Expenditure patterns of students at tourist attractions in the Vhembe District Municipality

Abstract

Tourism demand is mainly measured in terms of tourism arrivals and departures together with tourist expenditure and receipts. Further variables commonly cited in the literature are travel exports and/or imports, tourist length of stay and number of nights spent at the accommodation. This study aimed to analyse the expenditure patterns of students travelling to attractions in the Vhembe District Municipality and focused on how much students spend when travelling and when at the attraction. The researcher used a descriptive approach and employed a quantitative research design. A sample of 600 respondents was selected using the convenient sampling method, with data collected at three major institutions in the Vhembe District Municipality, namely the University of Venda, the Vhembe TVET College and the Limpopo College of Nursing (Vhembe Campus). To analyse the data, chi-square, factor analysis and cluster analysis were used. The findings revealed the demographic descriptors of time spent and activities preferred by student travellers when visiting the attractions. In addition, the expenditure patterns of students visiting tourist attractions were analysed. The information provided by this study should help service providers, product owners, government departments, private sectors and travel agencies in their decision-making regarding the planning, developing, packaging and marketing of Vhembe as a destination.