Destination Choice Research Articles

Brand gestalt cognition and tourists’ destination decision making: a study of international island destinations

ABSTRACT Destination brand cognition plays an important role in tourists’ decisions. This study constructs a decision-making framework based on the brand gestalt model to investigate how brand gestalt cognition influences tourists’ destination choices. Findings were drawn from 182,357 online comments about seven international island destinations, posted on Chinese tourism social media platforms. Data were processed using emotion mining technology and random forest machine learning methods. Results showed that (1) the environment and product/service providers were key factors affecting tourists’ decision making in island destinations. (2) Individuals’ decision-making preferences were grouped into four types: environment–product/service preferences, story–product/service preferences, environment–experience preferences, and environment–tourist preferences. (3) Island destinations possessing strong competitiveness in all dimensions of brand gestalt could more effectively meet tourists’ needs. This study enriches understanding of tourists’ decision making from a brand gestalt perspective, and implications are provided for building destinations’ brand ecosystems.

THE MIGRATION OF THE POPULATION OF UKRAINE DUE TO A FOREIGN INVASION

The Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 led to the mass displacement of the Ukrainian population. It is estimated that more than 14 million people were forced to leave their homes, including nearly 8 million people, primarily women and children, who went abroad. The analysis of the dynamics, directions, and composition of forced migration flows from Ukraine abroad is the focus of this article. Based on the available statistical and sociological data, the author identifies the patterns of the current migration process and its principal characteristics. Traditional migration channels, in particular the inclusion of Ukraine in the European migration system as one of the elements of the country’s European integration, are taken into account when examining the decision-making process, the choice of destination, and the plans of displaced persons for the future.
 The current situation does not enable predictions regarding whether displaced persons will remain in their destinations, return home, or migrate further within the country or abroad. Despite this lack of clarity, it can be assumed that the number of international migrants from Ukraine will increase for security and economic reasons. The intensification of migration will occur due to the non-repatriation of portions of refugee populations and the growth of temporary labor migration abroad, which may become a vital strategy among Ukrainians to overcome the consequences of war, accumulate funds to rebuild destroyed housing, and compensate for lost property.
 As migrants from Ukraine are typically working age, active, and educated people, the outflow of them can significantly complicate and decelerate the post-war reconstruction of the country. Therefore, creating conditions for the return of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) should be the central task of the state as well as the crucial subject of cooperation between Ukraine and the host countries.

Policy framework for selecting medical tourism destinations: fuzzy- IPA approach

ABSTRACT Using Fuzzy Importance-Performance Analysis (IPA) method, this study sought to develop a framework to identify and prioritize the factors influencing the selection of Iran by medical tourists. After a literature review, three main dimensions and 38 factors affecting tourism destination choices were identified. A Fuzzy SWARA questionnaire was used to ask experts how important each of the identified factors was to a medical tourist’s choice of destination. In addition, medical tourists employed linguistic variables to assess the performance of the aforementioned factors. The results of the study revealed that “recommendations by friends and acquaintances,” ‘medical tourist’s previous experiences, ‘“image/brand of the host country”, “having friends or relatives in the destination country,” and “international accreditation” were the top priorities for Iran’s medical tourism policymakers and managers.

Does Biodiversity Matter In The Tourism Demand Model? International Evidence

This study aims to examine the role of natural attractions, measured by biodiversity in attracting international tourists. This study was conducted from 2010 to 2016 for 120 countries. Several static approaches such as Pooled Ordinary Least Square (POLS), Random Effect (RE) as well as Fixed Effect (FE) were used to estimate the static effect between biodiversity and international tourist arrivals. Overall, the robust standard error results show that the choice of a tourism destination is strongly related to biodiversity. Moreover, the outcome also reveals that GDP per capita, good governance, investment in the travel and tourism sector, as well as the internet are positively significant in determining the tourism demand. Surprisingly, both the exchange rate and life expectancy are insignificant in this study. Therefore, the role of the government is essential to ensure the policies are correctly implemented to enhance the development of the tourism sector.

