Inter‐Related Summer Vacation Choices by Swedish Tourists

Abstract

The aim of our study was to investigate whether and how different vacation choices vary with respect to a number of attributes and whether there are differences in this respect depending on how familiar the tourist is with the destination. In a web‐based survey conducted in the fall of 2007, 681 Swedish residents (response rate 15%) retrospectively reported their vacation trips during the summer. The results warrant the conclusion that it is possible to rank choices of destination, departure date, primary activity, and travel mode according to primacy, importance, inflexibility, and impact on other choices. However, the different measures did not converge in identifying an invariant order of the choices. Individual and situational factors may play important roles for the order. A sequential decision‐making process was still identified for the majority of the respondents and the examined choices were to a large extent made before departure. Familiarity with the destination only had an effect on the importance and inflexibility the respondents experienced in their destination choice. Both managerial and practical implications of the findings are discussed.