Domestic tourism in practice: An investigation of Vhembe District Municipality residents' travel motivations

Travel motivation studies have always played a pivotal role in tourism development which is aligned to the travel needs of any given market. Knowledge about a tourist's travel motivations can assist destination managers, tourism planners and tourism marketers in meeting the tourist's needs. This holds true especially in countries such as South Africa, where recent emphasis has been placed on promoting domestic tourism. The purpose of this study was to understand the travel motives of residents at Vhembe District Municipality, Limpopo, South Africa. The study was quantitative in nature with data analyzed using the SPSS version 23 software. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to identify the motivating factors and thus identified five motivating factors. Following PCA was a Cluster analysis which classified the residents into two segments, namely Self-Enrichers and Purposive travelers. The findings are fundamental in identifying and developing appropriate marketing strategies that would entice greater VDM travel demand, especially linked to domestic tourism promotion in the region.