International university students’ travel risk perceptions: an exploratory study

Tourism researchers have identified the impact of perceived risk on destination choice and travel behaviour, and differences in general traveller risk perceptions based on both traveller and trip characteristics. However, such research has neglected the travel of international university students, despite the expansion and economic importance of this market. This paper outlines an exploratory study conducted on international university students studying at an Australian university. A total of 407 valid responses from the sample were achieved. Factor analysis identified four main risk factors which were labelled ‘human-induced risk’, ‘social–psychological risk’, ‘financial risk’, and ‘health risk’. Student origins were found to influence risk perceptions. In particular, Asian students perceived higher levels of human-induced and social–psychological risks compared with students primarily from America and Europe. Travel experience and repeat visitation significantly reduced risk factors apart from health risks. Financial risks were higher for students planning to travel in Australia compared with Asia and America. The implications for destination marketing are considered, and future research avenues based on the results are outlined.     

Predicting car drivers’ intention to use low cost airlines for intercity travel in Libya

This study used an extended version of the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to predict the travel intention of car drivers in Libya with regard to using the new low-cost carriers (LCC). In order to understand the willingness of travellers to accept the LCC in Libya and its antecedents, this study has added three constructs to the original TPB model, namely novelty seeking, trust, and external influences. The respondents in this study are 338 car drivers in Libya. The results of this study indicate that attitude towards LCC, perceived behavioural control, and subjective norm all have positive effects on the behavioural intention of taking LCC. Furthermore, novelty seeking and trust have indirect positive effects on behavioural intention. Trust, on the other hand, has an indirect positive influence on the three antecedents of intention in accepting LCC in Libya. Results also revealed that external influence (i.e. advertising campaigns by the media) has a significant indirect influence on car users’ intention to accept the new LCC via subjective norm and perceived behavioural control, and indirect influence on the behaviour intention of car users via novelty seeking with regard to attitude towards LCC and trust to perceived behavioural control.     

Travel motivations of Japanese senior travellers to Thailand

This study applies the conceptual framework of push and pull motivations to investigate travel motivations of Japanese senior travellers to Thailand. Using factor analysis, three push and four pull factor dimensions are identified. The three push factors are labelled ‘novelty and knowledge‐seeking’, ‘rest and relaxation’ and ‘ego‐enhancement’, while the four pull factors are ‘cultural and historical attractions’, ‘travel arrangements and facilities’, ‘shopping and leisure activities’ and ‘safety and cleanliness’. Among them, ‘novelty and knowledge‐seeking’ and ‘cultural and historical attractions’ are regarded as the most important push and pull factors respectively. The results of multiple regression analysis indicate that psychological well‐being (i.e. positive affect) and education are the two factors influencing travel motivations of Japanese senior travellers to Thailand. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The travel behaviour intentions of young people in the context of climate change

This article examines the factors influencing the future travel behaviour intentions of young people (aged 11–18), with specific attention given to how climate change considerations affect these. Overall it is found that the participants’ travel behaviour intentions are dominated by a desire to drive and that their values relating to identity, self-image, and social recognition (at the expense of their environmental values), as well as their affective attitudes towards transport modes, are key influences on this. Although they are aware of climate change, the participants’ understanding of the link between transport and climate change was weak. At the same time, they illustrated an apathy towards climate change – in part due to the timing and intangibility of its associated impacts and their lack of self-efficacy with respect to tackling this issue. However, despite claiming that their current environmentally friendly travel behaviours (such as walking or cycling to school) are not influenced by the issue of climate change, a number are accepting of the idea of enforced travel behaviour change – away from use of the car, towards more ‘environmentally friendly’ modes. This acceptance was in part due to their belief that such action would remove the influence of the ‘social dilemma’, where their own efforts to tackle climate change may be rendered worthless by the inaction of others.     

Travel behaviour: a study of older Malaysians

The worldwide demographic shift towards population ageing has made older adults an attractive market segment not only for developed countries but also for developing countries such as Malaysia. This study explores travel behaviour among older adults living in Malaysia. Using non-probability quota sampling, 1356 older adults responded to the personal interviews carried out in Peninsular Malaysia. The main travel motivations were ‘to spend time with friends or family’ and ‘relaxation’, and the most preferred destinations were big cities. The majority of the respondents preferred to travel in tour groups. Their decision to travel was largely influenced by cost and recommendations from their family. During their holiday, common problems faced by them were tiredness, health problems and worries over safety and security. There were significant differences with respect to their travel behaviour, among the different ethnic groups and religions. Based on the results, this paper provides some management implications to marketers and other tourism organisations.     

