Holiday Choice Research Articles

Exploring uncharted digital horizons: Role of internet self-efficacy in shaping the destination preferences of senior tourists

The senior tourist market is expanding due to longer lifespans, yet there is insufficient research on their preference for holiday choice, especially in the digital era. This study investigated the influence of internet self-efficacy on destination choice preferences among senior tourists. Through five experiments, we discovered that higher levels of internet self-efficacy among seniors led to a pronounced preference for desirability, whereas those with lower levels were inclined towards feasibility. This effect is mediated by the sense of autonomy that internet self-efficacy instills. This inclination holds true only for seniors with a fixed (vs. growth) mindset and when they travel with an incompetent (vs. competent) companion. These findings significantly contribute to the empirical investigation of senior tourist decision-making in the digital environment, providing valuable empirical insights for practitioners seeking to target the senior market.

The moderating role of gender and religiosity on the EMA model: an Indonesian Muslim pilgrim perspective

PurposeThis paper aims to investigate the relationship between expectations of umrah visit, the two dimensions of motivation for umrah visit and attitude toward umrah visit using the expectation, motivation and attitude (EMA) model. The study aims to expand the domain of religious tourism and destination marketing by including the moderating role of gender and religiosity on the EMA model to investigate the pre-visit stage of Indonesian Muslim pilgrims.Design/methodology/approachAn online survey for 299 potential Muslim pilgrims was conducted to test nine hypotheses. A multi-group moderation test with chi-square differences was conducted to test the moderation effect of gender and religiosity on the model. The construct of motivation begins with an open question.FindingsThe paper provides empirical insights on how the interrelationship between EMA. The results indicate that umrah visit expectations and umrah visit motivations have a significant positive relationship with the attitude toward umrah visit. Moreover, this study concludes that gender significantly moderates the relationship between umrah visit expectations and attitude toward umrah visit. Religiosity significantly moderates the relationship between umrah visit expectations and umrah visit motivations.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors discovered three limitations. First, the construction of the research model only added two moderation variables in the EMA model. Second, many Muslim pilgrims have other situations that influence their decision to perform umrah. Third, although this study gathers Muslim pilgrims from all regions in Indonesia, fairly small sample size can influence the generalization of findings.Practical implicationsManagers should be focusing more on accommodating the religious needs of Muslim pilgrims. Although there was no gender difference in the relationship between expectations and motivations, managers still must be careful in creating and carrying out umrah programs and activities. To capture the market for male Muslims, priority should be given to promoting aspects of the culture and history of Islam when performing an umrah. Considering the important role of religiosity for market segmentation and to capture the market of Muslim pilgrims with low religiosity is by focusing more on the aspects of religious and spiritual motivation when performing umrah.Social implicationsBy increasing umrah’s visit, umrah is now more in demand by the Muslim community because it is not only an alternate pilgrimage but also to improve the spiritual and religious individual and family. This is coupled with the increasing number of umrah travel agents and people’s lifestyles that make umrah a holiday choice with colleagues and family. With these advantages, prospective Indonesian Muslim pilgrims must be more selective and look for a broad range of information about umrah departures because many umrah travel agents do not yet have a permit and offer a cheap umrah departure. Also, prospective Muslim pilgrims must prepare themselves better by studying the terms and pillars of Umrah.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the literature on tourism marketing and religious tourism research by comparing gender and religiosity on EMA model.

Conspicuous consumption and the rising importance of experiential purchases

More than 100 years ago, the term conspicuous consumption was coined. In the economist tradition, emphasis was always on the demonstration of wealth, income, and status by material purchases. However, conspicuous consumption not only means the ostentation of wealth but also the demonstration of something symbolic that is more immaterial. There is an increasing importance of immaterial experiences over material things in the current cultural climate. This study investigates the role of conspicuous consumption for vacation decision-making as an example of an experiential purchase. The study found that communicating about vacations with others is important and increases by the ubiquitous use of social media. Two conspicuous consumption factors are found, namely those of (a) status and wealth and (b) identity demonstration. The first factor plays little or no role in holiday choice. The second is found to be of importance and is characterized by items such as having unique experiences, showing other people who you are, and visiting trendy locations. Thus, with a holiday one wants to show more of his or her personality and identity than of status and wealth. This fits into other empirical research in which it is shown that experiences make people more happy than material possessions.

