The role of values for voluntary reductions of holiday air travel

Recent research has shown that holiday air travel constitutes a typical value-action gap as many people continue to fly despite their concerns about climate change. However, some people do voluntarily reduce their holiday flights. Little is known so far about the role that values play in this decision. This paper examines this question based on semi-structured interviews with participants in local climate change and energy-saving projects. It finds that people who voluntarily reduce their holiday air travel are more ready than those who continue to fly to accept that their behaviour makes a contribution to climate change; that they feel a moral imperative to act regardless of its effectiveness in mitigating climate change; and that they distance themselves from socially dominant norms related to holiday air travel. This paper argues that these characteristics are connected to values of self-transcendence and self-direction, and that in this way values remain important for understanding and supporting low carbon behaviour.     

Developing a conceptual framework for slow travel: a grounded theory approach

This paper discusses the sociocultural phenomenon of slow travel and explores and clarifies definitional issues. The 30-year-plus antecedents of slow travel are examined. A literature review shows a concentration on four key features: slowness and the value of time; locality and activities at the destination; mode of transport and travel experience; and environmental consciousness. Links to the slow food and slow city movements are discussed, and evidence that slow travel is an important emergent form of tourism in Europe, accounting for 10% of the holiday market, is provided. A grounded theory approach continues the exploration, involving 23 in-depth interviews with practitioners and academics, which revealed that their core requirements for slow travel centred on slowness, the travel experience and environmental consciousness. There was a lack of consensus about the eligibility of car travel and high-speed rail. Slow travel is seen as a group of associated ideas rather than as a watertight definition; it is a mindset about travel rather than a tangible product and concentrates on lack of speed rather than slowness per se. The conclusion shows it to be a growing part of the sustainable tourism paradigm and proposes a working definition of slow travel.     

The role of holiday styles in shaping the carbon footprint of leisure travel within the European Union

Leisure travel within the European Union (EU) contributes significantly to the carbon footprint of global tourism. Distance travelled is a main factor in this impact, but some of its determinants remain unexplored. We examined the role of tourists' holiday preferences in shaping the carbon footprint of leisure travel within the EU by calculating demand and impact indicators associated with eight holiday styles. We find a substantial and equivalent carbon footprint for visiting relatives, nature tourism and sea, sun and sand tourism, but a higher carbon intensity of travel per trip for the latter. This is due to widespread demand for sea, sun, and sand tourism despite the concentration of destinations in Southern Europe. Furthermore, international travel within the EU is on average three times more carbon intensive than domestic travel. Our insights suggest that tourists’ holiday preferences can be leveraged for the sustainable development of leisure travel within the EU.     

Holiday travel,staycations, and subjective well-being

The tourism industry thrives on the notion that holiday travel improves well-being. However, scientific evidence that holiday travel is more beneficial than spending free time at home is lacking. Using the Effort-Recovery and the Limited Resources model as theoretical basis, this study investigates whether workers behave, think, and feel differently during travel than during leisure time spent at home. In a five-week longitudinal field study, we followed 24 workers during free evenings after work, a free weekend at home, and on a free weekend of domestic travel. Within-person differences were investigated between these three occasions in behavior, cognition, and emotions. During travel, employees slept more, engaged more in physical and social activities and less in obligatory activities than during free evenings after work. Hedonic well-being was higher and ruminative thinking lower during travel than during free evenings after work. Physical distance from home and work was related to engagement in resource-providing rather than resource-consuming activities and seems to translate into mental distance from everyday worries. Differences between holiday travel and weekends at home were small. Still, the findings suggest that travel may provide feelings of remoteness in places with novel and fascinating qualities, free of chores.     

Modeling domestic holiday tourism demand in Australia: Problems and solutions

An econometric model is very useful for understanding the underlying relationship between tourism demand and economic variables such as income and travel prices. However, a long time series horizon of data is essential to run an econometric model that is consistent with economic theory. Although time series data on the number of domestic trips and visitor nights in Australia are available since 1978–79, breaks in the time series in different years have made it difficult to estimate a domestic holiday demand model. It is because the data series in different periods are not directly comparable. In this study, a simple data adjustment technique has been used to obtain comparable data series. Among several econometric demand models, a single equation multivariate time series demand model in a double log linear functional form was found to be the most appropriate and practical model to estimate and analyze the demand parameters of domestic holiday travel in Australia. However, the model with variables in level terms was observed having the “spurious regression problem” which has been corrected using the cointegration and error correction mechanisms. The estimated income and price elasticity of domestic holiday travel demand are consistent with economic theory and therefore can be used for forecasting and other purposes.     