Anti-shopping tourism: a new concept in the field of consumption

In this article, based on qualitative research in Hungary, we propose a new phrase for the field of tourist consumption. Our notion ‘anti-shopping tourism’ refers to the resistant attitude towards consumption and spending money during shopping-related tours. The research discussed in the paper analyses participants’ motivations, attitudes and behaviour on one-day coach trips that include various programmes, for example, sightseeing, lunch, spa visits and even a range of gifts, for a very low price, in exchange for participation in a professional sales show during the trip. Our main goal is to explain and, from an economic and anthropological point of view, conceptualise this form of tourist attitude, and to show how this unique way of travel may be situated in a certain historical setting in Hungary, more than two decades after the collapse of the socialist regime. In order to understand how the participating individuals negotiated this unique form of travel that exists in a grey zone of the institutionalised travel industry, notions such as debt, sacrifice, resistance, gift, seduction and informal contract are discussed and connected to the phenomenon.     

Causes and effects between attitudes,the built environment and car kilometres: A longitudinal analysis

Travel-related attitudes are believed to affect the connections between the built environment and travel behaviour. Previous studies found supporting evidence for the residential self-selection hypothesis which suggests that the impact of the built environment on travel behaviour could be overestimated when attitudes are not accounted for. However, this hypothesis is under scrutiny as the reverse causality hypothesis, which implies a reverse direction of influence from the built environment towards attitudes, is receiving increased attention in recent research. This study tests both directions of influence by means of cross-sectional and longitudinal structural equation models. GPS tracking is used to assess changes in travel behaviour in terms of car kilometres travelled. The outcomes show stronger reverse causality effects than residential self-selection effects and that land-use policies significantly reduce car kilometres travelled. Moreover, the longitudinal models show that the built environment characteristics provide a better explanation for changes in car kilometres travelled than the travel-related attitudes. This contradicts the cross-sectional analysis where associations between car kilometres travelled and travel-related attitudes were stronger. This highlights the need for more longitudinal studies in this field.     

Millennials’ travel motivations and desired activities within destinations: A comparative study of the US and the UK

Millennials are one of the largest groups to be targeted by tourism companies. This paper compares the travel motivations of Millennials from both the United States and the United Kingdom by ratings, rankings and perceptual structures of both push and pull factors. This exploratory study used a questionnaire to examine the inner motivations (e.g. push factors) and preferred destination activities (e.g. pull factors) of American and British Millennials (n?=?322). Data analysis included the non-parametric Mann–Whitney U test, Kendall’s coefficient of concordance, an alternating least-squares algorithm (ALSCAL) model and ordinal regression. The results reveal that American and British Millennials are quite homogeneous in their push travel motivations and destination activity preferences. The most important motivational factors for both are ‘to relax’ and ‘to escape from the ordinary’. Both nationalities also agree that the most attractive destination activities are ‘to try local food’ and ‘to go sightseeing’. The findings indicate that the US and UK samples are similar and that there is room for segmentation according to demographics.     

Influences on the perceived value of medical travel: the moderating roles of risk attitude,self-esteem and word-of-mouth

This study aims to discover the influential factors and critical moderators that can enhance the perceived value that international tourists feel towards medical travel. A total of 259 international tourists were surveyed using questionnaires. The results were analysed using structural equation modelling, and the findings are as follows. Firstly, hospital elements, such as service quality, hospital credibility and hospital image, all influence the perceived value of medical travel. Moreover, the results also confirmed the positive moderating effects of personal-factors (risk attitude and self-esteem) and an external factor (word-of-mouth), which can increase the influences of these hospital elements on the perceived value of medical travel.     

Housing mobility and travel behaviour: A process-oriented approach to spatial mobility: Evidence from a new research field in Germany

During recent years, some effort has been made to understand the location changes in the life course underlying travel demand in Germany. Such studies have presented travel behaviour and long-term housing mobility as intertwined decision flows within the life course. This perspective calls for new methods, for example comparisons of travel behaviour before and after relocation, or comparisons between different ‘relocation types’. A number of studies have taken on this new perspective. Although there are certain methodological problems arising, notable progress has already been achieved towards a more precise understanding of travel demand. This includes the investigation of the use of transport modes as well as travelled distances and activity spaces. This contribution provides an overview on these studies. Theoretical groundwork, empirically validated aspects, and deficits and blind spots of research are being discussed.     

