VFR tourism and intersecting global mobilities: Experiences of international PhD students in new Zealand

This article examines the VFR tourism behaviour of international PhD students in New Zealand. Both quantitative (419 online survey responses) and qualitative (six focus groups) methods were used. The results showed considerable participation of international PhD students in VFR tourism during their studies, although at relatively low travel frequency (1–3 times per year). Students undertook a wide range of activities when travelling to visit their friends and relatives, and often stayed with the visited friends or relatives. The findings also indicate a number of travel behavioural differences and similarities between the VF and VR categories. The study recognises potential growth of non-traditional forms of VFR tourism such as VFR tourism in a third place, and VFR in transit. A conceptual framework was proposed to help describe spatial flows of VFR tourism. Overall, this paper adds to the understanding of the VFR tourism phenomenon in the global mobile context.     

Chinese Student Travel Market to Australia: An Exploratory Assessment of Destination Perceptions

ABSTRACT

Chinese students form the largest international student travel market for Australia and approximately a quarter of Australia's international student enrollments are mainland Chinese. Despite the significance of the market, little is known about Chinese student travelers. This study offers an exploratory assessment of the perceived image of Australia in the Chinese student market. Through a self-completion questionnaire, data regarding the pre- and post-arrival perceptions of Australia were collected from Chinese students on the Gold Coast. The study identified natural scenery/attractions and agreeable environment/climate as the strengths of Australia. Historical attractions and shopping related opportunities were the weaknesses of Australia as a tourist destination. A factor analysis was performed on both pre- and post-arrival perception data. Different structural patterns emerged from the two sets of data suggesting a modification effect of actual experience on the destination perception. The results also suggest that destination marketers should emphasize the general environment in Australia when marketing to the Chinese student market.     

Visiting friends or relatives?

Visiting friends and relatives (VFR) contributes significantly to tourism activity and revenues, accounting for about 48 percent of domestic travel in Australia. Implicit in most discussions of VFR travel is that it represents one homogeneous market. This paper examines this assumption and demonstrates – based on data from 67,024 domestic and international tourists to Australia – that this is not the case. The profile of people visiting friends (VFs) differs significantly from that of people visiting relatives (VRs). This finding has major implications for tourism marketing which need to target VFs or VRs in distinctly different ways, rather than generically marketing to VFR travellers.     

International student graduation ceremonies: An opportunity for local tourism services providers

This purpose of this paper is to examine the significance of travel when associated with graduation ceremonies for the international student cohort. Due to the global growth in the international student market, the perceived importance of investigating this market in relation to the impact on tourism marketing is of timely significance. A mail survey of international students who completed their studies in a large Western Australian (WA) university in the past few years was conducted in 2001. The aim of the survey was to determine the significance of the following: (a) types of accommodation facilities used by the family/friends when visiting for graduations; (b) the proportion of expenditures on various types of activities; and (c) the differences in spending patterns for various countries of origin; and (d) the overall contribution of visiting friends and relatives (VFR) to the WA tourism sector. Results indicate that at least two to three family members (mostly parents) of graduating international students attend graduation ceremonies in Perth. Results also show that 58% of the visitors use commercial accommodation facilities (mainly hotels/motels) spending $462 on accommodation for staying 5.35 nights on average, and spend $653 on shopping. At least 58% of the graduates returned to Australia since graduation mainly for holidays (54%). Results of the study are discussed and implications for both the tourism and education sectors are highlighted, in addition to future research directions.     

VFR travel: It is underestimated

Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR) travel is a substantial form of tourism worldwide. In Australia, official data measure VFR in one of two ways - purpose of visit or type of accommodation. However, this is only a measurement of those factors; it is not a measure of the size by volume of VFR travel. Yet tourism practitioners often mistakenly use these data to state the size of VFR travel in their destination. Based on quantitative research undertaken in three contrasting destinations in Australia, estimates for the size of VFR travel in those destinations is provided. These results highlight that using official data for measuring VFR travel will underestimate this segment in any Australian destination. Using the VFR definitional model as a conceptual model, this research has estimated that VFR travel represents 48% of Australia’s total overnight tourism market.     

