Examining Tourists’ Push and Pull Travel Motivations and Behavioral Intentions: The Case of British Outbound Tourists to Phuket,Thailand

This research aimed specifically to (1) determine the socio-demographic characteristics and travel patterns of British tourists visiting Phuket; (2) identify the main “push” and “pull” travel motivations of British tourists visiting Phuket; and (3) examine the relationship between British tourists’ main “push/pull” motivations and future travel intention to Phuket. Findings revealed that British tourists’ main push motivations were: “to have fun,” “to rest and relax,” and “to escape from daily routine and environment”; while the main pull motivations were: “natural sceneries and landscapes,” “beaches,” and “hospitality and friendliness of the people.” There was also a relationship found between “push/pull” motivations and future travel intention to Phuket.     

An Analysis of Push and Pull Motivational Factors of International Tourists to Penang,Malaysia

This study identifies the travel motivations of international tourists to Penang, Malaysia, using the theory of push and pull motivations as a conceptual framework. The methodology was comprised of quantitative research based on 400 self-completed questionnaires. A principal component factor analysis was used to identify the underlying dimensions of push and pull motivational items. The results revealed three push and three pull factor dimensions. Among the identified motivation factors, Novelty and Knowledge-Seeking and Cultural and Historical Attractions were regarded as the most important push and pull factors, respectively. Based on the study’s findings, practical implications for tourism marketers are suggested and future research recommendations are provided.     

Travel motivations and destination choice: A study of British outbound market

Abstract

Knowledge of people's travel motivations and its association with destination selection plays a critical role in predicting future travel patterns. The objectives of this study were to uncover the underlying push and pull factors of motivation associated with British outbound pleasure travelers as well as to identify key motivational factors that have significant effects on destination choice. Six push factors and five pull factors were found. “Knowledge seeking” and “cleanliness & safety” were perceived as the most important push and pull factors respectively. The results of logistic regression analyses snowed that the British tend to visit the U.S. for “fun & excitement” and “outdoor activities,” Oceania for “family & friend togetherness,” and Asia to seek a “novel experience.” The findings of differential motivational factors across seven destinations suggest that a destination can capitalize on its strengths with an optimal combination of push and pull factors to attract and retain the British travelers.     

The effects of push and pull travel motivations,personal values,and destination familiarity on tourist loyalty: a study of Chinese cigar tourists to Cuba

This study examined Chinese cigar tourists’ motivations for visiting Cuba. Six push factors and five pull factors were identified using a push–pull factor framework. The effects of travel motivations, personal values, and destination familiarity on tourist loyalty were examined using a sample of 348 Chinese cigar tourists. Hierarchical regression analysis revealed that unique experience seeking (a push factor) and destination-specific attractions and socialistic nostalgia (pull factors) predicted revisit intention; socialistic nostalgia also predicted willingness to recommend. Destination familiarity was found to influence revisit intention but not willingness to recommend. Personal values appeared unrelated to tourist loyalty.     

The Study of Post-disaster Tourism Recovery and Reconstruction Based on Tourist Motivations: The Case of Jiuzhaigou after “5·12” Wenchuan Earthquake

旅游业灾后恢复重建是灾区经济社会恢复重建的重要“突破口”,尤其在旅游业作为主导产业或支柱产业的地区;而理解灾区游客旅游动机有利于旅游业灾后恢复重建管理战略的制定.该研究以遭受“5·12”汶川地震影响的九寨沟为例,运用结构方程模型,引入“灾害事件引发的旅游动机”,对灾区国内游客的多种旅游动机交互作用关系进行分析,证实了灾区旅游业恢复重建管理中:①恢复重建的关键内容是“核心旅游吸引物与安全”;②恢复重建的重点区域是灾区内已有高知名度的旅游地或在灾害事件中成为全球关注焦点的地区;③对目的地优质旅游接待服务意象的修复或构建能够恢复和提升灾区的旅游市场竞争力;④灾后旅游业市场营销需要重新区分客源市场并进行定位;⑤国民对灾区的爱国情怀可能会为目的地带来更多的国内旅游流,但需要营造“到灾区旅游是对灾区恢复重建最大援助”的社会氛围.     