Motivation for family vacations with young children: anecdotes from the Internet

Family travel receives growing attention from both the travel industry and academia, but they ignore a vital segment of the family holiday: nuclear families that travel with young children. This study investigated the motivations that drive this market segment to take vacations as a starting point to understand the travel behavior of family tourists, especially those with young and dependent children. By employing netnography, this study collected and analyzed 97 travel diaries from five travel blogs and one travel forum in 2015. Five motivation themes emerged, namely they are spending quality time with children, creating pleasant memories, learning and development, compensation for children, and self-compensation. Both theoretical and practical implications are discussed and future research is suggested.     

Shifting patterns and determinants of Asia-pacific tourism to Australia, 1990–2010

Australia is an increasingly important international holiday destination. Especially travel demand from Asia-Pacific countries has increased, which has led Australian policy-makers to believe the Asia-Pacific region will remain the largest growth market for holiday tourists. This article first presents an overview of the evolution and shifting geographical patterns of Asia-Pacific tourism to Australia between 1990 and 2010, and relies on this to explore the major determinants underlying these changes using a bootstrapped loglinear multiple regression analysis. Results indicate that income (GDP per capita) remains the most important factor explaining tourism demand, albeit that the Australian holiday market is becoming increasingly mature. Distance, as a proxy for travel costs, has large negative elasticity that has slightly increased over time as the effects of air transport liberalization have been off-set by oil prices’. The paper is concluded with an outlook on some possible opportunities and challenges for future tourism demand to Australia.     

Citizens' Representations of China's Golden Weeks

For over a decade Chinese tourism policy has constrained the holiday periods for its citizens to a limited number of well-defined Golden Weeks. This study explores the representations of 450 Chinese residents from five popular tourist regions in these holiday periods. The study is embedded in the framework of social representations theory underpinned by an emic approach to this topical issue. More specifically, the researchers employed an open-ended survey in Mandarin, eliciting the perceived advantages and disadvantages of the structured holiday periods. Many positive features of each individual Golden Week were identified, while some problems resulting from congestion were also highlighted. A common and hegemonic social representation was revealed and presented using the treemaps approach. A range of key managerial interventions are required for improving the periods as travel opportunities both within and outside China.     

Culture As A Moderator Of The Relationship Between Service Quality And The Tourist'S Satisfaction With Different Distribution Channels

The present research analyzes the influence of culture on the relationship between each of the dimensions of service quality and tourists' satisfaction with the distribution channel, differentiating between travel agencies and the Internet. More specifically, the research seeks to understand the influence of the cultural dimensions of uncertainty avoidance and individualism/collectivism on the relationship between each of the dimensions of service quality and satisfaction, depending on the medium through which the service is purchased. The sample was made up of 600 tourists. Of these, 300 tourists (150 Spanish and 150 English) had purchased hotel accommodation for their last holiday via a travel agency, and the other 300 (150 Spanish and 150 English) had purchased hotel accommodation for their last holiday via the Internet. The findings indicate that there are variations in the relationships between each of the dimensions of service quality and satisfaction, and that these variations are shaped by the cultural dimensions of uncertainty avoidance and individualism/collectivism.     

Personal values and the theory of planned behaviour: A study of values and holiday trade-offs in young adults

Prior studies have ignored information inherent in the structure of people's values when investigating their impact on tourism decisions. This study examined how personal values trade-offs along two bipolar values dimensions (self-enhancement versus self-transcendence and openness-to-change versus conservation) impacted young adults' travel decisions. A two-staged survey of 299 young adults obtained personal values (at time 1) and value-expressive holiday preferences within a theory of planned behaviour (at time 2). Both bipolar values dimensions predicted attitudes, subjective norms and perceived behavioural control towards value-congruent holidays. The total effect of personal values on intentions was larger than that of subjective norms for both dimensions and larger than that of perceived behavioural control for the self-transcendence verses self-enhancement dimension.     

COVID19: Holiday intentions during a pandemic

The travel, tourism and hospitality industries have been the worst affected of the world's major economic sectors during the COVID19 pandemic, which has had a devastating effect on both destinations and organisations. Drawing from a sample (N = 385) of adult permanent residents of Athens, Greece, the study examines the impact of COVID19 upon holiday intention. The chaordic systems are evaluated through the use of fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis, whilst the study also used Necessary Condition Analysis for the calculation of the size effects of the examined conditions. The findings reveal two sufficient complex configurations leading to holiday intention: (i) holiday risks, and (ii) impact of COVID19. Based on the results, the article also offers a set of managerial implications. The contribution of the study is to both theoretical and methodological tourism domains.     

Holiday destinations: Understanding the travel choices of Irish tourists

This paper uses a McFadden choice model to measure the importance of destination, household and seasonal characteristics to the tourism destination choices of Irish households. The analysis is based on quarterly survey data of Irish households' travel destinations between 2000 and 2006. In total, some 55,000 holiday trips were observed. Destination characteristics such as temperature, GDP and coastline are found to positively influence choice probabilities, while population density and distance have a negative effect on choice. Household-specific characteristics such as the number of children and people over 60 in a household are found to be important. We also identify differences in preferences across seasons and a change over time of the effect of destination country GDP on Irish holiday destination choices.     

