Socio-Demographic Determinants of Travel Motivation and Behaviour of Visitors in Nature-Based Destinations in Northern Nigeria

This study aimed to assess socio-demographic determinants of travel motivation and behavior of visitors in nature-based destinations in northern nigeria. structured questionnaire was administered to 575 respondents at chad basin national park; cbnp (69), gashaka gumti national park; ggnp (165) and yankari game reserve; ygr (341). data were analyzed descriptively and inferentially. results revealed that majority of the respondents at cbnp were males (72.5%), majority of the respondents at ggnp were females (77.6%) and majority of the respondents at ygr were males (53.1%). visitors were majorly motivated to come to cbnp for enjoyment of nature (27.5%) while source of information about the parks revealed previous trip as the highest in cbnp (29%) and ygr (36.1%) while ggnp recorded friends and relatives as the highest (45.5%). they were majorly motivated to visit ggnp because they wanted to be away from hustle and bustle of cities (33.3%) and they were motivated to visit ygr for game viewing (33.4%). furthermore, there is significant relationship between travel motivations and sex, marital status, education, occupation, nationality (p<0.01). the determinants of travel motivations were monthly income, occupation and nationality while the determinants of travel behaviours were the socio-demographic factors except age. game viewing and nature attributes of nature-based destinations should be developed more as these attributes motivate people to visit the sites.