Best buy: what does it mean in corporate travel?

Corporate travel departments manage travel costs prescribing best buy decisions. With reference to flights, the crucial choice concerns the fare. As the difference in price can be great, it might seem convenient to always purchase the cheapest ticket, neglecting that the more expensive a fare, the lower the cost of change or cancellation. We define “best buy” minimizing the expected global cost of flights, whence estimating the probability distribution of travellers’ behaviour is necessary. Variables useful to this aim are detected. This statistical approach can improve the efficiency of corporate policies, leading to diversified purchasing strategies.     

How do carriers price connecting flights? Evidence from intercontinental flights from Europe

In civil aviation, hub-and-spoke (HS) networks are used by all large carriers. The importance of this system implies that many travelers use connecting flights. Nevertheless, only scarce knowledge is available on price formation of these trips. In this paper, we focus on the fares of connecting intercontinental flights, with one stop and at least one competing direct flight. We develop a simple model of a HS network, with imperfect substitutability between direct and indirect flights and Cournot competition on every route in the network. We test the model empirically, using reported fares for flights from seven European origins, including the five major airports in Europe, to five non-European destinations. We find that the fare of a connecting flight can be expressed as the weighted average of the fare of its direct competitor, the travel times of both flights its costs and the monetary value of the utility attached to the trip. The weight of the direct fare decreases as product diversity increases.     

Airline daily fare differentiation in a medium-size travel market

This paper examines variation in airline fares for trips in a medium-size travel market. It develops a conceptual model of fares offered, and uses daily information about fare, plane and flight characteristics, and trip characteristics easily available on the internet. Based on this information it estimates a two-way fixed effects model of airline fares. The results show large differences in fares among the airlines, large variation in daily fares offered, and provide evidence of fare differentiation in the travel market analyzed.     

An assessment of air passenger confidence a year into the COVID-19 crisis: A segmentation analysis of passengers in Norway

The COVID-19 crisis has become the most intense and long-lasting in the history of aviation. There is already a significant literature on the immediate impact of the outbreak, as well as on speculation on the future evolution of the industry. This paper seeks to contribute to this discussion by assessing a year into the crisis the demand related aspects and passenger behavioural impacts of the pandemic. Specifically, the paper aims to identify discrete market segments of air passengers according to their shared attitudes and preferences about air travel in light of the COVID-19 crisis, as well as past behaviour and future travel intentions. To achieve this, we analyse data from a large (n = 2096) online questionnaire survey of air passengers in Norway. The cluster analysis identifies four distinct passenger segments, with each displaying varying attitudes, behaviours, and levels of concern about air travel. One of these groups, described as the ‘Apprehensive Elders’, were identified as having the highest level of concern about flying, and subsequently showed a sharp decline in their intention to travel in the future. Another group, termed the ‘Cautious Commuters’, showed similarly enhanced levels of concerns about flying, but maintained a high propensity to fly following the pandemic despite these concerns. Regarding possible interventions to increase confidence in flying in the future, across all segments the data shows a clear preference for more ‘traditional’ active interventions, including wearing of face masks and enforcement of physical distancing, over and above passive or technological interventions. Norway represents a valuable case as a possible signal for future policy and practice in relation to the recovery of air travel following the pandemic. The findings have important implications for air transport managers and decision makers in terms of managing the perceptions and expectations of different passenger groups as air travel begins to return.     

