Abstract:
An understanding of the factors that motivate domestic tourists to patronize heritage
attractions in the new post-Covid-19 normal, and how these relate to their visit
behaviour is critical in promoting domestic heritage tourism. Grounding on
motivation theories, this study sought to investigate the types of motivational factors
for domestic tourists visiting heritage sites in the Kenya coast region, and their visit
behaviour to these attractions. A survey was conducted on a sample of 693 domestic
tourists visiting historical heritage sites in the Kenya coast region, where quantitative
data was collected through a structured questionnaire and analyzed by descriptive
and inferential statistics using the SPSS version 20.0 software. Descriptive analyses
involved determination of frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations,
while inferential analyses involved determination of the t-statistics by one sample ttest
and
a
one-way
ANOVA.
An
alpha
level
of
.05
was
used
for
these
statistical
tests.
The
findings
revealed
that
the
strongest
motivational
factor
for
visiting
HHS
in
the
Kenya coast region was “recreation and enjoyment purposes” (M = 5.94, SD =
1.283), and the statement with the least score for the motivation variable concerned
“boosting self-esteem” by visiting historical heritage sites, which was rated the lowest
(M = 5.21. SD = 1.844). Overall, the motivation variable had a combined mean of
5.65 (high) implying that the domestic tourists had a high motivation for visiting
historical heritage sites. There was a significant relationship between motivations for
visiting historical heritage sites in the Kenya coast region and the visit behaviour of
domestic tourists. Motivational factors significantly influence domestic tourists visit
behavior to heritage attractions. These findings are instrumental for theory, policy and
marketing management practice among relevant heritage tourism stakeholders in
revitalizing the role of domestic heritage tourism.
