Push and Pull Factors for Domestic Leisure Travel in Mtubatuba Local Municipality, South Africa

Ikechukwu O. Ezeuduji¹, Nokulunga C. Dlomo²

Abstract: This study explores the main motivators (push-pull factors) for South African residents to participate in domestic leisure travel, using Mtubatuba Local Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal as a case. Structured questionnaire was used to collect usable data from 400 respondents. Results show that seeking social interaction, relaxation, exploring different activities and cultures, visiting friend and relatives, and escape from normal routine are the push factors for residents to travel domestically. Pull factors driving domestic tourism in South Africa include the beauty of South Africa’s natural resources, its diverse history and culture, and excellent recreational facilities. Young (18-30 years of age), female, and employed residents, and those with tertiary education, demonstrate higher demand for domestic tourism than their counterparts. It is therefore recommended that domestic tourism marketing efforts by South African Tourism should be increased on these demographic groups. Intensive and continuous domestic tourism awareness, competitive pricing (through reduced operational costs), and further improvements on national security are areas that still need national attention. International or foreign demand for South Africa as a tourism destination can be induced and maintained through domestic tourism support.

Keywords: domestic tourism; push factors; pull factors; leisure travel; sub-Saharan Africa

JEL Classification: R41

1. Introduction

Tourism has grown to a massive industry (Sarin, 2015) and its contribution to the global economic growth has been widely reported. Tourism is also widely perceived as an economic development tool for the local community, providing factors that may improve the quality of life, such as employment and investment opportunities, tax revenues, restaurants, accommodation services, natural and cultural attractions, festivals, and outdoor recreation opportunities (Tichaawa & Mhlanga, 2015). Zooming in to the South African province where this study is conducted, tourism had a significant contribution in the KwaZulu-Natal local economy, growing from a R9billion contribution to the Provincial Gross Domestic Product in 2014 to more than R10billion by 2018 (Tourism KwaZulu-Natal, 2019). Travel is pivotal to tourism, and some of the common travel reasons are to visit various destinations for leisure purposes, take part in different interesting activities and learn about other cultures. According to Doran et al. (2015), motivational processes are grounded in internal motives such as needs, cognitions and emotions, and/or external events that derive from environmental, social and cultural sources. Doran et al. (2015) submit that each individual feels the need to travel to various adventurous destinations, and in most cases, tourists are motivated by their own desires towards destinations, where they expect their needs to be satisfied.

Domestic tourism demand brings about international demand. Keeping much of the tourism expenditure within the tourism destination, such as South Africa, is necessary for local economic growth. This study was conducted in Mtubatuba Local Municipality, situated in KwaZulu-Natal Province, one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Mtubatuba Local Municipality was selected for this study as it is one of the regions in South Africa that has major tourist attractions (for example a World Heritage Site - Isimangaliso Wetland Park, Nature Reserves and Crocodile Park) and receives lots of tourists yearly. The study area has heavy reliance on tourism as an economic activity with many tourism-related businesses. The desire for the local residents of Mtubatuba Local Municipality to travel domestically (within South Africa), particularly for leisure, is worth investigating. Hence, the objective of this study is to explore motivation (push and pull factors) for domestic leisure travel among Mtubatuba Local Municipality residents.

The importance of local residents’ participation in domestic tourism cannot be overemphasised, as domestic demand for tourism products and services can translate into international demand for tourism products and services. The study intends to find out what motivates domestic travellers to participate in tourism. On the one hand, domestic travel helps to retain the tourism income within the country; and on the other hand, it also contributes towards the economic growth of less developed counties like South Africa. Not all countries and regions are equally able to attract or retain domestic tourists from other regions of a country (Eugenio-Martin & Campos-Soria, 2010) and strategic planning, development, and management then become requirements for success. The study focused on the key factors that motivates people to travel, the push and pull motivational factors. From our literature review, we found that many international studies were conducted on domestic tourism and leisure travel (such as Kanagara & Bindu, 2013; Khuong & Ha, 2014; Baniya & Paudel, 2016; Litheko & Potgieter, 2016; Makhaola, 2017). However, not many studies of this nature are done in the sub-Saharan Africa. This study therefore used the case of domestic leisure travel motivation among local residents in Mtubatuba Local Municipality of South Africa to contribute to the regional knowledge of this phenomenon. Thence, a short review of previous studies was conducted by the researchers, at the beginning of the study.

