CHARACTERISTICS AND MOTIVATIONS OF DOMESTIC TOURISTS TO NZULEZO, GHANA

ABSTRACT Literature has proved that the sustainability of a country‘s tourism industry is based on domestic tourism as against international tourism which is sensitive to political instability, natural disasters and diseases. The objective of the study was to examine the characteristics and the motivations of domestic tourists to Nzulezo. The methodology employed for the study includes the quantitative method of data collection which is based on the positivist research paradigm. Questionnaires were used to elicit data from 169 respondents on tourists‘ socio-demographics, travel characteristics and motivations for undertaking the travel. SPSS vrs 21 was used to analyses the data, where independent sample t-test, one-way analysis of variance, chi-square and factor analysis was used to extract the results. The study found out that domestic tourists to Nzulezo were mainly young adults with male dominance and unmarried. Majority of them were employed or students who used word of mouth and recommendations from family and friends for information about the destination. They mostly used commercial vehicles with few personal cars. On what motivated them to travel to the destination, five main push-pull factors were identified. These were culture, adventure-novelty, ego, enhancement and relaxation. It was concluded that novelty and culture of the destination draw domestic tourists to visit; it is therefore suggested that the Destination Management Organization (Ghana Tourism Authority and Ghana Wildlife Society) ensures the maintenance these factors of the destination for continuous patronage by tourists.