A Comparative Study of the Motivations,Activities, Overall Satisfaction,and Post-Trip Behaviors of International Tourists in Macau: Mainland Chinese,Hongkongese, Taiwanese,and Westerners

Cross-cultural differences are a vital issue in international tourism; the success of international tourism marketing strategies depends upon understanding tourists from different cultures and regions. To understand the diverse and lively Macau international tourism market, this study explored the cross-cultural differences in push and pull motivations, participating activities, and overall satisfaction level of traveling to Macau for four international tourist groups: Mainland Chinese, Hongkongese, Taiwanese, and Western. Using exploratory factor analysis, this study identified three push (knowledge and fun, relaxation and escape, and shopping and nightlife) and four pull motivation factors (exciting and relaxing atmosphere, local and cultural resources, gambling and entertainment, and famous destination). The results indicated that significant differences among the four tourist groups were found in the characteristics, motivations, activities, overall satisfaction, and post-trip behaviors. These findings will assist the development of promotional strategies and better communication that acknowledge cultural differences.     

Marine Tourist Motivations Comparing Push and Pull Factors

This study examined the relationship between push and pull factors with regard to marine tourist motivations. The survey was distributed systematically to people intercepted at high-traffic locations in Seoul, South Korea. The results indicated that escape push motivations are closely related to static activity pull motivations, while novelty push motivations are more strongly related to active activity pull motivations. These relationships may be partially explained by the push-pull framework of tourist motivations. These results imply that a marine tourist destination focusing on static activities should appeal to tourists who have escape push motivations, while a marine tourist destination focusing on active activities should appeal to tourists who have novelty push motivations.     

International Second Home Retirement Motives in Malaysia: Comparing British and Japanese Retirees

Generally, the international second home (ISH) retirement develops from the need for better life quality of the aging population globally. “Malaysia My Second Home” (MM2H) is an ISH scheme that aims to attract inbound retiree market in Malaysia. This study explores the retirement motivations and their influences on ISH decision using the combination of push–pull travel motivation theory and tri-reference point (TRP) theory, while simultaneously comparing the British and the Japanese retirees. We interviewed 26 MM2H participants in depth and content analyzed the data with qualitative NVivo software. Other than common motivations shared by both groups, there are also distinct differences, especially with regards to environmental preference and risk taking. Only two motives fit into all the three elements of TRP, with most motives either explained by a single or dual reference point. Based on the findings, the study proposes its knowledge, marketing, and managerial implications.     

Tourist Motives and Destination Competitiveness: A Gap Analysis Perspective

This study explores the use of gap analysis in examining the demand-side and supply-side perceptions of international tourists’ motives for visiting Botswana, along with Botswana’s competitiveness as a tourist destination. Statistically significant negative gaps between tourists and tourism providers’ perceptions mean that further understanding of tourists by providers is necessary to enhance the destination’s competitiveness. The analysis of findings was based on 14 “pull” motivations adapted from Kozak (2002) and 104 destination competitiveness measures, some of which were adapted from Omerzel (2006). Factor analysis, reliability analysis, and a series of independent t-tests were used to analyze the data. Study results indicate that tourists visit Botswana mainly for pleasure seeking rather than culture. The study further reveals that Botswana’s competitiveness as a destination is average. Furthermore, the study found statistically significant differences between tourists and tourism providers on all of the “push” factors and nine of the 15 destination competitiveness factors. In order for Botswana to be globally competitive, there is need for further improvement with a view to match international tourists’ expectations. Particular attention should be directed at improving the way the destination is managed. Further developments should be made on created resources, safety, demand conditions, historical and cultural heritage resources, organized excursions, and cleanliness.     