An analysis of summer sun tourists – outbound package holidays from Dublin Airport

This paper is a study based on a questionnaire survey directed to package holiday-makers leaving Dublin Airport in summer for sun destinations. A profile of the respondents is established first. Consideration of the destinations and components of the holiday is followed by an investigation of the booking process. Influences affecting the choice of holiday are explored. Possible relationships between the holiday destination, the holiday choice and booking processes and the previous package holiday experiences are tested.

Self-reported stomach upset in travellers on cruise-based and land-based package holidays.

BackgroundInternational travellers are at a risk of infectious diseases not seen in their home country. Stomach upsets are common in travellers, including on cruise ships. This study compares the incidence of stomach upsets on land- and cruise-based holidays.MethodsA major British tour operator has administered a Customer Satisfaction Questionnaire (CSQ) to UK resident travellers aged 16 or more on return flights from their holiday abroad over many years. Data extracted from the CSQ was used to measure self-reported stomach upset in returning travellers.ResultsFrom summer 2000 through winter 2008, 6,863,092 questionnaires were completed; 6.6% were from cruise passengers. A higher percentage of land-based holiday-makers (7.2%) reported stomach upset in comparison to 4.8% of cruise passengers (RR = 1.5, p<0.0005). Reported stomach upset on cruises declined over the study period (7.1% in 2000 to 3.1% in 2008, p<0.0005). Over 25% of travellers on land-based holidays to Egypt and the Dominican Republic reported stomach upset. In comparison, the highest proportion of stomach upset in cruise ship travellers were reported following cruises departing from Egypt (14.8%) and Turkey (8.8%).ConclusionsIn this large study of self-reported illness both demographic and holiday choice factors were shown to play a part in determining the likelihood of developing stomach upset while abroad. There is a lower cumulative incidence and declining rates of stomach upset in cruise passengers which suggest that the cruise industry has adopted operations (e.g. hygiene standards) that have reduced illness over recent years.

The influence of hurricane risk on tourist destination choice in the Caribbean

Climate change could have major implications for the global tourism industry if changing environmental conditions alter the attractiveness of holiday destinations. Countries with economies dependent on tourism and with tourism industries reliant on vulnerable natural resources are likely to be particularly at risk. We investigate the implications that climate-induced variations in Atlantic hurricane activity may have for the tourism-dependent Caribbean island of Anguilla. Three hundred tourists completed standardised questionnaires and participated in a choice experiment to determine the influence hurricane risk has on their risk perceptions and decisions regarding holiday preferences. The hurricane season had been considered by 40 % of respondents when making their holiday choice, and the beaches, climate and tranquility of the island were more important than coral reef-based recreational activities in determining holiday destination choice. Choice models demonstrated that respondents were significantly less likely to choose holiday options where hurricane risk is perceived to increase, and significantly more likely to choose options that offered financial compensation for increased risk. However, these choices and decisions varied among demographic groups, with older visitors, Americans, and people who prioritize beach-based activities tending to be most concerned about hurricanes. These groups comprise a significant component of the island’s current clientele, suggesting that perceived increases in hurricane risk may have important implications for the tourism economy of Anguilla and similar destinations. Improved protection of key environmental features (e.g. beaches) may be necessary to enhance resilience to potential future climate impacts.

Agreement and disagreement in family vacation decision-making

In the last 20 years changes have taken place which have altered the decision-making process in families—family democracy is clearly in the ascendant. The family has evolved into what business research calls a decision-making unit. This general trend probably also has consequences for holiday decisions. The focus of this research is on (dis)agreement within couples concerning 15 vacation sub-decisions. In this Dutch longitudinal study, data were collected for couples over a period of nearly a year. Our main conclusion is that holiday choice has evolved over the last 30 years into being very much a joint decision, in which family members discuss, seek information for the discussion and use influencing strategies. The dominant disagreement-resolution strategy is the golden mean strategy. This is a strategy of give-and-take-and-reach-a-compromise. Compared with other choices, the holiday choice is also more of a joint affair. Finally, intrafamily (dis)agreement has consequences for satisfaction with the choice process, the amount of discussion and information searching. Implications of the increased family democracy for marketing and advertising are described.

