The length of stay of golf tourism: A survival analysis

This study analyses the length of stay of golf tourists in the Algarve, on the southern coast of Portugal. The analysis employs a questionnaire to ascertain the significant characteristics influencing the length of stay of golf tourists. A survival model is used to analyse which characteristics are associated with the length of stay, taking into account the uncontrolled heterogeneity of the data. Robustness tests are implemented and policy implications are derived for improving the understanding and management of the length of stay of heterogeneous tourists.     

Distance matters: the impact of physical and relative distance on pleasure tourists' length of stay in Barbados

This paper argues that length of stay is a reflection of the distance between the origin and destination country. Past interpretations of distance premised on spatial aspects. This study extends the dimensional space of distance to include socio-psychological dimensions, climate distance and economic distance. Our empirical analysis utilizes airport data covering over 350,000 pleasure tourists to Barbados from 144 countries. The results suggest that the length of stay of pleasure tourists to Barbados increases with geographic distance, cultural distance and climatic distance, but is inversely related to economic distance. We find no evidence that long-distance relationships (captured by transnational and diasporic relationships) affect tourist length of stay. Implications of these findings are provided.     

Determinants of Length of Stay for Domestic Tourists: Case Study of Yixing

The length of stay of a tourist is one of the most important factors indicating consumption levels and revenue generation for certain tourist destinations. This study employs data from a tourist survey in Yixing, China, to investigate potential factors influencing a tourist's length of stay. Applying an ordered logit model, it is found that distance, age, organized tour, transportation, motivation, past visits and assessment of accommodation are some of the major determinants of a tourist's length of stay. The results indicate that traveling distance and the assessment of accommodation are positively associated with the length of stay. In addition, tourists with different modes of transportation, motivations and past visits have different durations of stay. Based on the estimation results from subsamples, it is also found that there are differences in determinants of length of stay between organized tourists and individual tourists, and among different age groups.     

The length of stay of tourists in Madagascar

Survival models are a type of analysis that investigate the length of stay of tourists in certain tourist destinations. This study analyzes the length of stay of tourists in Madagascar. A duration model is used to analyze the length of stay based on a questionnaire to ascertain the significant characteristics influencing the length of stay of these tourists. Policy implications are derived to improve the understanding and management of the length of stay of tourists.     

Heterogeneity in the determinants of length of stay across middle age and senior age groups in thermal tourism

ABSTRACT

Water has been seen as a healing source of life for centuries. Even the placebo effect of thermal therapies increases consumers’ well-being. Especially with easy traveling options demand for thermal therapies are on the rise. Users of thermal therapies are mostly composed of seniors. Even though age groups in the senior market have heterogeneous needs, managers assume them to be homogenous. Measuring thermal tourism demand by the length of stay, this study analyzed the determinants affecting the length of stay of older thermal tourists. The length of stay is predicted to have been affected by age, purchasing power, physical distance, and seasonal preferences. Even though all of the above have an effect on the length of stay, we find that age is the main determinant deciding the duration. These results may serve as a starting point for policymakers and tourism managers to tailor strategies to increase income streams associated with length of stay.     

Comparing differences in the spatiotemporal patterns between resident tourists and non-resident tourists using hotel check-in registers

Previous research studied the spatiotemporal patterns in different visitor segments but lacks evidence of the segmentation of resident tourists and non-resident tourists in multi-city travel. To fill this gap, this study conducts a big data study using hotel check-in registers. The exploratory data analysis visualizes the spatiotemporal patterns and the differences between resident tourists and non-resident tourists. Then, the spatiotemporal patterns are measured by the length of stay and the number of visited cities. The regression shows that both the length of stay and the number of visited cities of non-resident tourists are higher than those of resident tourists. Moreover, non-resident tourists reduce their length of stay and their number of visited cities more than resident tourists on three-day holidays, while they increase their number of visited cities less than resident tourists on seven-day holidays. This study has significant implications for understanding spatiotemporal patterns and visitors' segmentations.     

The length of stay in the demand for tourism

One of the main characteristics of current tourism is the reduction in the length of stay at a destination. Nevertheless, this variable has received little attention in literature. This paper examines the microeconomic determinants of the length of stay at one of the Mediterranean's leading sun-and-sand destinations. The estimation of a conditional demand function model highlights the explanatory power of the tourist's sociodemographic profile and of holiday characteristics, as well as the sensitivity of the length of stay to price changes.     

