Abstract:
Various scholars have endorsed contemporary visitor management strategies broadly categorized
as hard or soft approaches. The hard strategies like area closure, penalties, patrols, or limiting
access have been deemed punitive and restrictive to visitors seeking escape into natural environments.
On the other hand, nature interpretation (NI) and general conservation information, christened as
soft strategy, are pushed as complementary or alternative non-obstructive visitor management tactics.
However, these arguments notwithstanding, questions linger about the choice of appropriate NI
strategies, their application, and their effectiveness. This study sought to establish which NI and
visitor information approaches can be used be to manage visitors by target group effectively at the
Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. Data was collected by surveying n = 570 respondents that
constituted visitors (n = 413) and tour guides (n = 157) participating in wildlife tourism at MMNR
over six months. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed to present and analyze data
with spearman’s correlation used for testing the relationships to answer the research question. Study
results established mixed results with different NI attributes comprising a few weak, some very weak,
and the majority no correlations with the respondents’ demographics. The month of the visit and
type of vehicle used had very weak negative correlations with attributes of NI, generally implying
inverse relationships. Nationality and gender had the least correlations, while the month of visit
and the purpose of the visit had the highest number of correlations with, the latter having slightly
stronger correlations. Display boards and orientation signage had the highest number of very weak
and weak correlations with nearly all the respondents’ demographics except nationality and gender.
Visitor codes/do’s and don’ts followed with tour guiding with no correlations with almost all the
demographics. The study recommends continuous improvement of all NI approaches at the MMNR,
with urgency being given to display boards and orientation signage followed by visitor codes and
tour guiding, as evidenced from findings. The study further recommends research on contemporary
trends in NI and conservation education and information dissemination.
