Sequential choice behavior: Going on vacation and type of destination

The literature of destination choice has so far studied multi-stage decision making processes that are more representative of the general choice behavior of tourists (e.g. going on vacation, going abroad, and destination country). Alternatively, this study proposes a multi-stage decision process to the choice of tourist destination types (going on vacation, coastal character, and urban character of the destination) as these choice sets are more idiosyncratic to tourists who prefer a specific type of tourist destination (e.g. Spain with clear coastal and inland variations). In order to test this multi-stage choice process as well as the sequential order of both decisions, coastal character and urban character, the current study analyses decision processes vs. different hierarchical multi-stage processes (going on vacation and coastal character preceding urban character; and going on vacation and urban character preceding coastal character). The empirical findings support the existence of a multi-stage choice process where coastal character precedes the urban character destination choice. The main implication of these findings is that, given the limited human analytical capability, a hierarchical choice process can be useful to handle the information overload and the complexity inherent to the destination type choice.     

Destination selection by smart tourists: the case of Isfahan,Iran

The paper is concerned with tourist behavior when selecting a tourist destination to visit in the age of smart tourism associated with modern information communication technologies. The theory of planned behavior is applied in a study of the issues with particular reference to Isfahan which is a very popular tourist center in Iran and one where technological innovations are being introduced to facilitate tourism. Results reveal that tourist attitude significantly and directly affects intention to travel to a smart destination while behavioral control does not have such an effect. Tourist beliefs and subjective norms are additionally found to positively influence visit intention and destination selection. Smartness emerges as an important force in shaping demand, to which the tourism industry must be responsive and attempt to ensure suitable provision. The research enhances knowledge and understanding of these aspects of the smart tourism phenomenon, the literature about which is still relatively limited, and further work is recommended.