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Ecotourism is one of the fastest growing tourism niches in South Africa. Higher education institutions offering undergraduate ecotourism management programmes are tasked with producing graduates that can promote the sustainability of the sector and should therefore direct their efforts to the fostering of appropriate behaviours; values are the underlying determinants of behaviour. Employing an exploratory sequential mixed methods design, the purpose of the study was to develop a framework for a values-based undergraduate ecotourism management curriculum. Thematic analysis of the empirical materials elicited from semi-structured interviews with 12 ecotourism managers resulted in the identification of 51 values. The values were subsequently rated by managers from the wider ecotourism industry through the administration of an e-survey (n = 101). A principal components exploratory factor analysis further reduced the values into four factors – "self", "outward", "reciprocation" and "betterment". This informed the framework which ultimately serves as a reference point for educational practitioners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geotourism is a relatively new tourism niche, representing a distinctive form of nature-based tourism. South Africa has a wealth of geological resources, many of which form the basis for tourism attractions within the country, but limited research has been conducted on the actual geotourism market. By means of a questionnaire informed by the Self Determination Theory, this study aimed to understand the motivations of visitors to the recently developed Barberton Makhonjwa Geotrail in South Africa. The main findings revealed five main motivators including, to escape, for learning and novelty, to participate in activities and networking, for fun, and for personal importance. These findings have important implications for product development and marketing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]