Push or pull? Identifying rock climbing tourists' motivations

The aims of this research are to clarify the motivations of rock climbing tourists by using a push and pull framework and to investigate the relationship between tourist motivation and overall satisfaction. In a survey of 473 rock climbing tourists in the Geyikbayırı region in Antalya, Turkey, the most important push motivations were identified as ‘physical setting’ and ‘challenge’, while ‘climbing novelty seeking’ and ‘climbing tourism infrastructure’ were the most important pull motivations. Furthermore, the findings of this study indicated that overall satisfaction of rock climbers can be determined by their push and pull motivations. The results also showed that motivations of rock climbers differ according to their experience levels. The paper ends with theoretical contributions of the study and its managerial implications.     

Activity Segmentation of the International Heritage Tourism Market to Taiwan

The heritage tourism market has developed from being regarded as a small niche segment to a mainstream market of considerable size. In Taiwan, diversified heritage resources hold considerable appeal to the international tourism market. Little research has been completed on international heritage tourists to Taiwan, so this study utilized Taiwan as a case study and examined international tourists to the destination. It first employed cluster analysis based on activity participation to segment the market and test for the existence of “heritage tourists”. Three groups of international tourists to Taiwan were identified and they were labelled as “heritage”, “shopping” and “non-specialists”. The heritage group had a high participation rate in visiting heritage relics (90.6%). The study also profiled tourists according to the reasons they travelled to Taiwan and socio-demographic variables. The heritage tourists and other activity participation groups were compared to reveal the major motivational and socio-demographic differences involved. The findings showed that “international heritage tourists to Taiwan” were a group of visitors with relatively younger ages, middle levels of income and higher educational levels. The study defined heritage tourists who indicated visiting heritage sites as part of their reason for visiting Taiwan as “motivated heritage visitors”. Other heritage tourists who participated in heritage activities, but did not list heritage tourism as a reason for visiting Taiwan, were defined as “heritage site visitors”. Finally, the study profiled the two groups of heritage tourists and compared them, with significant differences being found in ages and nationalities.     

Understanding consumers' motivations to view travel live streaming: Scale development and validation

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, travel live streaming has been increasingly implemented by online travel agents as an effective approach for economic recovery. However, little is known about users' motivations for participating in this activity. This study aims to understand Chinese customers' motivations by developing a measurement scale based on in-depth interviews and surveys. Eight motivators were extracted: socializing & belonging, media engagement, remuneration, product examination, relaxation & escape, entertainment & novelty, self-development, and immersion experience. This study deepens the understanding of China's live-streaming business and the preferences of tourists, inspiring future product design and marketing.     

Market Segmentation of International Tourists Based on Motivation to Travel: A Case Study of Taiwan

Tourism represents a principal sector of the economy of Taiwan. Consequently, the government is currently focusing on developing the country as a major tourist destination in Asia. Thus, the primary aims of this research were to explore factors related to tourists’ motivations to visit Taiwan as well as the demographic segmentation of these foreign tourists. Using a convenience sample, 249 surveys were collected and analyzed. The results show that five push (enlightenment and reputation; unusual and affection; freedom; interpersonal communication and sharing; and family and friends relationship) and six pull factors (attitude and quality of service; cost, shopping, and tasting; diverse attraction; culture connections; sport facilities, wildlife and events; and accessibility) play important roles in the motivations of foreign tourists. Furthermore, foreign tourists can be clustered into five groups based on motivation (scenery/knowledge seekers, accessibility/expenditure seekers, relaxation/relation seekers, novelty/experience seekers, sport/service seekers) and five demographic groups (gender, age, marital status, nationality, and income). According to these results, suggestions are made as to how Taiwan could effectively develop tourism policies and marketing strategies to attract international tourists.     

