Motivational Factors for Participation in Domestic Marine Tourism: The Case of Marine Protected Areas of Dar es Salaam Coast, Tanzania

Domestic tourism has rapidly become one of the better options for enhancing social, economic, and environmental development in many countries. For a country to benefit from this option, the participation of citizens in tourism activities is highly encouraged. Several efforts have been made by the government of Tanzania to encourage its citizens to participate in tourism. Despite these efforts, there is still an absence of knowledge of what motivates citizens to visit Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). The study was conducted in marine park reserves, namely Bongoyo, Mbudya, and Fungu Yasini-all located in the Indian Ocean in the Dar es Salaam region of Tanzania (Marine Park & Reserves, n.d.). The study adopted an exploratory research design to explore the factors that visitors consider important for participating in marine tourism. The study used a sample size of 60 respondents. The respondents were gathered using the convenience sampling technique. Data has been collected using questionnaires and telephone interviews and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) v26. The partial least square structural equation model (PLS-SEM) was used to explore the statistical relationships between destination attributes and visitors’ psychological needs for their satisfaction. Findings indicate that psychological needs have a strong relationship with destination attributes. The destination attributes have a significant impact on satisfaction. The study revealed that resting and relaxation, pride, and novelty are the psychological needs that significantly influence satisfaction. Likewise, destination attributes that were mentioned by respondents as important were scenic beauty, clean water, cruising environment, and staff hospitality. It is recommended that service providers understand and match visitors’ psychological needs with destination attributes for their target markets and accordingly design the provision of products and services at affordable rates.