Students' summer tourism: Determinants of length of stay (LOS)

Studies scrutinizing the economic aspects of student tourism at the micro-level are rare in the literature. Set against this background, the present study examines the variation in a sample of Norwegian students' length of stay at summer vacation destinations in 2014. Three estimation methods – an OLS regression model, a Weibull survival model and a zero-truncated negative binomial regression model – provide qualitatively similar results regarding how a number of determinants affect length of stay. In particular, the results show that daily trip costs, booking time, tourism and trip motives, trip month and gender explain much of the variation in length of stay. Of special interest is the comparison of two segments differing on when trip duration is determined: the “pre-fixed” returners (75% of the sample) and the “open” returners (25%). In this regard, the results suggest that the “open” returners stay longer on their trips than the “pre-fixed” ones. Finally, the study provides some implications for future length of stay research.     

Length of stay: Evidence from Santiago de Compostela

This paper analyses the determinants of length of stay, but does so taking into account whether the visitor is a tourist or a same-day visitor. Our empirical analysis focuses on Santiago de Compostela, a small tourist city in north-western Spain. We have conducted our analysis using five alternative Heckman selection models. This methodology allows us to distinguish between tourists and same-day visitors. The results allow for the identification of different visitor profiles. In this context, same-day visitors are typically young or retired individuals who travel for leisure reasons, whilst foreign visitors travelling for business or congress purposes are the most likely to have longer stays. In the light of these results, policy implications are then discussed.     

Domestic tourism expenditures: The non-linear effects of length of stay and travel party size

The independent variables length of stay and travel party size are recurrent determinants of expenditures in micro level tourism studies. In most of this research it has been tacitly assumed that these variables have linear effects on tourism spending. This study, situated in a Norwegian setting, questions this approach by explicitly scrutinizing the possible non-linearities in the relationships between tourism expenditures on the one hand and length of stay and travel party size on the other. The empirical results suggest a positive but diminishing relationship between length of stay and tourism expenditures and a convex (i.e. U) relationship between travel party size and tourism expenditures. The study also considers how a number of other key independent variables affect tourism expenditures. Finally, some managerial and scholarly implications are discussed.     

Package and no-frills air carriers as moderators of length of stay

This article analyses the determinants of length of stay among inbound tourists arriving by air in one of the world's most popular tourist countries, Spain. Special emphasis is placed on the effects of whether tourists booked the trip themselves or as part of a package and whether they travelled by low cost (LCA) or legacy airline. An ordered logit model is estimated. Relevant explanatory variables are related to tourist preferences and characteristics, trip characteristics, stay characteristics, and activities at destination. One of the main relevant results concerns the moderating effects. For instance, length of stay among package travellers is most affected by type of destination (city vs. coast), length of LCA trip by age, and length of legacy airline trip by accommodation type.     

A latent class approach to tourists’ length of stay

In this paper, a conditional demand function is estimated for the length of stay at a tourist destination. The microeconomic model specifies the demand for the length of stay conditional on the remaining holiday characteristics that the tourist has chosen (the destination, type of accommodation etc.). The empirical model uses a latent class truncated Poisson regression, which acknowledges the existence of groups or segments of demand with different preferences. In the case under study, a distinction is made between two segments with a preference for either a longer or shorter holiday. The statistical model also resolves a problem of multimodality, acknowledged in previous analyses to be one of the main characteristics of this variable.     

Evaluation of the impact of the tourism nation promotion project on inbound tourists in Japan: a difference-in-differences approach

This study quantitatively evaluates the impact of the Tourism Nation Promotion Project on tourism demand. Data were obtained from Japan Tourism Agency’s quarterly survey from 2010Q2 to 2015Q4. Cox and zero-truncated negative binomial models and difference-in-differences approach were applied to analyze tourism demand and the project’s impact on inbound tourists’ length of stay and expenditure in Japan. Empirical results showed a positive and significant average treatment effect on length of stay and expenditure for tourists from Australia, China, Russia, and Thailand. These findings indicate that the Japanese government should use differentiated strategies considering different nationalities’ characteristics to attract foreign tourists.     

Analyzing tourists’ length of stay at destinations with survival models: A constructive critique based on a case study

The statistical modeling of tourists’ length of stay at destinations is a topic that recently has received much attention from tourism scholars. In this regard, so-called “survival models” have been introduced as a means of studying how a set of independent variables explain variation in the number of days tourists spend at destinations. This paper provides a critical look at these studies. There are two main findings. (1) The various justifications offered for favoring the survival models over the traditional OLS regression do not hold up under closer scrutiny. (2) An empirical study shows that the OLS regression model describes the association between a set of independent variables and length of stay at least as effectively as a battery of survival models. In line with the principle of parsimony it is concluded that future studies on tourists’ length of stay should abandon survival models if they are conducted along similar lines as the ones to date.     

