Travel Motivations, Satisfaction Levels and Loyalty Intentions of International Tourists in Ghana

Abstract

To be successful in today’s competitive tourism marketplace, tourism marketers and hospitality managers need a deeper understanding of tourists’ behaviour. This study seeks to establish how more foreign tourists can be attracted to Ghana. This thesis investigated travel motivations, satisfaction levels and loyalty intentions of visitors to Ghana between 1st October 2009 and 1st May 2010. The mixed method research approach was adopted for the study. Accra, Kumasi and Cape Coast were chosen as the study areas. Accordingly, questionnaires were used to collect data from 405 tourists and in-depth interviews were granted to 100 tourists and 10 tourism marketers/managers. Factor analysis, Chi-square and the Pearson’s correlation techniques were used to analyse the data. Summations, tables, pictures and diagrams were used to present the results. The study found that visitors’ main push motives (intrinsic desires) were the drive to escape, relaxation and the quest for knowledge while the pull motives (destination attractiveness) were the natural attractions, rich culture of the people, and cleanliness of the destination. A majority of the tourists were highly satisfied with their experiences and were prepared to revisit and recommend Ghana to others. However, the respondents disclosed a few concerns based on which innovative marketing strategies to adopt were suggested. Finally, based on the push-pull framework (Crompton, 1979), a modified behavioural model (the Travel Motivation, Satisfaction and Loyalty Model) was proposed to better explain tourists’ decision-making process and contribute to existing knowledge and practice on tourists’ behaviour.