An Analysis of Local Tourists’ Perceptions towards Attraction Sites in Cape Town, South Africa

The impact that local residents play in the promotion and marketing of a destination, whether directly or indirectly, cannot be ignored. This is particularly associated with the destinations' image. The concept of destination image has, therefore, attracted a significant amount of attention from scholars. This then leads to the purpose of this study to investigate perceptions of local tourists towards Cape Town as a travel and holiday destination. The destination under investigation was Cape Town, one of South Africa's largest tourist cities. The nature of this research was quantitative and adopted the survey method. A total of 270 willing respondents, selected through convenience sampling, participated in the study. A key finding established by the study was that destination image had significantly more influence on local tourists' attitudes in comparison to its influence on their willingness to visit a destination. Based on the findings, implications were brought forward and possible suggestions for further research on the topic under investigation.