Family Vacation Activities and Family Cohesion

Family is an important unit of individuals seeking experiences together during vacation. This consumptive unit deserves explicit attention not only because of its market size but also because of ramifications of family vacation on family functioning. This study explores the interplay of vacation activity patterns and family cohesion. It reveals a taxonomy of four types of family travelers with respect to their patterns of activities and needs for cohesion. They are “bonded and nature seeking”; “attached and enthusiastic”; “self-directed and recreation oriented”; and “sociable but static” family travelers. This research provides empirical evidences for the proposition that vacation activities are valuable contributors to family cohesion. Implications are provided pertaining to the development of quality family vacation programs and enhancement of family life satisfaction.     

Examining the effect of novelty seeking,satisfaction, and destination image on tourists’ return pattern: A two factor,non-linear latent growth model

With many destinations relying on repeat business, intention to revisit has become an important research topic. As revisit intention changes over time, this paper proposes the use of a latent growth curve to model the developmental trajectory of return behavior. The proposed model was tested in two steps in AMOS 16.0 using SEM methodologies to investigate the effects of novelty seeking, destination image and overall satisfaction levels across intent to revisit trajectories using data collected among French, English, and German travelers. Findings indicate that both novelty seeking and low satisfaction among travelers temper immediate intent to return. Conversely, a positive image of the destination enhances both immediate and future intentions to return.     

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 effect of prior experience on vacation behavior

This research applied consumer involvement theory to describe, interrelate, and explain the repeat visit phenomenon and empirically tested the effect of past experience on tourists’ vacation behaviors. The results indicated that prior experience influenced current trips in terms of activity participation and expenditure patterns. These changes in behavior invoke different demands and requirements unique to the repeat vacation market. Since the quality of experience is central in destination loyalty management, knowledge about changes in behavior associated with this accumulation can be instrumental for destinations seeking to provide creative, relevant, and meaningful experiences to their different market segments.     

HURRICANE KATRINA'S EFFECT ON THE PERCEPTION OF NEW ORLEANS LEISURE TOURISTS

Destination image is a critical factor to potential travelers. Many say that Hurricane Katrina was the costliest and one of the deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States. The purpose of this study was to investigate the tourist destination images of leisure travelers to New Orleans before and after the storm. Further, this study assessed the influence of media exposure and geographic point of origin on perceptions. The results of this research provide fundamental implications for strategic image management that can assist in designing and implementing marketing campaigns to enhance tourism destination images and to overcome prevailing negative ones.     

Does Tourism Change Our Lives?

Does tourism change our lives? The mainstream of tourism psychology research is mostly concerned with tourist motivation, behavior in and satisfaction with destination, and few studies explore how tourism might affect people's perceptions of themselves, home, neighborhood, work, friends, relatives, and life in general. This study seeks insights into the effect and influence of travel and tourism on people, not momentary impact during vacation but longer-term impact in terms of sense of being, direction in life, and well-being. It is found that there are positive changes in the perception of life among Chinese travelers in general and the perception changes among travelers are significantly stronger than the perception changes among the control group of non-travelers. There is clear evidence that travelers feel more positive than non-travelers in their general well-being, attitude toward life, sense of control, and outlook.     

Understanding travelers' intentions to visit a short versus long-haul emerging vacation destination: The case of Chile

Limited research examines short-haul and long-haul travelers' intentions to visit an emerging vacation destination in South America. To fill this gap, this research investigates intentions of potential travelers from two short-haul (Peru and Brazil) and two long-haul (Spain and Germany) markets to visit Chile as a vacation destination. The authors develop a conceptual model that expands upon the theory of planned behavior (TPB) framework by incorporating self-concept theory and destination familiarity. The data were collected by applying an online questionnaire to respondents in four countries. Hypotheses are tested with structural equation modeling (SEM) technique. The results verify that the extended TPB model has good explanatory power and that destination familiarity and self-concept, in particular the ideal social self, help to differentiate what drives short and long-haul travelers' intentions to visit Chile. Perceived behavioral control and subjective norms are the strongest predictors of both short and long-haul travelers’ intentions to visit Chile for vacation.     

Factors Affecting Outbound Tourists' Destination Choice: The Case of Hong Kong

Trip expenditure, length of stay during the trip, size of the travel party, monthly household income, discovering new places and/or things, and getting away from daily routine, role, obligation, stress and troubles have significant influence on Hong Kong residents' destination choice. Hong Kong residents' destination choice is highly associated with trip characteristic in comparison to socio-demographics and travel motivation factors. Destinations close to Hong Kong can focus on packaging their products with shorter trip lengths and making the packages attractive to travel companions in addition to the travelers. Destinations that are relatively far away from Hong Kong should focus on packaging their products to attract the Hong Kong outbound travelers with longer trip lengths and plan activities that cater to individual needs.     