Understanding and managing anti-social behaviour on public transport through value change: The considerate travel campaign

This article explores anti-social behaviour on public transport, regarded as a major problem by most transport authorities in Britain. It has been estimated that a passenger increase of more than 11.5% in Britain could be achieved if public concerns over anti-social behaviour could be allayed. The article starts by noting that combating anti-social behaviour has generally been seen as the remit of police and enforcement officers. However, research carried out for Transport for London indicates that for the majority of the travelling public, the forms of anti-social behaviour, which concerns them is more likely to be low-level behaviour, ranging from groups of young people behaving boisterously to people eating food or talking loudly on mobile phones.Using the ‘problem solving approach’ structure, the article then examines the process by which Transport for London has partially ‘uncoupled’ anti-social behaviour from criminal activities and then treated the two issues as related but distinct. As a result, a series of policing and enforcement initiatives have been introduced to prevent crime, but a different, unique approach has been taken towards controlling anti-social behaviour. Rather than being tackled as a form of low level criminality, anti-social behaviour is viewed as the outcome of clashing values about appropriate behaviour on public transport. Therefore, the answer to anti-social behaviour lies in minimising these values clashes, rather than concentrating on enforcement against perpetrators. The article describes the resulting large-scale media campaign—the Considerate Traveller Campaign, which was launched in 2008 with the aim of increasing tolerance and consideration for others.The article concludes with a summary of the early evaluation of the campaign, which suggests that it is having some positive effect in changing values and argues that in the longer run, it may be possible to amend the behaviour on public transport without relying so heavily on enforcement measures.     

More than medical tourism: lessons from Indonesia and Malaysia on South–South intra-regional medical travel

While scholars increasingly acknowledge that most contemporary international medical travel comprises South–South flows, these have gone curiously unexamined. Rather, policy, scholarly and media attention focuses predominantly on North–South flows of ‘medical tourists’. However, this focus diverts attention from the actual and potential impacts of South–South intra-regional medical travel flows on both their source and receiving contexts. As such, we present findings from a study examining South–South intra-regional medical travellers' motivations, preparations and practices to better understand the social, economic and political situations that condition them and their effects on the destinations that receive them. Our study of Indonesian medical travellers pursuing health care in Malaysia draws on 35 semi-structured interviews with Indonesian patients, their companions, medical staff and agents in both countries. From this, we suggest that South–South medical travellers' diverse socio-economic conditions shape decision-making and spending behaviour relative to treatment, accommodation and transport choices as well as length of stay. We identify ways in which informal economies and social care networks sustain the formal medical travel industry. Finally, we observe how medical travel increasingly serves as a means through which chronic and everyday health needs are met through temporary, visa-free intra-regional movement.     

The self‐presentation and self‐development of serious wildlife tourists

The notion of self‐concept and choice of tourism products has yet to be applied to wildlife tourism. The question of how consumers perceive themselves is considered fundamental to understanding purchase and consumption behaviours. This ethnographic study is based upon ‘serious’ wildlife tourism participants, for whom studying fauna and flora is the primary motivation for travel. The findings demonstrate how the ‘culture’ of ‘serious’ wildlife tourism is made up of individuals who differentiate themselves from other tourists in terms of dress, behaviour, development of skills, equipment and intellectual capital, illustrated by their desire to scope, identify and photograph wildlife. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nostalgia,Identity and Tourism: Bollywood in the Indian Diaspora

In today's global world of movement our personal identities are changing. So, ‘where is my “home”?’ and ‘what is my “identity”?’ have become essential questions in one's life. In recent times, more and more diasporic communities visit their homelands, perhaps to reroot their identities. This study explored the influence of Bollywood movies in the Indian diaspora's identity construction and notions of home and tourism behaviour to India. Findings revealed that the Indian diaspora's imagination of India is strongly informed by Bollywood movies. Yet, different generations of the Indian diaspora have different reasons for travelling to India. The first generation's nostalgia arises from watching Bollywood movies, and as a result, creates a motivation to travel to India. The second generation's main to travel behaviour to India is to experience the new ‘modern’ country, portrayed in the affluent surroundings of contemporary Bollywood movies. And, for those first generations, who have never seen India before, Bollywood movies enable them to romanticise their homeland and create an urge to visit India. Thus, Bollywood movies have immense importance in the Indian diaspora's identity construction, promote diaspora tourism and constitute a huge opportunity for economic development.     

Travel behaviour among inbound medical tourists in Kuala Lumpur

Despite recording the highest growth among tourism sub-sectors [Dhesi, D. (2009, March 25). Medical tourism rises in Malaysia despite economic downturn. The Star Online. Retrieved from http://www.malaysiahealthcare.com/; Leonard, T. (2009, July 24). Medical tourists to bring in RM 540 million by 2010. Retrieved from http://www.malaysiahealthcare.com/; Tourism Malaysia. (2008). Profile of tourist by selected markets 2008. Kuala Lumpur: Tourism Malaysia], little is known empirically with regard to travel behaviour among inbound medical tourists in Malaysia. This study examined the demographic profile, travel motivation, healthcare consumption, and expenditure behaviour among them in Kuala Lumpur. Using the combination of purposeful and convenience sampling, a total of 138 questionnaires were completed, returned, and analysed. The majority of the respondents were female, middle aged, travelling with two others and Indonesians. Their main travel motivation factors were ‘value for money’, ‘excellent medical services’, ‘supporting services’, ‘cultural similarity’, and ‘religious factor’ in descending order of importance. Medical treatment, cosmetic procedure, surgical procedure, and medical check-up were important healthcare services sought after by the respondents. On average, medical tourists spent MYR 26,844.19 per visit, with females and tourists of European descent contributing significantly more. Tourists from ASEAN had stronger motivation of ‘cultural similarity’ compared with other tourists. This paper is unique in providing the empirical evidence of the city's unique selling points (pull factors) in attracting inbound medical tourists. It also highlights the potential economic contribution and some managerial implications in terms of marketing and product development.     