2. Overview of Literature

2.1. Tourism Benefits to the Community

Rogerson (2011) reports that the National Government of South Africa declared tourism as one of the six pillars for economic growth, in line with the New Growth Path. The National Department of Tourism is committed to create 225 million jobs and increase tourism’s economic contribution to the GDP by R499 billion by the year 2020, amongst other imperatives. Rogerson (2011) further states that the commitment provided for in the National Tourism Sector Strategy called for the development of a Domestic Tourism Growth Strategy for South Africa. This was in recognition that domestic tourism is a crucial contributor to the growth of tourism.

Tourism is recognised as a means of boosting the national and regional economy, and increasingly, destinations and specifically cities, are turning to tourism as an important element in their economic portfolio (Litheko & Potgieter, 2016). There are many ways in which tourism may influence an individual’s quality of life. An improvement of one’s life can be experienced through the development of tourism products that can also be enjoyed by residents, such as festivals, restaurants, natural and cultural attractions, and outdoor recreation opportunities (Andereck & Nyaupane, 2010). An improved quality of life can also be realised through for example a higher personal standard of living, and also through the creation of employment opportunities and increased tax revenues (Andereck & Nyaupane, 2010). Tourists’ motivation to travel could be described using the push-pull factors that cause people to move away from their location and draw them to a new location.

2.2. Push Factors for Leisure Travel

Push motives refer to the need to escape from usual surroundings for the purpose of relaxation, and discovering new things, places and people. From the literature, social interaction and enhancement of kinship relationships are dominant push motives in the vacation decision (Kanagaraj & Bindu, 2013). Generally, these are thought to create the desire for travel. Baniya and Paudel (2016) state that push factors describe the drive for an individual to participate in touristic activities or the internal “igniter” that propels the tourist to travel outside of his/her everyday environment. The general factors that motivate people to travel were identified as escape/ relaxation, family cohesion (visiting friends and relatives), health and fitness, desire for romance and recognition (Khuong & Ha, 2014). It simply refers to the desire to outdo the feeling of isolation obtained in everyday life, where the tourist simply wishes to run away from everyday routine.

Njagi et al. (2017) developed the ‘Leisure Motivation Scale’ model in which they classified ‘push’ motivators into four categories: intellectual, social, complete mastery, and stimulus avoidance. According to Njagi et al. (2017), the intellectual component assesses the extent to which individuals are motivated to engage in leisure activities involving mental needs such as learning, discovery, thought or imagery. The social component involves the degree to which individuals engage in leisure activities for social reasons. This component includes two basic needs: the need for friendship and interpersonal relationships, and the need to be esteemed by others. The complete mastery component mainly focuses on physical involvement assessing the extent to which individuals engage in leisure activities that involve masterly, challenge and competition. The stimulus avoidance component assesses the desire to escape and get away from over-stimulating life situations, and includes the need to avoid social contact, to seek solitude and calm conditions, or search for rest and relaxation (Baniya & Paudel, 2016).

2.3. Pull Factors for Leisure Travel

Pull factors are a result of the attractiveness of the features, attributes and attractions of a particular tourist destination (Reihanian et al., 2015). These pull factors include tangible resources such as beaches, resorts and historical or cultural artefacts as well as a traveller’s perception and expectation of the destination such as benefit expectations and marketed destination image (Phau et al., 2013). Pull motivations play an important role into shaping the tourist travel motivations and may boost the individual’s desire to experience a particular destination thus, responding to and reinforcing the push factor motivation (Baniya & Paudel, 2016). Nonetheless, there is a high possibility that individuals from different nations may travel for the same reasons, or have same reasons for choosing a particular destination.

Njagi et al. (2017) identified pull factors as falling into two main categories: (i) service infrastructure (including transport and travel services, accommodation and catering services, shopping, recreation, and attraction services) and (ii) destination environment featuring such factors as natural, cultural social, economic, technological, and politico-legal factors. These are noted as consisting of dimensions completing the tourist destination and hence enabling the production of tourist destination experience. The study area, research design and methods for data collection are discussed in the next sub-section.