Antecedents of novelty seeking: international visitors’ propensity to experiment across Hong Kong's culinary traditions

The factors that influence the scope and range of visitors’ culinary choices were the focus of this study. Responses to a survey composed of 968 departing visitors from Hong Kong who reside in one of 18 countries revealed that culinary experimentation is influenced by four factors. They are in order of importance: national culture; length of stay; age; and repeat visitation. Specifically, respondents from low uncertainty avoidance countries patronized a greater number and diversity of culinary offers when compared to respondents from high uncertainty avoidance countries. In addition, repeat visitors and length of stay were positively correlated with both the number and range of culinary explorations, while first-time visitors and age were negatively correlated. The implications for managers is that visitors of different nationalities travel to destinations with different thresholds of tastes and uncertainty avoidance thresholds, and differences should be anticipated in terms of dining preferences and ranges of culinary experiences.     

Optimizing or maximizing growth? A challenge for sustainable tourism

Virtually all destinations seek to increase tourist numbers, pursuing economic maximization strategies. Considerably less attention is paid to optimizing existing tourist systems to create more profitable, stable, resilient and potentially more sustainable entities. While aspects of tourist expenditure, average length of stay and seasonality as three key destination management variables have received considerable attention in the literature, focus has usually been on the identification of “profitable” tourism markets by considering observed patterns of spending, length of stay and vacation timing. Building on such earlier studies, this paper focuses on flexibilities in these parameters: could tourists have spent more, stayed longer or visited during a different season? Perceptions of destination expensiveness as a potential deterrent to visitation were also addressed. Based on a sample (n = 1914) of domestic and international tourists in the Swedish cities of Kalmar and Stockholm, data were collected in face-to-face interviews using questionnaires. Results indicate considerable potential to optimize the Swedish tourism system with regard to all variables studied, while also providing new insights for destination management in the context of economic resilience. Results also indicate the need for researchers everywhere to have detailed market knowledge if they are to persuade the industry to change its sustainability behavior.     

Validating a customer well-being index related to natural wildlife tourism

This study reports an attempt to validate a customer well-being (CWB) index related to natural wildlife tourism. It was hypothesized that the CWB index related to wildlife tourism has a positive influence on travel outcomes (length of stay, number of visits, and total expenses), mediated by perceived value and customer loyalty. These hypotheses were tested using four waves of surveys of customers (overnight visitors) intercepted at the park in a two-year period. The survey data provided support for the hypotheses, which, in turn, lend validation support to the CWB index. Managerial implications of the customer well-being index are also discussed.     

A Microeconomics Analysis of the Per Diem Expenditure of British Travellers

The aim of this paper is to analyse factors that affect expenditure patterns of British travellers. It is the first study which focuses solely on this market. Using an original questionnaire, data are collected and a sample of 1178 is retained. To obtain robust estimates, the data are analysed using quantile regression technique. The study shows that income length of stay, employment status and types of accommodation used are important factors affecting per diem expenditure. The study contributes to the literature by investigating an additional dimension of demand determinant by analysing the effect of variables related to the home country. Transfer cost in the UK is found to be significant in determining total tourism expenditure abroad.     

A quarantined lodging stay: The buffering effect of service quality

How do guests feel during their stay at quarantine lodging? This study draws on terror management theory and social exclusion theory to synthesize a model that highlights guests’ perceptions about their experience under enforced isolation. The model articulates guests’ feeling of anxiety and loneliness, whereas quality of service presents warmth and care that activates an anxiety buffer mechanism that mitigates the effect of anxiety. In turn guests’ level of anxiety is further explained by an interaction between their health status and the length of stay. Results point to a conduit for studying the dark side of hospitality, opening up research avenues that could help assess broader social behavioral changes during the global pandemic, while offering operators revelations for lodging management during a crisis.     

Vacation behaviour under high travel cost conditions – A stated preference of revealed preference approach

This paper investigates vacation behaviour under high travel cost conditions. We estimate discrete portfolio vacation choice models on data obtained in a novel free format Stated Preference of Revealed Preference (SP-off-RP) choice experiment. The substantive contribution of this paper is that we develop new insights into vacation behaviour under high travel cost conditions. We find that vacationers exhibit considerable diminishing marginal disutility of vacation travel costs. Furthermore, we have identified significant interactions effects across the following vacation choice dimensions: destination, length of stay, accommodation type and mode of transport. Therefore, a substantial increase in travel costs is likely to have marked consequences for the tourism industry – reaching beyond the transportation side of tourism. Methodological contributions of this paper are twofold: 1) it proposes a choice experiment in which SP alternatives are constructed by pivoting of late consideration set alternatives, rather than only of a chosen alternative, and 2) it proposes, and illustrates the use of, a generalization of a recently proposed SP-off-RP estimation procedure.