Women's travel writing and the legacy of Romanticism

Women's travel writing reveals how literary and artistic discourses influence the way we read and write about journeys. This paper considers the way women's travel writing has adapted to, and adopted, the discourse of Romanticism, from its beginnings as a philosophy of political and sexual revolution, individual freedom and escape, to a more diffuse sense which has infiltrated modern attitudes to travel. We consider a classic travel text from the Romantic period, and discuss its legacy. Adopting Buzard's argument [(1993). The Beaten track: European tourism, literature and the ways to ‘Culture’ 1800–1918. Oxford: OUP], we consider how travel changed through the long nineteenth century. We discuss how the twentieth-century Romantic attraction of travel is marketed through the tourist industry as one of the main reasons to get away from it all and discover the ‘authentic’: this desire is reflected in travel texts. Recent writing reflects the influence of Romanticism by celebrating the individual as a wandering free spirit on a self-quest, whose writing is ‘authentic’, spontaneous and confessional: that is, the legacy of sensibility. We conclude that Romanticism has left a dual legacy for travellers, of political commitment and inner journey. Authors discussed include Mary Wollstonecraft, Gertrude Bell, Isabella Bird and Sara Wheeler.     

A study on travelers' transport mode choice behavior using the mixed logit model: A case study of the Seoul-Jeju route

This study is to analyze passengers' choice of the mode of transportation when air transportation is in competition with high speed rail (HSR). The Seoul-Jeju route analyzed as an empirical case study, in which the construction of an undersea tunnel to connect Seoul and Jeju city by HSR has been considered. The study also included two new variables, ‘safety of transportation’ and ‘availability of duty free shopping’ in addition to traditional transport choice variables such as travel time, travel costs and frequency of service to reflect special characteristics of the market. As data gathering tools, SP techniques and mixed logit model, for analytical methodology, were utilized. The authors found that the goodness of fit of the models was improved with new variables. The models also showed that the characteristics of business passengers and leisure passengers in choosing the mode of transportation were different. Business passengers were apt to choose a safety secured mode of transportation regardless of fare while leisure passengers preferred to use duty free shops more than business passengers.     

The choice of air carrier, flight, and fare class

This paper reports the development and interpretation of air traveler choice models to gain insights into the tradeoffs air travelers make when they choose among different carriers, flights, and fare classes. Such insights can be used to support carrier decisions on flight scheduling, pricing, seat allocation, and ticket restrictions. This paper develops a conceptual framework and applies it to the choice of carrier, flight, and fare class as a basis for analyzing air travel demand in a competitive market. Model estimation results are used to quantify the importance of carrier preferences, market presence, quality of service, frequent flyer program membership, schedule convenience, and fares on carrier travel demand. The empirical results provide measures of the premium that business and leisure travelers are willing to pay to avoid schedule delays, to choose a carrier in which frequent-flyer program they participate, and to obtain the amenities and freedom from travel restrictions associated with higher fare classes.     

An investigation into the impact of vacation travel on the tourist

This paper explored the impact of vacation travel on the ‘self’ using a questionnaire survey and interviews. Vacation travel emerged as a form of learning about the self, a journey of self‐discovery rather than self‐recovery. Travel impacts are predominantly self‐centered, producing changes that provide opportunities for personal growth. Experiences leading to these changes are mainly influenced by interactions with the ‘other’. Importantly, no significant association was found between personality type and being impacted, and no difference was found between a pleasurable and a miserable experience and being impacted. Both findings offer a contribution to knowledge and a platform for further research. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An analysis of trends in air travel behaviour using four related SP datasets collected between 2000 and 2005

A growing number of studies of air travel behaviour make use of data collected through stated choice surveys. However, while these studies all produce useful results in their own right, they are limited to the context of each specific study. We address this issue by using data from four related surveys carried out between 2000 and 2005. The analysis shows a level of consistency in some of the sensitivities, but also highlights trends such as reduced willingness-to-pay measures, potentially influenced by the growing number of low cost flight options, lack of service differentiation among the carriers, and increased use of online ticketing, which has led to greater fare transparency.     

Can travel vouchers encourage more sustainable travel?