Food-related personality traits and the moderating role of novelty-seeking in food satisfaction and travel outcomes

Previous research on tourist food consumption acknowledges that food-related personality traits, including neophilic and neophobic tendencies, can impede or encourage tourists to try novel food at a destination. However, the travel motivation literature advocates that tourists tend to be in a general condition of seeking novel experiences, including sampling a destination's novel food. How food-related personality traits interact with novelty pursuits to influence tourists' food consumption and subsequent satisfaction and travel outcomes remains unknown. The study proposes a framework of tourist food experience that leads from food-related personality traits, novel food consumption, and satisfaction to travel outcomes. While the results support the baseline model, the moderating effect of novelty seeking demonstrates that novelty seeking does not moderate the relationship between personality traits and consumption of novel food. It does, however, moderate satisfaction with food.     

The moderating role of context in the effects of choice attributes on hotel choice: A discrete choice experiment

This study used discrete choice modeling to identify the moderating role of context in the effects of cognitive, affective, and sensory attributes on hotel choice. To evaluate a hotel consumer's choice for attributes in a different choice context (leisure vs. business), a stated preference experiment based on D-optimal design was conducted using both a multinomial logit (MNL) model and a random parameter logit (RPL) model. The results show that while leisure travelers' choices for family vacation trips were more influenced by price and overall atmosphere than were business travelers', business travelers put an emphasis on room quality and comfort when on a business trip alone. The study demonstrates the trade-offs made by leisure and business travelers when choosing a hotel through discrete choice modeling. The findings provide hotel managers with important insights and implications in terms of target segmentation, product development, and marketing communication strategy.     

The impact of CSR satisfaction on destination loyalty: a study of MICE travelers in Thailand

The objectives of this research are firstly, to study the characteristics of CSR activities conducted for international business groups. Secondly, to analyze the factors that impact business travelers’ satisfaction with CSR activities, and thirdly, to analyze the influence of satisfaction with CSR activities on destination attachment and destination loyalty. A questionnaire survey was conducted with 127 business participants from three corporate meetings and one convention group. The results reveal the characteristics of CSR activities of corporate meetings and conventions in Thailand. Business travelers’ satisfaction with CSR activities is influenced by their personal altruistic attitudes and the efficacy of local service providers. Satisfaction with CSR activities has a direct impact on destination attachment and an indirect impact on destination loyalty. CSR activities could be used as tools to influence the revisit intention of corporate meeting and convention participants. A CSR activity during a business trip is a novel concept that can be utilized by destination management companies as well as national tourism organizations to develop satisfying tourism products.     

VACATION AND FAMILY FUNCTIONING

This study explores the unique interplay of family vacation travel, family cohesion, and family communication through a sample of 265 family travelers. The results reveal that family vacation contributes positively to family bonding, communication and solidarity. Family interaction styles differ during the family leisure travel process. Two types of families are identified differing on the dimension of cohesion, corresponding to separated and connected families. Three types of families are identified differing on the dimension of adaptation, corresponding to flexible, confused and structured families. This research represents an attempt to use a unique theoretical framework to empirically assess family functioning in the leisure travel setting.     

饮食旅游动机对游客满意度和行为意向的影响研究

饮食旅游是近年来发展最快的旅游类型之一,但有关游客动机和行为的研究却很少.文章构建结构方程模型,剖析饮食旅游的推动和拉动动机要素,明确旅游动机对游客满意度和行为意向的作用机制.在澳门进行问卷调查获得368个有效样本后,检验假设模型,发现饮食旅游的推动动机为休闲放松、饮食猎奇和文化探索,拉动动机包括饮食产品和配套服务;休闲放松、文化探索和饮食产品对满意度有正向影响,饮食猎奇要素对行为意向有正向影响.文章从供求两方面明确了饮食旅游的参与原因及其后续效应,为发展饮食旅游、提升游客满意度和忠诚度提供了指导.     

The Situational Influence of Travel Group Composition

Abstract

A substantial amount of statistics and articles in travel magazines indicated that family vacation travel is one of the major worldwide trends. However, very limited empirical research has been dedicated to this special market segment. This study examined Japanese family travelers to Taiwan by comparing and contrasting them with other travel companionship groups including traveling with friends and traveling alone. The importance of travel group composition segmentation was explained and conceptualized through the understanding of the value of social groups from sociology perspective. The results indicated that Japanese family travelers exhibited unique characteristics when traveling. Family travelers tended to be more motivated by learning oriented themes and participated enthusiastically in activities that facilitated experiential learning as well as total physical relaxation. The “traveling with friends” and “traveling solo” segments tended to be seeking more of activities that had strong entertaining and socializing undertones. The traveling solo group appeared to be the most evasive or the least understood in what their needs and preferences were. Marketing implications were discussed.     