Impacts of climate change knowledge on coastal tourists’ destination decision-making and revisit intentions

Few studies have examined the effects of number of visits and climate change knowledge on coastal tourists' destination choice sets. Further, the theoretically grounded models of coastal tourists' revisit intention under climate change have been rarely explored. Therefore, we adopted a sequential multi-method approach across two studies and investigated the effects of number of visits (first-time vs. repeat tourists) and climate change knowledge on early and late destination consideration sets. We also applied protection motivation theory and a general model of tourist destination choice to examine the effects of coastal tourists' climate change knowledge, hypothetical shifts in destination attractiveness, perceived climate change risks at destinations, and place attachment on revisit intentions. The results from the first study showed that repeat tourists tended to consider more destinations in both early and late consideration sets. There was a difference in the early destination consideration sets between tourists with high and low climate change knowledge, but no difference in the later destination consideration sets between tourists with high and low climate change knowledge. These results are different from the tripographic characteristics of general repeat tourists that previous studies found, and they confirm the importance of climate change knowledge for destination decision-making. In addition, the results from the second study indicated that climate change knowledge was the most important antecedent of revisit intention, followed by hypothetical shifts in destination attractiveness, place attachment, and risk perception. Thus, future efforts to understand tourists’ destination decision-making in the context of climate change should consider climate change-induced cognition-affective aspects as part of knowledge-centered models connecting destination choice with perceived risks. The theoretical and practical implications of our findings are discussed.

Drivers in determining medical tourism destination choice among international tourists using partial least squares method

Medical tourism is a relatively new segment that has spurred the attention of major health care leaders across the globe over the decade. The global medical tourism market has shown extensive growth whereby global medical tourism generated USD11.56 billion in 2020 which increased to USD13. 98 billion in 2021. The amount is projected to grow to USD53.51 billion in 2028. In Asia region, few countries are playing their roles as medical destinations such as Thailand and Singapore. However, Malaysia continues to lag far behind the neighbouring countries in terms of number of international visitors. Thus, the study aims to determine the drivers of medical tourism destination choice among international tourists. Purposive sampling technique was applied for the study. A total of 115 responses from 21 different countries were collected through Medical Tourism Agency Website and their overseas branch. Data were analysed using partial least squares method. It can be concluded that lower cost and tourist attraction have paramount importance as drivers in choosing Malaysia as medical tourism destination. The outcome of the study will contribute to the field of medical tourism particularly in the context of improvising the marketing strategies and strategic partnership.

What do you value based on who you are? Big five personality traits, destination value and electronic word-of-mouth intentions

The travel and tourism sector (TTS) is an important source of jobs and revenues for any country. The recent COVID-19 pandemic has shattered some industries more than others, with the TTS being one of the most affected ones in Romania. Recovery of TTS is, therefore, critical due to its significant share in the country’s GDP. Electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) has recently become a strong instrument that voices the experiences of customers in the online environment and further determines consumption of tourism services by other people. The choice of a tourist destination depends on a decision involving evaluations of economic, emotional, social and altruistic values attached to that destination. These evaluations can determine electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) intentions as tourists need to share their experiences. Using PLS-SEM ( n=469) on the Romanian tourist population, the research hereby checks the influence of the big five personality traits (BFPT): openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism on the destination values. This research also aims to analyze the relationship between the big five personality traits and e-WOM intentions, using the mediating role of destination value, in choosing a tourist destination in Romania. Results are useful both for tourism operators and industry policy makers.

Can nudging affect tourists’ low-carbon footprint travel choices?

PurposeThis study aims to investigate low-carbon footprint travel choices, considering both destination attributes and climate change perceptions, and examine the impacts of nudging (a communication tool to alter individuals’ choices in a predictable way) on tourists’ preferences for carbon mitigation in destinations.Design/methodology/approachA discrete choice experiment questionnaire was administered to a sample of 958 Hong Kong respondents. Hybrid choice modeling was used to examine the respondents’ preferences for destination attributes and to explain preference heterogeneity using tourists’ climate change perceptions. The respondents’ willingness to pay for the destination attributes was also calculated to measure the monetary value of the attributes.FindingsDestination type, carbon emissions and travel cost had significant effects on tourists’ choices of destination. Nudging increased tourists’ preference for low-carbon footprint choices. Tourists with higher climate change perceptions were more likely than others to select low-carbon destinations with carbon offset projects.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study provide an impetus for destination management organizations to support local carbon offset projects, implement policies that mitigate carbon emissions and develop sustainable tourism to fulfill tourists’ demand for low-carbon footprint travel choices. Based on the findings, policymakers could promote sustainable tourism by publishing relevant climate change information on social media.Originality/valueThis study addressed a gap in the literature on tourist travel choice by considering carbon emission-related attributes and climate change perceptions and by confirming the role of nudging in increasing the choice of low-carbon destinations.

