highly encouraged. Several efforts have been
made by the government of Tanzania to encourage its citizens to participate
in tourism. Despite these efforts, there is still an absence of knowledge
of what motivates citizens to visit Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). The
study was conducted in marine park reserves, namely Bongoyo, Mbudya,
and Fungu Yasini-all located in the Indian Ocean in the Dar es Salaam
region of Tanzania (Marine Park & Reserves, n.d.). The study adopted an
exploratory research design to explore the factors that visitors consider
important for participating in marine tourism. The study used a sample size
of 60 respondents. The respondents were gathered using the convenience
sampling technique. Data has been collected using questionnaires and
telephone interviews and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social
Science (SPSS) v26. The partial least square structural equation model
(PLS-SEM) was used to explore the statistical relationships between
destination attributes and visitors’ psychological needs for their satisfaction.
Findings indicate that psychological needs have a strong relationship with
destination attributes. The destination attributes have a significant impact
on satisfaction. The study revealed that resting and relaxation, pride, and
novelty are the psychological needs that significantly influence satisfaction.
Likewise, destination attributes that were mentioned by respondents as
important were scenic beauty, clean water, cruising environment, and staff
hospitality. It is recommended that service providers understand and match
visitors’ psychological needs with destination attributes for their target
markets and accordingly design the provision of products and services at
affordable rates.
Description
Journal article
Keywords
Destination attributes, Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), psychological needs, satisfaction PLS-SEM