The growth of transportation poses difficult dilemmas for social and environmental policy. There is broad agreement that a variety of ‘carrot’ and ‘stick’ measures are needed. This article asks whether tax-free travel vouchers for employees could be important as incentives or ‘carrots’ to encourage the use of public transport. The basic idea of it is like Luncheon Vouchers for public transport. Employers issue the vouchers and claim the tax back from the Government. Potentially, travel vouchers could generate a ‘win–win’ situation in which transport operators’ rising revenues justified new services and these, in turn, encouraged more passengers. The research described here uses survey data and the National Travel Survey to examine acceptability and potential fiscal impact of a rural tax-free travel voucher scheme throughout the UK. These results show that there is sufficient acceptance of the idea of travel vouchers in rural areas to justify the further development of this policy.     

A ticket to ride: Evolving landscapes of air travel accessibility in the United States

During the past decade, air passenger service in the United States has been exposed to numerous carrier bankruptcies, antitrust investigations, mergers, labor problems and a massive increase in competition. These internal elements, combined with the rising costs of fuel and the threat of terrorism combine to make a relatively uncertain air travel landscape for both passengers and operators. Moreover, these dynamics have generated significant geographical shifts in airline route structures and airports serviced by commercial carriers. These factors, combined with increasing levels of consumer access to fare and routing information, have altered the landscape of air travel accessibility in the United States. The purpose of this paper is to examine issues of consumer air travel accessibility through an analysis of three critical measures: flight segments, flight time and ticket costs. In addition, a typology of air passenger accessibility is generated for the 156 busiest commercial airports in the United States using these three measures. Results suggest significant local and regional biases in time and cost, relative to distance, for many US markets.     

Bottleneck road congestion pricing with a competing railroad service

The paper examines the efficiency of different road pricing regimes in reducing the total costs of travel when a competing railroad service is available. Extending the two-mode model developed by Tabuchi [J. Urban Economics 34 (1993) 414–431], we show that when the railroad fare is set equal to average cost the difference in efficiency among the fine-toll and the uniform-toll regimes is reduced or possibly reversed. The extent of the reversal or reduction depends on the amount of fixed railroad costs.     

Cruise visitors' experience in a Mediterranean port of call

This study aims to provide a better understanding on cruise travel experience by studying cruise ship passengers motivation, satisfaction and likelihood of return to the port of Heraklion (Crete, Greece). From the findings, it is evident that ‘exploration’ and ‘escape’ were among the main motivations of visitors, and ‘product and services’ as well as ‘tour pace’ were significant dimensions in shaping overall satisfaction levels. Nevertheless, onshore activities were restricted to sightseeing and shopping, because of the limited available time. Based on these findings, relevant proposals are made in order to provide positive port experiences. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Assessing intercity multimodal choice behavior in a Touristy City: A factor analysis

This paper investigates influential factors in passengers' intercity multimodal choice behaviors in a touristy city. By collecting large individual-level data through a comprehensive field survey that was carried out at the major transportation hubs in Xi'an, China, we studied four travel modes of the surveyed travelers in this touristy city, including air, high-speed rail, traditional passenger train, and express bus. For factor analysis, 12 variables, including not only individual-related attributes but also ticketing methods and mental perceptions, were used as the independent factors after the correlation analysis and collinearity test. The regression relationships between the travel mode choice and the independent variables were studied using Bayesian multinomial logistic regression. The results indicate that those 12 factors have significant and various influences on passengers' mode choices. In particular, travel distance, fare rate, intercity travel time per hundred kilometers, quality of service, accessibility of transportation hubs, and ticketing methods have influential contributions for explaining the choice decision-makings. The findings demystify the effects of several unexplored factors in intercity multimodal travel choice behaviors and shed new light on formulating traffic management strategies for service providers and decision-makers in practice.     

