NATURE-BASED TOURISM AND VISITOR PERCEPTIONS

The purpose of the study is to measure the motivation and satisfaction of the tourists visiting a nature-based tourism destination. It is an exploratory and descriptive research where hypotheses are tested. Primary data was collected from the tourist respondents, including both Indian and foreign tourists who visited Mudumalai Wildlife Sanctuary, a prominent nature-based tourism destination, through a structured questionnaire. The overall survey tool reliability value is 0.871. A total of 400 respondents were administered the questionnaire, of which 360 were Indian tourists, and 40 were foreign tourists. Primary data were analyzed using Independent Sample t-test, Factor Analysis, Mean ranking, Correlations, One-way ANOVA, and Linear Regression. Tourist motivation was influenced by factors like Attractions, Accommodation, Transportation, Amenities and community benefits. Accordingly, tourist satisfactions were influenced by factors like Activities and Attractions. The study revealed that tourist motivation and tourist satisfaction are negatively associated and negatively correlated with each other. The insights of the study have significant theoretical and managerial implications for product development and destination marketing.