AN ASSESSMENT OF VISITOR SATISFACTION WITH NATURE-BASED TOURISM ATTRACTIONS

Nature-based tourism is an important component of the tourism industry and has experienced significant growth during recent years. Nature-based tourism attractions (NBTA) can provide substantial economic gains to both host communities and tourism businesses. To sustain the growth of NBTA and maintain its associated benefits, it is important to ensure that the visitors are satisfied with the experiences provided. Despite the importance of delivering visitor satisfaction for NBTA, there is scant literature available on visitor satisfaction with NBTA. The aims of this study is to identify the factors that influence visitor satisfaction with NBTA. The study also analyzes the relationship between NBTA, overall satisfaction and visitor loyalty. Visitor satisfaction was measured using a questionnaire which adopted the perceive-performance theory. The study area for this study was seven NBTA where convenience sampling was used for the selection of the attractions. Data was collected from the on-site survey method with a sample size of 600 NBTA visitors. Statistical analyses were used and hypotheses were tested. Based upon the results of this study, recommendations were made.