3. Study Area, Research Design and Methods

Mtubatuba Local Municipality in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa caters for a wide range of travellers. Accommodation facilities, such as resorts, guest houses, bed and breakfasts and the hotels in KwaZulu-Natal compare favourably to the best hotels and resorts in the world (Nyawo & Mubangizi, 2015). The strength of the Municipality lies in its two major tourist attractions: iSimangaliso Wetland Park (a World Heritage Site) which encompasses the entire coastline of more than 200 km and Hluhluwe-Imfolozi Park (Mtubatuba Municipality, 2017). Mtubatuba Local Municipality is one of the five municipalities in uMkhanyakude District Municipality (the most rural district in KwaZulu-Natal Province). St Lucia town in Mtubatuba Local Municipality is a tourism hub and service centre for the surrounding rural areas (Mtubatuba Municipality, 2017).

The study adopted survey, a type of descriptive research design, to explore the major residents’ motivations towards domestic leisure travel. Based on the nature of the research objective, which has more leaning towards a positivist research paradigm, this study used quantitative research methods / approach to collect data from respondents. The opinions of a large sample size supported the research validity, as the nature of the study demands many different views from separate individuals. Hence, the researchers used structured questionnaire to collect data. According to Creswell (2009), survey design provides a quantitative or numeric description of trends, attitudes, or opinions of a population by studying a sample of the population.

In most cases, tourism research needs quantitative data for researchers to get the required information (Nkwanyana, Ezeuduji & Nzama, 2016; Ezeuduji & Mbane, 2017). This study employed a quantitative research technique because the study involves a large number of respondents. Variables used to measure push and pull factors were obtained from previous work (such as Wang 2004; Kanagara & Bindu, 2013; Phau et al., 2013; Yiamjanya & Wongleedee, 2014; Reihanian et al., 2015; Baniya & Paudel, 2016; Njagi et al., 2017; Shukor et al., 2017).

The targeted population for this research study was Mtubatuba Local Municipality permanent residents. Respondents were selected at shopping malls and recreational places. The researchers randomly distributed questionnaires around Mtubatuba Municipality areas (St Lucia, Mtubatuba town, Nkodibe area, KwaMsane Township, Somkhele area and Dukuduku area). This study surveyed respondents aged 18 years and above for ethical reasons. In ensuring that non-permanent residents and minors (those under 18 years of age) did not participate in the study, screening questions were asked to exclude these groups. The screening questions were “are you a permanent resident of Mtubatuba Local Municipality?” and “are you 18 years or above?” If the respondents’ answers were in the affirmative to the screening questions, they were selected for participation. A total of 427 structured questionnaires were distributed to the participants using simple random sampling technique. The researchers received a total of 411 completed questionnaires, however only a total of 400 questionnaires were usable for data analysis, as the researchers opted to use fully completed questionnaires, that will not be excluded during the calculation of reliability statistics.

The first stage of data analysis used in this research was descriptive statistics to generate frequency of respondents’ responses (in percentages) and mean scores of responses. The second stage of data analysis employed bivariate analyses. Bivariate analyses (comparing two variables) employing Spearman’s Correlation (two-tailed) and Pearson Chi-square tests were used to check for relationships between variables (Bolboacă et al., 2011). Spearman’s Correlation (two-tailed) test (non-parametric test) checked for relationships between ranked or ordinal variables (Veal, 2011), to find out if there are positive or negative correlations between the measured variables. Pearson Chi-square test was used to examine relationships between nominal and/or categorical variables (Veal, 2011). Argyrous (2011) describes a Chi-square test as a non-parametric test for multinomial frequency distribution of cases across a range of scores for a single variable. This study consequently recoded ordinal variables into nominal variables (agree, neutral, disagree), to allow for the Chi-square tests. Strongly agree and agree responses were recoded as ‘agree’; neutral response remained ‘neutral’ and strongly disagree and disagree responses were recoded as ‘disagree’. The third stage of data analysis conducted multivariate analysis: the reliability test (using Cronbach’s Alpha) to check for the level of internal consistencies of variables used to explain the dimensions of push and pull factors respectively. Ezeuduji et al. (2016) posit that Cronbach’s Alpha should be calculated as reliability parameter to check the internal consistency of the variables within a study dimension. The use of Cronbach’s Alpha measurement of between 0. 5 and 0. 7 is acceptable in social science research, to explain adequate consistency of variables (George & Mallery, 2003; Chawla & Sondhi, 2011). Nonetheless, Tavakol and Dennick (2011) state that low Cronbach’s Alpha score may occur if there is a weak interrelationship amongst questionnaire variables used in the analysis, or when few variables are being used to explain a particular factor. This study confidently accepts that the variables used in measuring the push and pull factors or dimensions have internal coherence or consistency, as both Cronbach’s Alpha coefficients for the push and pull dimensions are above 0. 7 (see later in Tables 2 and 3). The results of data analyses are presented and discussed in the next sub-section.