Evaluation of Tourism Attraction Factors in West Sichuan of China Minority Areas Based on G1-EAHP

The ethnic tourism developed in China has become an important industrial pillar for poverty alleviation. This paper takes ' West Sichuan ' as the research object, verifies the correlation degree of regional featured tourism attraction factors, and then uses the extended analytic hierarchy process (EAHP) to calculate the weight of each factor, and puts forward analysis and suggestions. Research shows that: 1) Natural scenery and folk culture are the incentive factors. 2) Preference for ethnic tourism tourists compared to the degree of regional development, prefer the original features of the scenic area. 3) The actual situation and cultural connotation of scenic spots play a decisive role in the choice of tourist destinations. The conclusions not only contribute to the targeted improvement of ethnic tourism in West Sichuan, but also serve as a model for other regions to learn from to help ethnic areas flourish.

Assessing the Impact of Destination Image in the Selection of a Destination: Mediating role of e-WOM

The purpose of this study is to investigate the association between destination image, e-WOM, and destination selection. In addition, this study intends to examine the role of e-WOM as a mediator in the relationship between destination image and destination choice. On the basis of earlier research, a pilot study was conducted to establish the instrument's validity and reliability.A descriptive research design and a positivist approach were applied to the present investigation. A sample of 380 valid questionnaires was analyzed for the present study. To obtain data from travellers who visited Kashmir Valley, the convenience sample technique was used. SPSS.20 and AMOS software were utilised for data analysis. Using AMOS software and the Structured Equation Modelling (SEM) methodology, the stated assumptions were tested. The analysis indicated that the image of a destination has a significant impact on tourist destination selection. In addition, the results demonstrated that e-WOM mediates the relationship between destination image and destination choice.

An examination of tourists’ pre-trip motivational model using push–pull theory: Melbourne as a case study

PurposeTo succeed in a competitive tourist market and attract more foreign tourists, it is essential to have a clear understanding of what travellers are seeking and endeavour to meet those needs, as well as key influential factors in their travel decision-making process. The purpose of the study is to develop and examine tourists’ pre-trip motivational model using the push–pull theory.Design/methodology/approachA tourists’ pre-trip motivational model was developed and then tested based on a sample of 320 Chinese and non-Chinese visitors to Melbourne, Australia, to assess the suitability of the new model. Data were analysed by descriptive and inferential statistical techniques, such as principal component analysis and independent T-tests.FindingsThe analysis revealed statistically significant differences between studied samples in terms of the push and pull factors. In comparison with non-Chinese tourists, Chinese visitors to Melbourne assigned higher importance to resting and relaxing opportunities, family-oriented activities, as well as safety and a high level of service. The identified differences should be reflected in marketing and promotional activities provided to Chinese and non-Chinese travellers.Practical implicationsThe study provides useful information for Destination Marketing Organisations in tourism cities wanting to develop specifically customised tourist products, services and promotion programs tailored to each market.Originality/valueThe proposed extended push–pull model represents a holistic and complex model of the travel decision-making process with the multiple linkages between motivations for travelling, preferences of destination attributes, information source usage, trip expectations, possible constraints for travelling and evaluation of destination choice criteria. Understanding all these factors, their relationship and their influence on the final destination choice is a prerequisite for effective and successful actions on attraction and retention of visitors for all tourist destinations. The developed tourists’ pre-trip motivational model may be used as a conceptual framework to guide subsequent motivational studies in tourism.

Studying the motivations in choosing study tour destinations: evidence from Asian university students

Purpose This study aims to explore university students' push and pull motivational factors towards their study tour destination choices and to investigate the differences between experienced and non-experienced students concerning their push and pull motivational factors. Design/methodology/approach The study collected surveys from Hong Kong university students. In total, 248 usable responses were gathered. Among the 248 respondents, 148 university students from various universities did not have experience on a study tour in their university lives while 100 students did. The study also conducted interviews and collected qualitative data to supplement the survey findings. Findings Top push and pull motivational factors were highlighted in the study tour context. This study also indicated that non-experienced students relatively have more concerns about geographic location, political stability and financial budget as pull factors and education as the push factor than experienced students. Education, as a high-level human need and push motivational factor, becomes less important for experienced students. Originality/value A large number of Asian university students participated in study tour programmes each year. Nevertheless, there are few research papers relevant to exploring university students’ motivation to choose study tour destinations. This study provides useful insight for the universities to design and implement appropriate study tours according to students’ motivation.

