Abstract:
Tourism destination attractiveness is the driving force for tourism in terms of visitors’ perceived
value yet wildlife protected areas’ attractiveness like national parks has rarely been understood in tourism
literature. The aim of this study was to establish tourism destination attractiveness as perceived by tourists
visiting Lake Nakuru national park. Primary data was collected through self-administered structured
questionnaires. Simple random sampling was used to select the sample size of 402 tourists. Data was
analyzed through descriptive statistics while Principal Component Analysis was also done to verity the
constructs underlying adopted scales. The results showed that safety and security inside the park and unique
wildlife resources were very attractive (M=2.14, SD=1.13) and (M=2.24, SD=0.98) respectively. The
findings indicated that safety and security inside the park (M=2.14, SD=1.13) and unique wildlife resources
(M=2.24, SD=0.98) were the most valuable attributes to park visitors. The study adds new knowledge to
tourism literature on park destination attractiveness as perceived by tourists and recommends that for park
managers to sustain park attractiveness, security and uniqueness and imperative attributes in meeting
tourists’ needs and wants. Also variety of wildlife attractions and their close proximity to tourists are also
important.