Sexuality and holiday choices: conversations with gay and lesbian tourists

This paper is an exploratory investigation of the travel motivations of gay and lesbian tourists. Based on in-depth interviews and focus groups, it investigates the interrelationships between sexuality, tourism behaviour and tourism spaces. Given that public space is controlled and heterosexualized, the paper suggests that whilst gay and lesbian people are motivated to travel for a range of reasons, such is the power of the dominant heterosexual milieu that their sexuality has a critical impact on their tourism choices. The need for safety, to feel comfortable with like-minded people, and to escape from heterosexism – often to specifically gay spaces – emerge as key influences on their choice of holiday.     

An assessment of the potential for self-connectivity at European airports in holiday markets

In a context of intense airport and airline competition, a few European airports have recently started offering self-connection services to price-sensitive holiday passengers travelling with a combination of tickets where the airline/s involved do not handle the transfer themselves. This paper provides an exploratory analysis of the potential and implications of self-connectivity for European airports and airlines using a case study of air travel routes to holiday destinations in the Mediterranean. With the help of a forecasting model based on a zero-inflated Poisson regression, we identify the airports and airlines that have the highest potential to facilitate self-connections in the selected markets. The results also explore some implications of the widespread development of self-connection services in Europe.     

The xenophobic tourist

Addressing the global rise of xenophobia, the authors provide the first investigation of tourist xenophobia (TXO) and its role in shaping tourist behavior. Drawing on research from evolutionary and social psychology, they define TXO as a tourist’s perceptual discomfort and anxiety associated with strangers encountered at foreign destinations. The authors develop a reliable, valid and parsimonious TXO scale, and document its importance empirically. The results show that TXO is an important driver behind many, often neglected, behavioral phenomena, such as tourists’ preference for travel-related vaccination, willingness to try local food, preference for group travel, travel insurance and agency-booked travel, willingness to travel and actual travel behavior. The authors conclude by discussing implications of the findings for research, practice and policy.     

Environmental psychology and tourism

The relationship between environmental psychology and tourism is outlined. Relevant research from environmental and social psychology is reviewed and implications for understanding tourism behavior are discussed. A five-phase recreation travel framework is applied to tourism and socioenvironmental processes are discussed for each phase. The five phases are anticipation, travel to the destination, on-site behavior, return travel, and recollection. Topics discussed include proxemics, environmental perception, environmental imagery, behavior settings, perceived authenticity, and secondary explorations. Some future research questions are suggested for each tourism phase.     

Attributes that influence the evaluation of travel dining experience: When East meets West

Many destination marketers have utilized gastronomy as a source of new products and activities to attract tourists. Despite the substantial rise in the Chinese outbound market, very little is known about how Chinese tourists evaluate their travel dining experiences. By using narrative analysis, this study examines attributes that may affect Chinese tourists' evaluation of their travel dining experiences. On-site participant observation and focus group interviews were conducted, respectively, with Mainland Chinese, Taiwanese, and Hong Kong group tourists, while they were on holiday in Australia. A total of 15 attributes were identified, which were classified under the following six categories: tourists' own food culture, the contextual factor of the dining experience, variety and diversity of food, perception of the destination, service encounter, and tour guide's performance. The respective implications of the attributes on travel dining experience are also discussed.     

Affective forecasting and travel decision-making: An investigation in times of a pandemic

People mentally simulate future events, visualise themselves in these events, and then make predictions about how they would feel. This process is referred to as affective forecasting. Tourism lends itself toward affective forecasting because holiday experiences are not tangible and difficult to judge upfront. The authors conceptualise and empirically examine the mental simulation and affective forecasting in tourist decision-making. Using the COVID-19 pandemic as a proof of concept, they employ an experimental research design to demonstrate that affective forecasting can mitigate risk perceptions and travel decision-making in times of a pandemic. The findings highlight how affective forecasting can be leveraged to predict and change travel behaviour in the aftermath of pandemics, though implications reach beyond this context.     

Korean Outbound Tourism: Pre-Visit Expectations of Australia

Abstract

In this study Pearce's “Travel Career Ladder” concept was applied to a sample of South Korean tourists to examine motivations for travel to Australia as a holiday destination. Also, focus group interviews were conducted in Korea to assess visitor expectations, motivations and images of Australia. The initial findings from this study indicate that Koreans are primarily motivated to travel to Australia for the chance to experience natural environmental settings. Some aspects of Australia (e.g., Aboriginal history and culture) are little known in Korea but have the potential to attract Korean visitors. The results of this research may enable more effective marketing to Koreans by providing an insight into the most appropriate promotional content and information sources.