The impact of the perception of risk on international travellers

The primary objective of this paper is twofold: (i) to investigate the impact of perceived risk on the tendency to travel internationally; and (ii) to explore if there is any difference in the perception of risky places among three clusters segmented based on the Hofstede's uncertainty avoidance index. The sample population of the study consists of 1180 international travellers visiting Hong Kong in the fall of 2003. The research findings show that the majority of travellers are more likely to change their travel plans to a destination that has elevated risk while the minority reports they are more unlikely. These findings suggest that international travellers appear to be sensitive towards the occurrence of any type of risk in their evoked destinations. Differences were also observed from one continent to another in terms of the influence of perceived risks. The final note is that travellers from different national cultures may have varying degrees of the perceived risk. Implications both for theory and practitioners are also discussed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mobility biographies: A review of achievements and challenges of the mobility biographies approach and a framework for further research

In transport research, important changes in an individual’s life, so-called key events, are of particular interest because changes in one’s environment and surrounding context weaken routines, and a ‘window of opportunity’ opens up for behavioural change. In the framework of the mobility biographies approach, several studies have been undertaken to improve understanding of travel behaviour change in the last decade. This paper critically and systematically reviews emerging results from mobility biographies research, focusing on key events which potentially induce contextual and travel behaviour changes. The first step was to identify 25 of the most important studies for this approach and their related concepts. Next, notions other than key events in the literature are discussed and a theoretical framework for the longitudinal interaction of four dimensions of key events and other factors for travel behaviour change are identified: (i) life events in private and professional careers, (ii) adaptation of long-term mobility decisions, (iii) exogenous interventions, and (iv) other long-term processes which are not key events (e.g. socialisation). Furthermore, the understanding of key events, methodological challenges and further research gaps are critically discussed in this review.     

Relationship between cross-cultural attitudes and attitudes toward the foreign language study of tourism majors: the South Korean Case

Cross-cultural attitudes are gaining more importance as contacts between people from different cultures are increasing in a globalized world. This is particularly the case and relevant for the tourism industry. The major purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between cross-cultural attitudes and the attitudes toward foreign language within the tourism education context. An empirical study of 482 tourism students in South Korea revealed that cross-cultural attitudes had significant associations with attitudes toward studying a foreign language. Specifically, the ‘integrative attitude’, among the three types of attitudes toward foreign language study, showed the highest relationship with the ‘cross-cultural attitude’, being followed by the ‘intrinsically motivated attitude’. However, the ‘instrumental attitude’ showed no significant relationship. Based on these findings, a need to approach language study from cultural perspectives is emphasized, suggesting a provision of programs and activities inspiring direct and indirect contacts with foreign cultures and people. The integration of cultural aspects of the tourism industry into foreign language study was also discussed in this context. Finally, the study's results were compared with those of previous studies and a tentative generalization that foreign language study has an effect in reducing social distance was proposed.     

Non‐participation of Domestic Tourism: Analyzing the Influence of Discouraging Factors

This study analyzes the factors that discourage non‐tourists' participation in domestic tourism. Data were collected in 15 cities in China and analyzed using a comparative analysis and non‐parametric ridit analysis. The findings indicate that (i) non‐tourists have low internal travel motivation and attitude and are more likely to be under 25 or above 55 years old, less educated, less healthy, with small child(ren) and lower income; (ii) non‐tourists consider less on destination environment and attraction, but focus on price and travel expenses when making a travel decision and destination choice; and (iii) economic and leisure time are their main situational travel constrains. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Air travel attitudes and behaviours: The development of environment-based segments

In an era when the transport sector is increasingly contributing to environmental damage there is a need to better understand the behavioural response of consumers. Theories such as the Theory of Planned Behaviour and the Norm-Activation Model have had some success in explaining pro-environmental behaviours; this paper examines the application of these to air travel. It utilises insights from previous attitude behaviour research to develop a more detailed understanding of how normative influences, individual values and other psychological factors are affected by individual attitudes to air travel attitudes and how these influence behaviour. This informs recommendations for a policy response, which emphasises the need to bring air travel behaviour in line with other energy saving household behaviours.