A matter of perspective: residents’, regulars’ and locals’ perceptions of private tourism ecolodge concessions in Kruger National Park, South Africa

Abstract

Privatisation of public assets through public-private partnerships can be contentious, leading to considerable public opposition. In Kruger National Park (Kruger), private tourism ecolodge concessions were established to boost park revenue, offer a new tourism experience and support conservation efforts. However, the support for their establishment by the Kruger's large domestic visitor market has not been quantified. Here, we explore this group's perceptions of the ecolodge concessions, based upon the strength of their association with the park (i.e. how many years they had been visiting the park and number of visits) and their proximity to the park. The results of a survey of 314 domestic visitors suggest that respondents who live closer to the park were significantly more likely to have more experience and better knowledge of the concessions, but were also less likely to support their existence than respondents living further away. Respondents with a long and frequent association with the park had significantly less information about the concessions, but were more likely to say they would use the concessions if offered an incentive to do so. These results have important implications for how protected area managers market the value of the ecolodge concessions in achieving park objectives.