Abstract:
There is increasing realization among development and tourism experts that road
pavements in distress are not ideal for tourism development. It is argued in principle that
optimizing road pavement management guarantees satisfactory mobility conditions that
may result in increased tourists’ visitations. We however know less about the intricate
connections that exist, owing to dearth of research in this area. This study sought to
analyse the effect of observable road distress conditions on a sample of eighteen (18)
tourism sites in Makhado district municipality of South Africa. Data were gathered using a
carefully structured distress detection template. Survey data targeting a sample of seventy
one (71) tourists were used to complement the analysis. Common pavement distress
conditions affecting defined clusters of tourism sites were analysed using the Hierarchical
Cluster Analysis (HCA) method. The study results generated two distinct clusters of
tourist’s sites depicting contrasting pavement distress conditions and associated impacts
on tourist willingness to visit the sites again. Significant pavement distress conditions
limiting tourist visitations included pavement cracks and potholes, road width, signage and
pavement markings. The study recommends optimizing pavement maintenance and
management to address possible safety, comfort, traffic and travel time, and vehicles
operating cost concerns to increase tourists’ visitations.
