USING ANALYTIC HIERARCHY PROCESS (AHP) FOR TOURIST DESTINATION CHOICE: A CASE STUDY OF CROATIA

Abstract

Purpose – Understanding how and why people travel, decide and select a specific place, and what they expect from their destination to meet their actual needs is also a highly important topic. The goal of this article is to investigate the elements that influence Serbian visitors' decision to visit Croatia (Cratian coastline) as a destination. The most important characteristics, components, and types of tourism destinations are analysed. The definition of consumer behavior is explained, as well as the idiosyncrasies of the decision-making process. The most important internal and environmental elements that influence tourist decision-making are summarized. An examination of the cultural, societal, and personal psychological aspects that influence decision-making of Serbian tourists to travel to Croatian cost with different attributes like see, cultural and natural attractions, image, price, human resources is done. Methodology – As a result, the decision-making process is extremely difficult, particularly when determining which factors are more significant than others. The Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) method, which has a strong mathematical foundation, could be used to find a good solution to this problem. The Analytical-hierarchy process (AHP) is a systematic way to solving complicated problems that leverages hierarchical structures by generating priorities for various options decided by decision makers. AHP can aid tourism decision-making by examining a large number of decision factors (e.g., factors influencing destination choice, motives for visiting a place, hotel site selection, tourist indicators) and measuring the relevance of each component impacting the decision. The questionnaire used for this manuscript was taken from the paper Blešić et al. (2018). The questionnaire consist of five factors that include 22 items. Findings – Destination amenities, tourism infrastructure, cultural attractions, human resources, price, environmental features are the importnant attributes for choosing Croatian coast as tourism destination. Contribution – this study makes a valuable contribution by highlighting tourists’ motives for visiting coastline destinations in Croatia. Finally, understanding the motivations and preferences of tourists is critical to realizing the full potential of tourism. Consumer behavior research is crucial for tourism sector stakeholders because it can provide important insights into who the tourist is and how stakeholders (travel agencies, hotels, restaurants, food producers, cultural organizations, and so on) can target and develop markets successfully. This research will help researchers better understand what inspires Serbian tourists to visit a Croatian coastal location. The findings will indicate the most common travel motivations that lead Serbian travelers to choose Croatia as their vacation location.