4. Results and Discussion

The results in Table 1 show the profile of Mtubatuba Local Municipality residents who responded to this study. The results show that 100% of the respondents were permanent residents of the Mtubatuba Municipality. The majority of respondents fall into the age bracket of 18 – 30 years (about 76%), reflecting that the sample is relatively young. However, Moisa (2010) argues that the social ills experienced by young people, such as unemployment and poverty, may hinder participation in domestic tourism activities. Surveys such as those conducted by Alzboun (2019) have shown that the main challenges of domestic tourism are related to economic, services and socio-cultural aspects. However, Alzboun’s study findings did not reveal any significant differences in respondents’ perceptions between demographic groups in terms of age, gender, income, and level of education for domestic tourism challenges. The results of this study also indicate that the majority of respondents are female (about 64%), and about 54% of respondents are working. Some authors (such as Moon et al., 2019; Nassuna, 2019) argue that females take domestic tours as an avenue to overcome their doubled disadvantaged position as ethnic minority (females) and as housewives under patriarchy. About 41% of the respondents in this study have secondary education, and about 58% have tertiary education, hence it can be argued that much of the respondents have adequate formal education. Results show that the majority of respondents were positive about tourism having a good influence in the country’s development, as about 86% of respondents answered in the affirmative to the question: ‘do you think tourism has a good influence in the community?’. This result supports that of Manwa and Modirapula (2019), who suggest that there are opportunities for the tourism industry to contribute to sustainable livelihoods and poverty alleviation in many local communities in sub-Saharan Africa. Jacobs and du Plessis (2019) point out that the tourism sector in South Africa has contributed more to the economy than other industries such as agriculture.

Another good news is that about 45% of the respondents perceive tourism development as ‘very productive’ and about 40% of the respondents perceive tourism development as ‘mostly productive’; agreeing to previous authors that tourism contributes significantly to the economy and creates a huge labour market (such as Pham et al., 2019). The researchers’ fieldwork experience has shown that, in most cases, those who do not work (unemployed) are negative towards tourism mostly due to the myth that ‘tourism’ is only for ‘the rich people’ of South Africa.

Table 1. Respondents’ Profile and General Information (N = 400)

The results reveal that the respondents who perceive South Africa as a good or very good destination for leisure tourism were in the majority in Mtubatuba Local Municipality (about 86%). This is also good news for the South African domestic tourism. If local residents appreciate their tourism destination, they will likely participate in domestic tourism.

The respondents were given an opportunity to express their own views about ‘South Africa as a tourism destination’. Approximately 52% of the respondents reiterate that South Africa is an ‘attractive destination’. Muchapondwa and Stage (2013) agree that South Africa has beautiful landscapes ranging from mountain ranges to vast grassy plains, from coastlines to meandering rivers and desert dunes. About 14% of the respondents see tourism development in South Africa to improve the economy and employment opportunities. This study therefore agrees that the promotion of community participation in tourism initiatives is a critical component of growth, development and poverty alleviation in post-apartheid South Africa (see also Manwa & Modirapula, 2019). It should however be noted that about 8% of the respondents suggest that South Africa should ‘improve security and accessibility’; about 5% of the respondents see South Africa as a very ‘expensive’ tourism destination; about 11% of the respondents suggest that there is a ‘lack of awareness’ of the tourism facilities provided to the community’; and only about 1% of the respondents’ state that there is a ‘lack of infrastructure’ in South Africa. These views are very important to be addressed as the respondents wrote this on the questionnaire as additional information. These statements form part of the bases for this study’s recommendations. These notwithstanding, about 87% of the respondents strongly agree or agree that they are willing to participate in domestic tourism. This is a very positive result for South African Tourism. Jensen and Svendsen (2016) outline a number of pull factors that influence the choice of holiday destination for tourists, such as availability of activities, affordability, loyalty, geographical proximity, availability of cultural and entertainment attractions, natural experiences, personal safety, relaxation, and meeting new people.