What Determines Destination Choice of Bridal Photography Tourists?

ABSTRACT Bridal photography tourism as an Oriental Style of honeymoon traveling is recognized as a unique cultural phenomenon in China. This study attempts to identify the factors that are significantly related with bridal photography tourists’ destination choice through binary logit regression analysis. The results indicate that metropolises are more attractive to relatively senior couples planning to shop for wedding stuff. Regional and cultural differences are the key factor for provincial cities to catch the eyeballs of young couples. Ancient towns with a romantic atmosphere are beneficial for couples to seek fun and happiness. In terms of coastal destinations, pre-wedding travelers tend to trust the professional photography service provided at domestic seaside cities. Tropical islands located in Southeast Asia are able to satisfy the needs of gaining prestige. A niche destination mainly serves the purpose of creating extraordinary bridal photos. Additionally, photography cost is significantly more influential than other trip characteristics in determining the attractiveness of a bridal photography destination. The findings of this study can be useful to destination marketers in the effort to capture Chinese bridal photography tourists with corresponding marketing plans and strategies.

Destination choice modeling with spatially distributed constraints

Destination choice models are a key component of any transport and land-use model. Applications in agent-based models allow for destination choice on an individual level including personal variables, like trip purpose, or situational variables. Commonly applied methodologies stem from econometrics, discrete choice theory and utility maximization using either revealed or stated preference data. This paper presents a framework to integrate cross-section flows between distinct geographic areas, which can be obtained from cordon surveys or mobile phone data. Proposed optimization methodology—based on extended shadow price theory—accommodates these complementary data sources as spatially distributed constraints, in addition to the destination capacity constraints such as workplaces. The new generic and robust optimization methodology accounts for constraints as observed on cross-section flows and destination capacities while maintaining econometric choice model theory. As a proof of concept, the suggested methodology is successfully applied in a real-case, agent-based application covering the tri-national Basel region with about 2 million residents, and a large set of 2 · 104 distinct destination alternatives. Due to different wage levels in all three countries and other reasons, the region’s cross-border commuter flows are highly asymmetric. Including data on cross-border flows obtained from a cordon survey, the choice model’s mean deviation declines by 20% and more on a cross-section level and even more so on a choice alternative level, compared to calculations ignoring shadow prices. Moreover, multiple scenario calculations show considerable improvements in planning and forecasting applications. The results demonstrate the suitability and relevance of the proposed approach to optimize destination choice models with limited destination capacities in geographical regions usually characterized by travel demand asymmetries.

Not all language tourists take language courses – the determinants of formal and informal language tourism

Language tourism is characterized by language learning being a primary or secondary motivation for the trip. Although language tourists typically take language courses in the destination, many also choose to develop their language skills autonomously through immersion. However, the mechanisms underlying this choice are ignored, particularly in a context where informal language tourists are still largely neglected in the literature. This study seeks to identify the main factors that predict language tourists’ decision to take language lessons in the destination, using a binary logistic regression model. A sample of 964 language tourists is used, which comprises both formal ( N = 409) and informal ( N = 555) language tourists. It is concluded that the decision to take language lessons in the destination is positively influenced by trip length, greater formality of pre-trip learning strategies, having a scholarship, traveling without relatives, being motivated to learn a language due to instrumental reasons, and purposeful choice of language travel destination for language-related reasons, among other variables. Informal language tourism is positively influenced by having acquaintances in the destination, traveling with relatives, investing more in self-directed language learning strategies, and having shorter stays, among other variables. This study sheds light on a group of travellers that has been neglected by both academia and the tourism industry.

