<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><bold><italic>Introduction.</italic></bold> This paper explores the influence of country image on the evaluation of a destination’s attributes from the perspective of inbound tourists to South Africa - within the context of both business and medical tourism.<bold><italic>Material and methods.</italic></bold> Data were generated from a self-administered questionnaire distributed as part of a survey of inbound tourists visiting South Africa’s Table Mountain. Factor analysis and multiple regression were employed to determine the factors and establish their relationship, respectively.<bold><italic>Results.</italic></bold> The results suggest that South Africa’s image as a country influences tourist’s perception of the country and its destination attributes. More intriguingly, the results show that South Africa’s image is subject to both stereotypes and the country-of-origin effect.<bold><italic>Conclusion.</italic></bold> The paper concludes that country image is a significant heuristic cue in the appraisal of the destination attributes that motivate inbound tourist travel behaviour. More so, it is aspects such as the ability to manage its affairs, nationally branded exports and the availability of international business-related opportunities that may be most influential to South Africa’s perceived image in tourist decision-making.</abstract>

Introduction. This paper explores the influence of country image on the evaluation of a destination’s attributes from the perspective of inbound tourists to South Africa - within the context of both business and medical tourism.Material and methods. Data were generated from a self-administered questionnaire distributed as part of a survey of inbound tourists visiting South Africa’s Table Mountain. Factor analysis and multiple regression were employed to determine the factors and establish their relationship, respectively.Results. The results suggest that South Africa’s image as a country influences tourist’s perception of the country and its destination attributes. More intriguingly, the results show that South Africa’s image is subject to both stereotypes and the country-of-origin effect.Conclusion. The paper concludes that country image is a significant heuristic cue in the appraisal of the destination attributes that motivate inbound tourist travel behaviour. More so, it is aspects such as the ability to manage its affairs, nationally branded exports and the availability of international business-related opportunities that may be most influential to South Africa’s perceived image in tourist decision-making.

Understanding the Country Image-Travel Motivation Nexus in Emerging Tourism Typologies for South Africa

Polish Journal of Sport and Tourism

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Introduction. This paper explores the influence of country image on the evaluation of a destination’s attributes from the perspective of inbound tourists to...

Understanding the Country Image-Travel Motivation Nexus in Emerging Tourism Typologies for South Africa

Published Online: Dec 31, 2020

Page range: 28 - 33

Received: Jun 16, 2020

Accepted: Aug 25, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/pjst-2020-0017

Keywords
Country image, destination attributes, travel motives, South Africa

© 2020 Tafadzwa Matiza et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Understanding the Country Image-Travel Motivation Nexus in Emerging Tourism Typologies for South Africa

Published Online: Dec 31, 2020

Page range: 28 - 33

Received: Jun 16, 2020

Accepted: Aug 25, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/pjst-2020-0017

KeywordsCountry image, destination attributes, travel motives, South Africa

© 2020 Tafadzwa Matiza et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Country image, destination attributes, travel motives, South Africa