In the results presented in Table 2, respondents were asked their level of agreement or disagreement – based on the five statements (variables) used to measure ‘push factors’ – and these variables were compared with the perception of South Africa as a leisure tourism destination. The results show that the respondents agree much more than disagree to the ‘push factors’ statements. About 83% of the respondents strongly agree or agree to the statement: ‘seeking social interaction makes me want to travel’. This result corresponds with that of Zgolli and Zaiem (2017), who argue that social interaction is an essential factor which encourages people to travel for tourism, since some necessities of tourists and human relations in particular represent a single driving force of vacation amongst tourists. About 86% of the respondents confirmed that ‘relaxation after hectic schedule is very important to them’. According to Sridhar et al. (2019), some cognitive behavioural techniques (such as relaxation) may reduce procedural pain and anxiety in young people. Also, about 84% of the respondents strongly agree or agree to the statement: ‘exploring different activities and cultures pushes me to travel’. The study of Binns and Nel (2002) agree that South Africa has different amazing cultures and the specific availability of cultural heritage makes it clearly one of the more appealing and rapidly growing tourist destinations; which makes this sector an area which government, entrepreneurs and communities have to consider seriously. 82% of respondents strongly agree or agree that ‘visiting friends and relatives makes them want to travel’. According to the study, the majority of respondents believe that getting away from the ‘usual world’ is refreshing to their minds, as about 86% of respondents strongly agree or agree that ‘escaping from every day’s routine refreshes the mind’.

The results in Table 2 show that most of the respondents agree to the ‘push factors’ statements: ‘seeking social interaction makes me want to travel’, ‘relaxation after hectic schedule is very important to me’, ‘exploring different activities and cultures pushes me to travel’, ‘visiting friends and relatives makes me want to travel’, and ‘escaping from every day’s routine refreshes the mind’. The results indicate strong positive correlations of the respondents’ ‘perception of South Africa as a leisure tourism destination’ with all the push factor statements. Therefore, the more the respondents agree to these statements, the better they perceive South Africa as a leisure tourism destination. Pesonen (2012) adds that someone who takes the time to relax outside his/her area will have refreshed abilities of themselves because they have gained new experiences and something different from their locality.

Also in Table 2, respondents were asked to show their level of agreement or disagreement on the statements (variables) used to assess ‘pull factors’, and these variables were compared with the perception of South Africa as a leisure tourism destination. The results show that the respondents also agree much more than disagree to the ‘pull factors’ statements. About 86% of the respondents strongly agree or agree that ‘the beauty of natural resources makes them want to travel’. Erislan (2016) argues that diverse natural resources attractions do influence the decisions of tourists to stay or not to stay in the tourism destination. About 85% of the respondents in this study state that ‘South African history and culture makes travelling more interesting because of the knowledge gained’. Again, most of the respondents (82%) strongly agree or agree to the statement: ‘the events and activities being provided make South Africa worth travelling’. More so, 86% of respondents strongly agree or agree that ‘South Africa has very attractive natural resources’.

Table 2. Push and Pull Factors Correlated with Perception of South Africa as a Leisure Tourism Destination

^aQuestionnaire were itemised along a 5-point Likert-type scale: 1, Strongly agree (SA); 2, Agree (A); 3, Neutral (N); 4, Disagree (D); 5, Strongly disagree (SD).

^bSpearman’s Rank correlation (two-tailed) test significance:, _P < 0. 01.