Exploring transport to arts and cultural activities as a facilitator of social inclusion

This paper explores the relationship between travel and social inclusion in relation to a relatively rarely examined group of travel destinations—arts and cultural activities. This paper examines travel behaviour to arts and cultural activities and how this relates to social inclusion. Research literature associated with these issues is examined and then an analysis of a household travel survey in Melbourne, Australia, is undertaken to explore how travel to arts and cultural activities varies by income, car ownership and location. The paper outlines a range of evidence linking participation in arts and cultural activities and positive outcomes for social inclusion. Arts and cultural activities do not fit well into traditional household travel survey definitions of trip purposes. There is also no definitional difference between travel to activities and ‘participation’ or ‘attendance’ in arts and cultural activities. This is unfortunate since social outcomes may vary by participation or attendance. Travel survey analysis shows that like other activities trip rates to arts and cultural activities increase with income. However higher participation is demonstrated for zero- and one-car households, which contrasts with previous research of work, education and social travel. Higher participation is also demonstrated for those living in inner parts of the city. The paper suggests that most travel to arts and cultural activity is quite localised and hence much travel may be led by the diversity and range of local opportunities provided. These are particularly high in inner parts of the city. A high share of travel is also demonstrated for older people, who are thought to have the time and desire for greater participation in arts and cultural activities.     

Flight delay impact on airfare and flight frequency: A comprehensive assessment

This paper presents a comprehensive empirical analysis of flight delay impact on airfare and flight frequency in the US air transportation system. We model airfare and flight frequency as functions of cost and demand characteristics, competition effects, and flight delays at origin, destination, and intermediate hub airports. Estimation results confirm that airlines tend to pass delay cost onto passengers through higher fare, whereas delay has an upward effect on flight frequency. We find that proportionate airport delay reduction across the system can result in annual fare reduction in the order of billion dollars.     

A mobilities approach to tourism from emerging world regions

Increasing numbers of people from the emerging world regions, Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East engage in tourism practices at domestic, intra-regional and long-haul international scales. In this article, we deploy an innovative application of the mobilities approach, which we argue moves beyond the Eurocentrism implicit in modernist tourism studies, in a comparative analysis of tourism in and from these regions and those in the ‘West’. Our analysis opens up the systematic study of tourism in emerging world regions in terms of the mobilities paradigm, and concludes: one, travel had a multiplicity of origins in societies in the emerging regions, but most did not possess an equivalent emic term to ‘tourism'. Two, tourism at domestic and intra-regional levels tends to be entangled with other discretionary mobilities, whereas the long-haul level is more differentiated. Three, the development of domestic discretionary travel in emerging regions can be represented by four overlapping ‘mobility constellations’. Four, there are significant historical differences between the regions in their long-haul mobility constellations, although their kinetic hierarchies are all still steep. Five, forms of movement and associated practices of discretionary travellers from the emerging regions and Western countries became increasingly similar under the impact of socio-technological, economic and cultural globalisation. Six, differences between the emerging regions, particularly Asia, and the West are most salient on the emic level of representations of international travel: the specific cultural motive forces for tourism do not centre on authenticity-seeking, but are instead bound up with prestige and markers of modernity.     

Homogeneous service with heterogeneous products: Relationships among airline ticket fares and purchase fences

A fare table derived from homogeneous service is essential for revenue management applications in the airline industry. Restrictions or so-called fences are usually regarded as a useful tool to differentiate homogeneous seat service. Nevertheless, the relationships among fares and fences are not yet clear. This study aims to investigate passengers’ preferences on the choice of ticket alternatives describing by fares and fences and using Taiwan domestic air travel as an example. Regarding the attributes that an airline ticket may be attached such as departure time, booking time, ticket validity, changing fee, refund and fare, stated preference questionnaires are developed with multiple hypothetical scenarios for respondents to select in the experiment. 398 valid samples are collected for the logit model analysis. With the use of mixed logit model to accommodate both passengers’ heterogeneity and also the issue of relevant alternatives in the experiment, the results show statistical significance of all applied attributes with correct signs. In addition, passengers possess different attitudes on the fence of booking time, ticket validity, changing fee, and fare. Willingness-to-pay of each fence is further calculated to ultimately generate a fare table based on the combination of fences for practice use.