Road pavement distress conditions and tourist visitations in a rural South African town:A hierarchical segmentation analysis

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.