Towards a Better Understanding of Motivation and Constraints for Domestic Geotourists: The Case of the Middle and Lower Danube Region in Serbia

Abstract

The main goal of this study is to explore the motivation and constraints among domestic geotourists in Serbia. For this purpose, a survey was conducted on 303 respondents from Serbia who have visited geosites within the Middle and Lower Danube region in Serbia during the past three years. The initial results were obtained through an exploratory factor analysis which revealed five motivating factors (Visiting attractions, Research and prestige, Rest and relaxation, Acquiring new knowledge and Friends) and four constraints factors (Structural, Lack of time, Lack of information and recommendation and Inter/Intrapersonal). Ranking the factors further revealed that “Acquiring new knowledge” motivates geotourists the most while Structural constraints are the main demotivator. Further analysis by using ANOVA and T-test for independent samples revealed significant differences between gender and educational groups, and the results show that women are more motivated than men by the factor related to acquiring new knowledge, while those with master’s or doctoral degrees consider the factor related to friends less important than those with lower degrees.