Morning larks travel more than night owls? Chronotypical effect on travel frequency through novelty seeking

Chronotype is a characterization of people's propensity to sleep at a particular time, spanning a spectrum from the two extremes of “morning larks,” who go to sleep early and rise early, and “evening owls,” who go to sleep late and rise late. We study the relationship between chronotype and the tendency to seek novelty in travel preference. Surprisingly, in contrast to the case of domain-general novelty seeking, morning larks are more domain-specific in their novelty seeking than night owls in relation to travel. To test the significance of this finding, we explore the downstream behavioral consequences of the tendency to be novelty seeking. Travel frequency for leisure is found to increase with novelty seeking. In addition, chronotype has an indirect effect on travel frequency through its influence on novelty seeking—a mediation relationship moderated by gender, with the effect of chronotype on novelty seeking especially strong among young females.     

Analyzing International Travelers' Profile with Self-Organizing Maps

It is generally agreed that knowledge is the most valuable asset to an organization. Knowledge enables a business to effectively compete with its competitors. In the tourism context, an in-depth knowledge of the profile of international travelers to a destination has become a crucial factor for decision makers to formulate their business strategies and better serve their customers. In this research, a self-organizing map (SOM) network was used for segmenting international travelers to Hong Kong, a major travel destination in Asia. An association rules discovery algorithm is then utilized to automatically characterize the profile of each segment. The resulting maps serve as a visual analysis tool for tourism managers to better understand the characteristics, motivations, and behaviors of international travelers.     

The Effect of Length of Stay on Travelers' Perceived Satisfaction with Service Quality

SUMMARY

Consumer satisfaction related to service quality during the vacation experience is of paramount importance to the travel and tourism industry. This study tests empirically the effects the number of nights spent on a vacation have on the levels of satisfaction recent travelers report for three service aspects of the travel destination: perceived satisfaction with tourism service providers; perceived “freedom from defects” of tourism services; and perceived reasonableness of the cost of tourism services. Differentiation in satisfaction scores between “short-term visitors” (i.e., those who stayed from one to six nights) and “long-term visitors” (i.e., those who stayed seven or more nights) were examined. Significant differences between the two groups of visitors were present for (1) perceived satisfaction with industry professionals delivering the service experience at the travel destination, (2) perceived satisfaction with “freedom from defects” of the actual services at the destination, and (3) perceived reasonableness of the cost of services at the travel destination. Suggestions for how tourism industry professionals can make use of this information are presented.     

Cross-cultural comparison of the image of Guam perceived by Korean and Japanese leisure travelers: Importance–performance analysis

As international tourism becomes a global phenomenon and its volume increases rapidly, understanding cultural differences and similarities provides destination marketers in a host country with a strategic platform upon which any planning and marketing efforts should be grounded. Based on the theory of cultural value orientation, the current study focuses on a cross-cultural comparison between the two markets most important to Guam tourism: Japanese and Korean leisure travelers. Using Importance–performance analysis, the evaluative image of Guam perceived by Korean travelers is compared with that perceived by Japanese travelers to uncover any differences between these two nationality groups. The results clearly indicate a contrast between the two groups in terms of destination evaluations and behavioral patterns.     

Profiling Asian and Western family independent travelers (FITS): An exploratory study

This study explored perceptual and behavioral differences in service quality, satisfaction, and intention to revisit between Asian and Western family independent travelers (FITs) and to profile each group by its demographic and vacation characteristics as well as its family vacation decision‐making modes. Qualified FITs (n = 183) from seven major source markets were interviewed in the departure lounge at the Hong Kong International Airport. Results indicated that, compared to Asian FITs, Western respondents were more likely to favorably evaluate service quality, be first time visitors, and be younger. However, they were less likely to return to Hong Kong for leisure. Most Western travelers shared all decisions together between spouses, whereas their Asian counterparts were more likely to report individual dominant decisions, especially for those trip specific decisions. Marketing implications and future research directions are discussed.     

CHINESE URBAN MATURE TRAVELERS' MOTIVATION AND CONSTRAINTS BY DECISION AUTONOMY

This study investigated trip motivation of 800 Chinese mature travelers residing in metropolitan areas based on travelers' decision autonomy in planning domestic trips. A two‐step cluster analysis was conducted to segment respondents into mutually exclusive groups according to their autonomy on destination selection, financial source, and trip arrangement. An ANOVA was conducted to examine differences on motivation factors among emergent clusters. Moreover, the resultant clusters were differentiated by travel constraints (i.e., health related and socio‐demographic characteristics) using a logistic regression analysis. Significant relationships among mature travelers' trip autonomy, motivation, and constraints contributed to the understanding of urban mature travelers in China.