海峡两岸境外团体套装旅游趋势研究

团体套装旅游是亚洲许多国家及地区的主要海外旅游形式,本研究探索性地研究了海峡两岸境外团体套装旅游的现状和发展趋势,研究方法通过对台湾(台北)与大陆(北京)两地共30家经营境外团体套装旅游的旅行社高级管理者进行深度访谈后,通过分析得到419项类别目(台湾214项;大陆205项),归类过程信度值均超过0.8.研究结果表明,第一,海峡两岸的境外团体套装旅游发展具有相似性;第二,海峡两岸旅行社将朝"大者恒大、小者转型"的方向发展;第三,海峡两岸团体套装旅游产品的包装及营销手段将更趋向消费者导向;第四,在定价趋势上,大陆将朝"参考同业定价"与"需求导向"发展,台湾将以"低价竞争"发展,等等.本研究结果从应用价值上,可为海峡两岸经营境外团体套装的旅游管理者提供重要参考,从理论价值上,可为后续的深入研究提供系统性市场调查与分析结果.     

Estimating the size of the Chinese outbound travel market: A demand-side approach

The Chinese outbound travel market has been one of the fastest-growing international markets over the past decade. However, estimating the size and identifying key tourist-generating areas for the Chinese travel market remain a significant challenge for international marketers. This empirical study employs an incidental target-market approach and presents updated research findings concerning this burgeoning market. Primary and secondary tourist-generating cities of Mainland China were identified based on population size and level of socioeconomic development, and their market potential for outbound travel was assessed through a large-scale telephone survey. This study estimated that the current Chinese outbound travel market comprises approximately 22 million city residents, among whom 11.5 million have traveled or plan to travel to destinations outside Asia. In addition to estimating market size and making recommendations on target cities, the study also introduces an effective research design for identifying target markets and customers.     

The Image of Taiwan as a Travel Destination: Perspectives from Mainland China

This study presents the perceived and projected image of Taiwan as a travel destination from perspectives from Mainland China. The perceived image of Taiwan was examined by interviewing 28 Mainland Chinese; the projected image of Taiwan was investigated by analyzing articles in China's most popular travel magazines. The different types of images of Taiwan among visitors, nonvisitors, and travel magazines were compared. The projected image changed notably after the opening of Taiwan's tourism to travelers from Mainland China. The results of this study could help destination marketing organizations to assess their marketing strategies for the Mainland Chinese travel market.     

The repeat travel market for Taiwan: A multi-stage segmentation approach

Despite the importance of market segmentation, the growth of the travel and tourism industry in Taiwan, and the repeat travel phenomenon in tourism, relatively few studies have examined the behavior of repeat travelers in the East Asia region. The present study was designed to fill this gap. This exploratory study applied multistage segmentation in the context of repeat travel behavior to Taiwan. It examined the socio-demographic profile, trip characteristics and expenditures of Taiwan inbound repeat travelers. The results indicated that nationality, income, type of travel arrangements and information search behavior significantly affected repeat travel behavior. In terms of travel expenditures, males spent significantly more than females. Those travelers between 40 and 60 years old tended to spend the most when they visited Taiwan compared to other groups. Chinese travelers were most likely to have traveled to Taiwan more than once among all nationalities compared in this study. Those from Korea and Japan spent the most money among all nationality groups. This study provided several significant implications for the marketers of tourism in Taiwan.     

Segmenting East Asian Tourists to Greece by Travel Motivation

This study compares the push and pull motivations of East Asian (Japanese, Chinese and Korean) tourists who visit Greece and also proposes market segmentation based on travel motivations that transcend the national boundaries of those countries. Four main push factors were identified: “Knowledge”, “Ego-enhancement”, “Escape & Relaxation” and “Novelty”. Similarly, four pull factors were also identified: “Leisure, shopping and safety”, “Variety and cost”, “Culture & heritage” and “Travel arrangements and facilities”. Cross-cultural differences were found regarding the importance of travel motivations. Chinese tourists scored higher than other nationalities for almost all motivation categories. Although the cross-cultural differences are important, this study proposes another way to tackle the market segmentation by conducting an international segmentation based on inherent similarities across different nationalities of travelers. Three segments emerged from that analysis with the “Novelty Seekers” to be the largest followed by the “Want-it-All” and the “Lowly Motivated”.     

