African Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure (Jan 2018)
The role of tourist guides in interpretation: a survey of secondary school teachers at Maropeng and the Sterkfontein caves, South Africa.
Abstract
Interpretation, either explicitly or implicitly, aims to stimulate, facilitate and extend people’s understanding of the place or attraction so that empathy towards heritage, conservation, culture and landscape can be developed. However, in tourism research, interpretation in tour guiding has previously not received the attention it deserves. The main aim of this paper is to explore the role of tourist guides in interpretation as perceived by secondary school teachers. In general, respondents perceived tourist guides’ interpretation to be important, and they were satisfied with the way in which guides applied the principles of interpretation throughout their tours. Understanding visitor satisfaction presents information related to how well the attributes of the tourist attraction match the visitors’ preferences, which may help tourist attraction marketers in improving the quality of their products and services in order to meet visitors’ preferences. In addition, marketers should attract a number of visitors that can be managed in order to protect the natural and cultural resources of the attraction. The results of this study will hopefully inform Maropeng á Afrika marketers about secondary school teachers’ satisfaction on tourist guides’ interpretation and how important interpretation is to the respondents. In addition, the results will help the attractions to improve guided school tours and enhance offerings to Maropeng and the Sterkfontein caves in South Africa.