Travel motivation for Taiwanese hearing-impaired backpackers

Why do hearing-impaired people desire to undertake outbound travel as backpackers despite their hearing and speaking limitations? To investigate the reasons, this study applied the push and pull model of travel motivation as the framework. A total of 30 hearing-impaired backpackers participated in face-to-face interviews and responded to questions concerning their motivation to travel overseas. The results of this study reveal many unique motivation themes in the push and pull groups; specifically, five push themes (constraints of group tours, self-challenge, independence, different experience, and invitation by hearing-impaired friends) and two pull themes (enjoy local culture and lifestyle and the “I have been there” feeling) were identified. Furthermore, the participants’ desire to travel as backpackers is based on their previous negative experiences in group tours. Moreover, they prefer backpacking with hearing-impaired partners than with normal-hearing partners. Furthermore, for them, their independence enables them to their parents that they can travel alone. In addition, the study findings suggest that “communication negotiation” should be considered for inclusion in the motivation typology as a new dimension for hearing-impaired backpackers. Finally, the current study provides valuable insights into the behaviors of hearing-impaired backpackers and recommendations for tourism operators.     

A study on motivation differences among traditional festival visitors based on demographic characteristics,case study: Gol-Ghaltan festival,Iran

Villages and cities have a growing tendency to share their culture and nature with tourists by developing events. This article aims to identify motivational factors influencing visitors' attendance in traditional festivals and then analyzing significant motivation differences among visitors based on their demographic differences. The statistical sample is domestic tourists who visited the 8th Gol-Ghaltan Festival, Iran in 2015. The convenience sampling method has been used and 287 acceptable questionnaires were acquired. Factor analysis has determined six important motivational factors, including “Gol-Ghaltan and Family,” “Cultural Exploration,” “Socialization,” “Supporting Local Community and Heritage,” “Event Novelty,” and “Escape.” Most of these factors are coinciding with previous literature on cultural events except first and fourth factors. Results of T-test and ANOVA show that visitors in various demographic groups have significant differences in the motivational factors. Finally, in accordance with the findings of the research, practical suggestions are presented for managers and marketers of this event.     

Motivation and segmentation of the demand for coastal and marine destinations

Coastal and marine destinations offer a variety of activities for their visitors. The objective of this empirical study was, considering the above assertation, analyzing the segmentation of the demand for this kind of destination in terms of customer motivations. This project was an on-site investigation conducted in the city of Salinas, an important coastal and marine destination in Ecuador. The researchers used 385 questionnaires and analyzed them with multivariate statistical techniques. The results show six motivational factors: “Authentic coastal experience,” “Heritage and nature,” “Learning,” “Novelty and social interaction,” “Physical activities” and “Sun and beach.” The study also shows the existence of two different segments of visitors. The first group labeled “Beach lovers” formed by tourists who have high motivation in such aspects related to the sun and the beach, this group refers to the motivational dimension “sun and beach.” The second group, labeled “Multiple coastal motives,” grouped tourists who have high values in all the motivational dimensions. The findings of this research suggest the need for a more refined and complete brand that could attract not only beach lovers but also other segments of tourists motivated by the different activities and features that this coastal and marine destination can offer.     

Motivation Factors of Ecotourists in Ecolodge Accommodation: The Push and Pull Factors

Tourist motivations are important factors in understanding tourist behaviour in relation to destination choice; and motivation relates to the needs, goals and preference of the tourists. Extensive research work on tourist motivation factors has been documented in the tourism literature. However, there seems to be a lack of empirical study on the accommodation sector, in particular ecolodge accommodation. Attention to tourists' motivational factors in the ecolodge accommodation is essential for determining the tourists' choices or needs and tourist behaviour in terms of choosing ecolodge accommodation. Previous studies determine that tourist motivations are influenced by both push and pull forces; and these forces describe how an individual is pushed by motivating variables into making travel decisions and how they are pulled or attracted by destination attributes. This paper reports an exploratory qualitative study on ecotourists' motivation factors in the ecolodge accommodation by adopting pull and push motivation theory. In-depth interviews were conducted with 29 ecotourists who stayed in the two ecolodges in Sukau. The findings reveal that ecotourists are primarily attracted by the destination attributes (natural attractions, wildlife, local lifestyle and eco-activities) where ecolodges are located, which we term pull factors. At the same time, they are also pushed by their social–psychological desire to escape from their routine of normal life (push factors) by visiting ecolodges. This suggests that there are two different motivational forces among the ecotourists; and that ecotourists' motivational factors can be explained by employing “seeking” and “escaping” as motivational dimensions of leisure behaviour (Ross & Iso-Ahola, 1991 Ross, E. L. D. and Iso-Ahola, S. E. 1991. Sightseeing tourists' motivation and satisfaction. Annals of Tourism Research, 18(2): 226–237. [Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar], Annals of Tourism Research, 18(2) 226–237). The findings seem to inform that ecotourists' choices to stay in the ecolodges in Sukau are strongly influenced by the destination attributes or attractions around the ecolodges and not ecolodge accommodation attributes. The identification of motivational factors in this study provides a clearer account of what actually attracts the ecotourists to stay at ecolodges. It suggests that the marketing strategies for ecolodges should focus more on the destination attractions around the ecolodge accommodation. The ecolodge operators should position their ecolodges based on the unique destination attributes – wildlife and pristine environment – rather than the ecolodge attributes. Similarly, it is important for the ecolodge operators to conserve and protect their surrounding natural resources since these are the main motivational factors for tourists to patronize their ecolodges.     