Segmentation by Travel Related Risks: An Integrated Approach

This study took an integrated approach toward traveler risk segmentation by including psychological and behavioral variables together in the one study. This is an important first step to develop interventions targeting risk segments. A total of 864 respondents were surveyed in an Australian airport departure lounge. The results showed travel behavior and risk reduction strategies as the most significant model predictors. Three segments were identified including a higher-risk segment was found to comprise mostly older, visiting friends and relatives (VFR) travelers on repeat visits. Implications for developing more effective communication interventions are provided and future research directions are proposed.     

The relationships between the seriousness of leisure activities,social support and school adaptation among Asian international students in the U.S.

Although social support is a significant contributor of school adaptation, Asian international students tend to have a lack of social support. To build up social support, leisure engagement could be an effective way for Asian international students. In particular, taking leisure seriously may have important effects on Asian international students to build strong social networks and obtain a sense of belonging to help them adapt to school. A total of 190 Korean and Chinese international students were focused to explore the relationships between the seriousness of leisure activities, social support and school adaptation among Asian international students attending U.S. colleges/universities using structural equation modeling. While the model showed an acceptable model fit to the sample data, the results indicate that engaging in leisure seriously has a positive association with gaining social support from friends. Furthermore, social support from friends was not only a predictor of school adaptation but also acted as a mediator between the seriousness of leisure activities and school adaptation. We also found that the seriousness of leisure involvement maintained a direct effect on school adaptation. This study advocated the importance of serious leisure engagement in the lives of Asian international students adapting to college.     

Perceptions of technical skills required for successful management in the hospitality industry—An exploratory study using conjoint analysis

The growth of hospitality programs worldwide has resulted in wide variations in program structures, curricular offerings, and course content, all of which have prompted researchers to examine essential competencies and industry needs to inform programmatic restructuring. This paper explores how important various technical skill sets are perceived to be by students, faculty, and industry professionals today. Building on the extant literature, we identified seven key technical skills: Academic performance (using grade point average as a surrogate), social networking, time management, strategic planning, spreadsheet acumen, written communication, and oral communication. Drawing from a convenience sample, 98 respondents ranked the student characteristics by ranking 18 hypothetical student job candidates, each of which was represented on a card. Developed using an orthogonal array, the hypothetical student/job candidate cards were created by varying the three values of the seven characteristic variables; the ranking responses for the 18 cards were then examined using conjoint analysis. Professionals and faculty disagreed with student respondents with respect to GPA and Spreadsheet Skills, ranking them lower in importance than other characteristics. Faculty should note that even though they do not perceive expert knowledge of spreadsheet skills to be important, professionals do. Additional research is necessary to determine whether faculty should update their perception of the demand for spreadsheet skills on the current market. Faculty also perceived social networking skills to be less important than the other respondent groups did. Finally, while Oral Communication Skills were valued more highly than any other skill set, the rankings yielded a progression of perceptions such that students valued them less highly than professionals did, and professionals valued them less highly than faculty did.     

Market Orientation and Performance Outcomes: An Empirical Study of Travel Agencies in Taiwan

This paper reports the results of a study that found evidence to support the importance of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in the relationship between market orientation and financial performance. The performance of travel agencies in Taiwan was examined with data collected through a questionnaire survey completed by the managers of 292 travel agencies in Taiwan. Analysis using structural equation modelling revealed that market orientation influences the financial performance of travel agencies indirectly through customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Neglecting customer satisfaction may negate any improvements in the level of performance that have been gained by adopting a market orientation. It was found that market orientation does not affect financial performance unless the two mediators, customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, are applied concurrently.     

Destination attractiveness and travel intention: the case of Chinese and Indian students in Queensland,Australia

Destination attractiveness is an important stream of literature. Australia has been recognized as one of the world’s most attractive destinations. This study looked into international students’ perceptions of Australia as an attractive international tourism destination as well as their travel intention. A sample of 252 Chinese and Indian international students participated in the study. Students’ perceived destination attractiveness and how it influenced their travel intention, pleasure of travel and place attachment were investigated. The study also looked into perception differences between Chinese and Indian students using t-test and hierarchical regressions.     