Participatory Environmental Research in Tourism: A Global View

The use of volunteers by natural resource managers has become quite widely accepted, but the development of programmes where tourists volunteer, and make a financial contribution is less widespread. This article focuses on one type of volunteer vacation or conservation holiday, where participants pay to work as volunteers helping conduct environmental field research. It is a developing area that is increasingly being recognised by potential travellers as a holiday choice. Importantly, participatory environmental research trips also provide scientists with an alternative means of funding research and another vehicle through which to achieve goals. These types of programmes allow tourism to actively support conservation and sound ideal, but there are also significant constraints and issues. Varying partnerships and operating structures impact on the resulting benefits and costs for all stakeholders. This article defines and examines the global development of the Participatory Environmental Research in Tourism (PERT)sub-sector. By exploring the existing activities within the sub-sector it is hoped to highlight operating characteristics, current logistical constraints, and stimulate further research

Japanese Tourists' Experience of the Natural Environments in North QLD Region— Great Barrier Reef Experience

Summary The North Queensland (QLD) region has been one of the fastest growing tourist destination for the international travel markets and has been recognized as a significant tourism icon in Australia. Surrounded by World Heritage areas such as the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) and Wet Tropical Rainforest, the North QLD region offers a range of unique and distinctive natural tourist attractions. Although the North QLD region is being recognized as one of the fast growing tourist destinations for Japanese tourists, few studies have been conducted in terms of understanding Japanese tourists' experiences towards the natural environment. With a focus on the GBR trip in the North QLD region this study determined the importance of the GBR in Japanese holiday choice and elicited opinions on some reef-related issues. This study also attempted to compare Japanese visitor activities and behavior with a previous sample of English speaking respondents who took part in a similar survey during 1996. The results indicated that not only do Japanese Tourists see Australia as a great opportunity to experience a unique and different culture, but they also regard Australia as a stimulating destination where they can get involved in some adventurous activities Focussing on the GBR as a major drawcard for Japanese visitors, it was found that the ‘Experiencing Nature’ in a very natural, unstructured way, was the most important motivational factor for a GBR trip. There is potential to improve the enjoyment levels of Japanese visitors to the GBR by providing more information on day activities of the reef tours, by providing more education and through improvement of service and facilities on the boats.

An analysis of summer sun tourists – outbound package holidays from Dublin Airport

This paper is a study based on a questionnaire survey directed to package holiday-makers leaving Dublin Airport in summer for sun destinations. A profile of the respondents is established first. Consideration of the destinations and components of the holiday is followed by an investigation of the booking process. Influences affecting the choice of holiday are explored. Possible relationships between the holiday destination, the holiday choice and booking processes and the previous package holiday experiences are tested.

Learning about tourists from conversations: the over-55S in Majorca

This article reports findings from two studies of tourists aged over 55. It highlights the role of their past experience in determining holiday choice, and their loyalty to, in this case, Majorca. It also, based on conversations with such tourists, argues that conversations are an excellent research methodology for revealing the confusions and ambiguities involved in holiday-taking, and illustrates this with a discussion about the importance of ‘friendliness’.

A Binary Choice Model of Foreign Holiday Demand

A binary choice model explaining the distribution of holidays abroad undertaken by UK residents is constructed and estimated. The foreign holiday demand function is generated from a comparison of holiday costs and benefits, and stochastic behaviour is permitted. In addition, the effects of incomplete knowledge on holiday choice are incorporated in the model. It is shown that the empirical results support the theoretical framework and that the £50 foreign currency limit imposed by the British Government between 1966 and 1969 resulted in a shift in the distribution of foreign holidays.