As countries and destinations try to increase their share of the international and national tourism market, it is important to understand why people travel and why they choose a specific destination. We here determine and compare travel motives of visitors to Kruger and Tsitsikamma National Parks. We administered 2899 questionnaires in the Kruger National Park and 829 in the Tsitsikamma National Park. A factor analysis was used to determine the travel motives and six factors were identified respectively for both parks. Results showed that tourists have common as well as unique motives in the two parks. Common motives in both parks include escape from city life and relaxation as well as knowledge seeking, nostalgia and park attributes. Unique to the Kruger National Park are activities and novelty compared to nature experience and photography for the Tsitsikamma National Park. This research therefore confirmed that different attractions and destinations feed different travel motives even when classified as similar types of products. Marketers can use this Information to position these parks and to focus their marketing communication more effectively.