Understanding Student Travel Behavior: A Segmentation Analysis of British University Students

Although the youth and student travel market has often been referred to as a lucrative niche market, there is still relatively little known about the decision-making processes and holiday behaviors of its members. The primary aim of this paper is to segment and profile British student travelers based on their motivational and behavioral characteristics. The study analyzes variations in the motivations and holiday activities of university student holidaymakers and thus contributes to a better understanding of the typologies of modern student travelers. A self-administered survey was collected from 412 students and a two-step cluster analysis was performed. The results suggest the existence of four distinct clusters: the sun-seekers, the sightseers, the in-betweeners, and the clubbers. Age and gender were, among other variables, shown to be statistically significant in shaping the tourist behavior of young people.     

Using a Validation Process to Develop Market Segmentation Based on Travel Motivation for Major Metropolitan Areas

Studies on market segmentation based on travelers' push motivation have been conducted without implementing a statistically validated procedure for establishing the segmented markets. The purpose of this study is to identify validated traveler market segments by examining what travelers' push motivation dimensions are among the heterogeneity of travelers to a major metropolitan area. The six push motivation dimensions were extracted from the 20 motivation items by conducting factor analysis (i.e., Social/Interaction, Excitement/Fun, Relaxation, Sightseeing, Family/Friends, and Sports). Cluster analysis identified the three homogeneous groups of travelers. Subsequent discriminant analysis verified the existence of the three travelers' markets in the metropolitan area. Managerial implications are suggested for the three push motivation‐based segments.     

Creating Distance from Body Issues: Exploring New Materialist Feminist Possibilities for Renegotiating Gendered Embodiment

Abstract

The body’s active role in the production of gendered embodiments is a key focus for feminist cultural studies and leisure studies. The article draws on new materialist feminist scholarship to explore how gender relations are produced and negotiated in physical culture through one case study example taken from a wider study of young people’s experiences of the body and self-image over time. The article explores how gendered embodiment is assembled through the socio-material circumstances of everyday life. For one particiapnt, 'Ann', “creating distance” from appearance concerns was an embodied process which involved new practices and encounters (e.g., walking for leisure, reading feminist literature) and relationships and engagements with others (e.g., a partner, friends, family). The potential for feminism to open possibilities to imagine the body otherwise is also discussed in relation to recent efforts to foster social justice imperatives in leisure sciences and feminist physical cultural studies.