Travel demand and behavior of university students in Hong Kong

University students represent an emerging market for the travel industry. This paper reports the findings of a study on the travel behavior and travel patterns of Hong Kong university students. Using a questionnaire, a survey was conducted to identify student travel motives, their travel planning process and travel preferences. A total of 264 university students in Hong Kong were interviewed and data analyzed. The results indicate that to “Experience new and different styles”, “Take it easy and relax”, “Go to places I haven't been before” and “Outstanding scenery” were perceived as important motives in students' travel decision-making. Four factors with 24 attributes were identified. These factors were “Social relationships”, “Obtain new experience”, “Relax and enjoy” and “Cost of travel”. Based on the findings of the study, it was suggested that modifications to the existing tourism products and services and new product development were necessary in order to meet the demand of this emerging market.     

Issues Surrounding Asian Students Hospitality Management in Australia

ABSTRACT

Similar to many western nations, the education of international students by Australian universities has developed into a major industry. Since 1994, the number of international students studying for an Australian qualification has risen by 146% (IDP Education, 2001). The majority of these international students come from the traditional South East Asian countries of Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Indonesia mainly to study Business and Economics programs. Growth in international student demand is forecast to continue to rise with countries such as China demonstrating significant growth (IDP Education, 2001).

This paper attempts to present an analysis of the major issues surrounding the education of Asian students. While mention is made of the predictable problems that all international students face when studying in a foreign country, the focus of this paper concentrates on Asian students' learning approaches and styles and associated problems. This paper evaluates research conducted among all Asian students studying in Australia; however, the focus of this paper is those Asian students who are studying Hospitality and Tourism Management at undergraduate level.

The paper identifies both positive and negative images of Asian students and highlights several misperceptions regarding Asian students that are commonly held by western academics. Finally, the paper presents an overview of what strategies might be adopted by western academics in order to make Asian students' experiences at western universities more enjoyable and successful.     

US international pleasure travel market — a values perspective

The values and lifestyles (VALS) technique for market segmentation is applied to the population of the USA. Of nine different types isolated, three are found to account for the bulk of international pleasure travellers - ‘achievers’, the ‘societally conscious’ and ‘belongers’. Research demonstrates that these three groups have quite different travel motives and goals. The US travel market is thus more highly differentiated than previously imagined. VALS could therefore be a useful technique enabling the industry to define and target potential market segments.     

Demand elasticity estimates for New Zealand tourism

Demand elasticities for New Zealand tourism are estimated for 16 different international visitor segments. Segments are differentiated by origin, purpose of visit, and travel style. Elasticities for both international visitor arrivals and on-the-ground expenditure per arrival are estimated for each segment using time-series data. In general, on-the-ground consumption per arrival is more price sensitive than number of arrivals, and Asian market segments are found to be more price sensitive, both in terms of arrivals and on-the-ground expenditure, compared to international visitors from other regions. An application of the results is presented giving the total effect of exchange rate changes on expenditure by international visitors in New Zealand, and management implications are discussed.     

上海世博会旅游经营商市场感知维度及其行为影响研究

文章以上海世博会为例,采用SPSS、AMOS等统计分析软件对全国362家旅行商调查问卷进行统计分析,建构旅行商对重大事件旅游市场感知维度的测量模型,分析不同类型旅行商市场感知的差异性,通过结构方程模型检验市场感知维度对其分销行为的影响。研究表明:①重大事件旅游市场的旅行商感知模型包括事件属性维度、产品属性维度、市场属性维度及市场影响维度等4个测量维度。②国际业务、国内业务旅行商在4个感知维度上均存在显著差异;特许与非特许旅行商在市场属性感知维度上有显著差异,在其他维度上差异不显著;不同地理区域的旅行商在产品属性维度上差异不显著,在其他维度上有显著差异。③旅行商对重大事件旅游市场感知维度中,市场属性维度、市场影响维度对其分销行为存在显著影响,事件属性维度和产品属性维度的影响不显著,市场影响维度是主导其分销行为的主要因素。从旅行商视角研究重大事件旅游市场感知及其分销行为影响,对于重大事件在我国可持续发展及其后续旅游开发具有重要的意义。