Most of the respondents (about 81%) strongly agree or agree with the statement: ‘South Africa is well known for its excellent recreational facilities’. These results support South African Tourism Report (2018), that South Africa presents tourists with a variety of attractions, including well-established safari holidays, beach destinations and a lot of historical and cultural destinations.

The results in Table 2 indicate that there are strong positive correlations between all the ‘pull factors’ statements and the ‘perception of South Africa as a leisure tourism destination’. The results show that the respondents agree mostly to these ‘pull factors’ statements: ‘the beauty of natural resources makes me want to travel’, ‘South African history and culture makes travelling more interesting because of the knowledge gained’, ‘the events and activities being provided make South Africa worth travelling’, ‘South Africa has very attractive natural resources’, and ‘South Africa is well known for its excellent recreational facilities’. The findings are supported by Reihanian et al. (2015) who agree that pull factors are stronger based on the attractiveness of the features, attributes, and attractions of a particular tourist destination.

In Table 3, ‘push factors’ were compared with respondents’ profile variables. The results indicate that employed respondents agree more than the unemployed regarding these statements: ‘seeking social interaction makes me want to travel’, and ‘exploring different activities and cultures pushes me to travel’. The results also show that the ‘respondents with tertiary education’ agree most to these statements: ‘seeking social interaction makes me want to travel’, ‘relaxation after hectic schedule is very important to me’, and ‘escaping from every day’s routine refreshes the mind’. Furthermore, the results indicate that those who are 18-30 years old agree more than others regarding these statements: ‘relaxation after hectic schedule is very important to me’, ‘exploring different activities and cultures pushes me to travel’, and ‘escaping from every day’s routine refreshes the mind’. Females agree more than males to these statements: ‘relaxation after hectic schedule is very important to me’, and ‘escaping from every day’s routine refreshes the mind’. From these results, it is evident that young residents, female residents, employed residents, and those with tertiary education, demonstrate more ‘push’ to travel than their counterparts. Domestic tourism marketing efforts therefore should be increased on these segments, especially.

Table 3. Push and Pull Factors Compared with Respondents’ Profile

^aCategorical variables – Pearson Chi-Square test significance: N. S., no significant results; _P < 0. 05; _P < 0. 01.

Also in Table 3, ‘pull factors’ were compared with ‘respondents’ profile variables. The results indicate that those who are 18-30 years old agree more than others regarding these statements: ‘the beauty of natural resources makes me want to travel’, ‘South African history and culture makes travelling more interesting because of the knowledge gained’, and ‘the events and activities being provided make South Africa worth travelling’. The results also show that the respondents with tertiary education agree more than others to these statements: ‘the beauty of natural resources makes me want to travel’, ‘South African history and culture makes travelling more interesting because of the knowledge gained’, ‘South Africa has very attractive natural resources’, and ‘South Africa is well known for its excellent recreational facilities’. Moreover, females agree more than males to these statements: ‘the events and activities being provided make South Africa worth travelling’, and ‘South Africa is well known for its excellent recreational facilities’. From these results, it is evident that young residents, female residents, and those with tertiary education, have more ‘pull’ to travel domestically than their counterparts. As earlier stated, domestic tourism marketing efforts therefore should be increased on these segments, especially. The next sub-section concludes this study and makes study recommendations.

5. Conclusion and Recommendations

Mtubatuba Local Municipality residents are mostly willing to participate in domestic tourism, and perceive South Africa a favourable leisure tourism destination; however, some concerns such as domestic tourism awareness, security, and high cost of travel were raised. Also based on the strength of the respondents’ agreements regarding the push and pull factor statements, we deduce that the residents have a strong demand for domestic tourism, the prevalent socio-economic challenges notwithstanding. Marketing is about identifying customer needs and wants and satisfying them. This study posits, based on data analysis that young residents, female residents, employed residents, and those with tertiary education, demonstrate higher demand for domestic tourism than their counterparts. It is therefore recommended that domestic tourism marketing efforts by South African Tourism (the Destination Marketing Organisation) should be increased on these demographic groups, especially. Intensive and continuous domestic tourism awareness, competitive pricing (through reduced operational costs), and further improvements on national security are areas that still need national attention. Future studies can explore the perceptions and motivations of South African residents in other parts of the country towards domestic tourism, to compare with this study’s findings.

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