Abstract
The majority of researches deal with the issue of micro-level expenditure in the high season, leaving off-season expenditure an under-researched topic. Moreover, the relationship between tourist satisfaction and expenditure has been also rarely explored. Thus, the aim of this study is to determine the factors that influence the off-season expenditure levels of light spenders and heavy spenders. Among the set of predictors, various dimensions of satisfaction were tested as possible off-season expenditure predictors. Descriptive analysis was used for sample profiling, independent t-tests were conducted to determine significant differences between light and heavy spenders in terms of their characteristics, and Principal Components Analysis (PCA) was applied to identify the dimensions of tourist satisfaction with the destination’s offering. In the end, multiple regression analyses were made to identify the expenditure determinants of light and heavy spenders. The main findings indicate that different predictors influence the daily off-season expenditure levels of light and heavy spenders. When it comes to light spenders, among the set of other significant predictors, it was found that those who are more satisfied with the cleanliness and preserved environment tend to spend more in the destination in comparison with those who are less satisfied with this dimension. In the case of heavy spenders, the results revealed that satisfaction with safety, quality and hospitality turned out to be a statistically significant predictor of their daily off-season expenditure.
Highlights
Researching the level, structure and determinants of micro-level expenditure is an essential issue in determining the economic impact of tourism for a destination. Thrane (2016) underlines that the ability to tell big spenders and little spenders apart might yield a competitive advantage in any business, it could be helpful to examine the determinants of micro-level tourism expenditure
Descriptive analysis The sample was divided into two groups of respondents, light spenders and heavy spenders, in order to compare the main characteristics of the groups as well as to find the determinants of their expenditures
Results of the econometric models Multivariate regression analyses were performed for the purpose of finding out what factors influence the off-season expenditure of light and heavy spenders
Summary
Researching the level, structure and determinants of micro-level expenditure is an essential issue in determining the economic impact of tourism for a destination. Thrane (2016) underlines that the ability to tell big spenders and little spenders apart might yield a competitive advantage in any business, it could be helpful to examine the determinants of micro-level tourism expenditure. The main aim of this study is to determine the influence of a set of independent variables on off-season tourist expenditure and to study the dependence between daily tourist expenditure per person across two groups of respondents, one representing light spenders and the other, heavy spenders. The majority of tourism arrivals (46.5%) in this destination occur during summer (Croatian Bureau of Statistics, 2016), indicating heavy seasonality issues This is the main reason why the vast majority of tourism research is done during the summer. Due to the fact that the seasonal pattern in per capita tourist expenditure is generally overlooked (Koc and Altinay, 2007), this study aims to fill that gap since it uses data obtained from tourists who stayed in this destination in the first part of the year, before “sun and sea” become the main focus of tourism demand and supply. This study is focused on tourist attitudes and spending patterns in the off-season, providing destination management with valuable information needed for future decisions on the efficient resources allocation
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