Influence of Affective Destination Brand Image on Wildlife Park Attractiveness: A Case Study of the Amboseli-Tsavo Ecosystem, Kenya

Abstract

In Kenya, previous studies have focused more on the relationship between management and branding of wildlife parks, ignoring factors like competing strategies and other study variables that could be important, global research has focused on wildlife-based tourism and ecosystems. The AmboseliTsavo Ecosystem under investigation has the greatest coverage of protected areas for wildlife protection in Kenya, but despite the potential for socioeconomic contribution, its performance is still below the optimum level due to the low number of tourists hence revenue. The primary objective of the study was to assess the role of affective destination brand image on the attractiveness of wildlife parks in the Amboseli- Tsavo Ecosystem. Simple random sampling was employed to select the sample of 440 park visitors and 28 tourism experts. Data collected was analyzed through descriptive statistics while multi linear regression analysis was conducted to verify the constructs underlying adopted scales. The outcome revealed a significant positive relationship was established between affective destination image and park attractiveness (β = 0.653, t = 12.792, p = .000). The results establish how relevant the affective destination brand image is to enhancing attractiveness of the wildlife parks. Findings of this study might be essential to policymakers on matters related to developing and marketing wildlife parks in Kenya. Keywords- Wildlife conservation, branded parks, tourism destination, Wildlife attractions