Modeling joint eating-out destination choices incorporating group-level impedance: A case study of the Greater Tokyo Area

Modeling joint eating-out destination choices incorporating group-level impedance: A case study of the Greater Tokyo Area

유튜브 관광콘텐츠 특성이 몽골인의 관광지 선택에 미치는 영향

Purpose - This study aims to determine whether four characteristics of tourism content on YouTube (i.e., entertainment; credibility; diversity; and informativeness) influence tourists' destination choices. Design/methodology/approach - A total of 201 Koreans and Mongolians who use YouTube were surveyed in the research. Validity and reliability, correlation, and regression analyze were performed in SPSS 29.0. Findings - As a result of the study, it was found that the features of YouTube tourism content, such as entertainment, credibility, and diversity, have a positive effect on tourists' choice of destination. Also, it was found that there is no difference in the perception of tourism content features between Korean and Mongolian YouTube users and it is not statistically significant. Research implications or Originality - Tourists' YouTube content shows that YouTube features such as entertainment, variety, and trustworthiness, influencing tourists' travel destination choices. The limitations of this study and suggestions for future research were discussed.

The Influence of Halal Attractions and Memorable Experiences on Tourists' Destination Choices: An Indonesian Perspective

The objective of this research is to analyze the influence of the tourism brand on decision-making developments during the holidays, as well as the contribution of religious standards, hallucinations and memorable tourist experiences. Tourism, a prominent step in the brand, is gaining a lot of attention and promotion in Indonesia. The study perfect is empirically authenticated through a field survey, a questionnaire distributed to 150 people surveyed by sampling methods. The collected data was processed with the Amos 20 software using Structural Equations (SEM). The results of the study show that memorable tourist experiences affect the natural value of a person's religiosity and the decision to visit a destination, and captivation also influence tourism choices. However, neither the attractive tourist brand nor the attraction affects the religiosity of a place, and the value of religiosity does not play roles in the judgements that tourists make to visit it.

The impact of social media influencers on destination preferences: A cross-generation comparison

Social media has gradually transformed into a tool for tourism marketing because of its widespread use and its sales-oriented reflections on purchasing decisions. Hence, almost all tourism businesses and destination management organizations (DMOs) have initiated to attract potential tourists via social media or social media influencers (SMIs). Though more and more publications have emerged to draw attention to the significance of SMI on purchase decisions, the number of research focusing on SMIs effect on destination choice still needs to be furthered. From this point of view, this study aims to evaluate how social media influencers affect travellers’ preference for destinations across generations. The data was gathered from 137 followers who follow social media influencers and are over 18. In the study, percentage, frequency, mean, and standard deviation values were employed in the descriptive data analysis, while correlation analysis was used in the relationship measurement tests, and regression analysis was conducted in the hypothesis tests. As a result, it has been inferred that the perception levels of participants towards social media influencers vary across generations and that social media influencers are an essential determinant for destination preference. It has also been concluded that the effect of social media influencers on destination preference differs in the context of X, Y, and Z generations. Thus, this study makes considerably advances the literature by revealing the importance of generation-based social media marketing and emphasizing how SMIs could impact destination preferences.

THE EMERGENCE OF LEISURE TRAVEL AS PRIMARY PREVENTIVE TOOLS IN EMPLOYEE HEALTH BEHAVIOR

In our current modern world, it can be said that it is very difficult to live a balanced and healthy life, and to always perform well in the world of work, so it is very important to pay attention to our leisure time and our primary prevention activities, which can help preserve our health and improve our fitness. The purpose of the research is to examine the appearance of leisure tourist trips among employees, and how tourist trips appear among the primary prevention tools. Our research found answers to the main questions of what activities employees try to regain their ability to work, and whether trips are popular as primary prevention activities. The recreational activities of the employees are primarily filled by various obligations, but at the same time, the use of primary prevention activities is pushed into the background during everyday life. During the research, we established that medical and wellness holidays are very popular among the respondents, as 22.5% of the sample (133 people) take part in medical tourism holidays and 50.3% of the respondents (297 people) take part in health care on a focused wellness holiday. The quiet, calm environment and the closeness to nature, which helps the employees to regenerate, appeared prominently in the motivation for the choice of destination. Among primary prevention tools, leisure activities spent with family, relationships, and friends, healthy eating, and walking and nature walks are the ones that appear dominantly in the everyday life of employees. In order to reduce the problem of burnout, pressure to perform, and stress among employees and to enable them to perform well in their tasks, it is very important to assess their needs and provide them with programs that contribute to improving their health and regaining their ability to work, such as appropriate recreation programs and various trips.