Estimating Congestion Costs and Segmenting Motivations for Recreational Festivals

This paper aims to evaluate the willingness to pay (WTP) of visitors to reduce congestion and to segment the market of visitors by motivations. A double-bounded dichotomous choice contingent valuation method and survival analysis are adopted to estimate congestion costs for tourists. Analysis of variance is used to test the satisfaction and the WTP of tourists among the segmented motivation groups. Exploratory factor analysis method is conducted to extract four major factorial dimensions, and cluster analysis was performed to identify the characteristics of visitors' motivations into three clusters. The average amount that a tourist is willing to pay to mitigate congestion is US$2.22. The most important market segmentation is the “pursuit of multiple goals”, which has the largest segment of the market. Festival managers need to mitigate overcrowding and identify the segmentation information to develop effective strategies and to refine advertising campaigns to attract more people.     

An Importance-Performance Analysis of Dining Attributes: A Comparison of Individual and Packaged Tourists in Taiwan

Utilizing an importance-performance analysis (IPA), this paper examines the importance and performance of dining attributes in Taiwan as perceived by individual and packaged tourists. This study obtained 435 samples including 180 individual tourists and 255 packaged tourists. The IPA grids indicated that “food hygiene and cleanliness of the restaurant” fell into the “concentrate here” quadrant in these two groups. In the same quadrant, “service quality of the staff” was identified in the individual tourists' sample and “food quality” was identified in the packaged tourists' sample. These are the main factors that need to be improved. Additionally, an independent sample t-test and Chi-square analysis were employed to examine any significant differences between the individual and packaged tourists and among different demographic profiles of tourists, respectively. Afterwards, a follow-up study interviewing the tourists was conducted to compare with the results of the IPA analysis. Implications for the foodservice industry, travel agency and academic research are discussed.     

Behavioural adaptation to climate change among winter alpine tourists: an analysis of tourist motivations and leisure substitutability

Understanding market responses to climate change impacts has important implications for the sustainability of Australia's winter tourism destinations. Utilising a framework incorporating push–pull tourist motivations and the theory of leisure substitutability, this study sought to explore how winter tourists in Australia will adapt to changes in snow cover in Australia's alpine regions under future climate change scenarios. The results of a questionnaire completed by 231 respondents indicated that tourist motivations were related to behavioural adaptation, and that there is a general preference among the current winter market for spatial substitution in the event of poor snow. Those motivated by recreation specialisation or snow-related attributes were likely to opt for spatial substitution, while tourists motivated by self-expression and après ski activities displayed resilience to poor snow conditions. The results demonstrate a clear division between leisure-driven tourists who valued participation in sport, and experience-driven tourists, who displayed higher resilience to reduced snow under projected climate change scenarios. These results have practical implications for winter tourism destinations, both in terms of targeting experience-driven tourists in the case of reduced snow as well as the longer term sustainability and viability of winter tourism destinations.