Multidestination Trips Research Articles

The Challenges of Disease Risk Ascertainment Using Accessible Data Sources for Numbers of Travelers

Accessible travel has led to a rapid growth in international tourism, particularly to developing countries. With the increase, travel-associated morbidity and mortality has changed. Data on traveling populations are essential for policy makers to estimate infectious and noninfectious risks in travelers. Passenger flow statistics are compiled by the World Tourism Organization (WTO) and by official institutions of some countries. This study investigates sources of passenger flow statistics, methods of data collection, and compares datasets for consistency. Four national datasets of departing travelers were compared to the United Nations' World Tourism Organization (WTO) data on passenger arrivals to eight destination countries. The ratio between arrivals and departures was calculated (main destination ratio [MDR]) to estimate the proportion of direct to indirect traveler arrivals. With few exceptions, arrival data exceeded that of departure data for all destinations. India is a primary destination for Australian residents where arrival and departure figures were similar (MDR 1.1), while visits to Cambodia and Turkey, with 3.6- and 3.8-fold higher arrivals, respectively, are part of multidestination trips. For UK residents, arrivals exceeded departures for all destinations except India where the reverse was true (MDR 0.8). A close correlation between arrivals and departures was noted for visits to South Africa while arrivals to Singapore and Cambodia were 7- and 10-fold higher, respectively. Arrivals by Finnish residents to destination countries were 1.4- to 1.6-fold higher than departures and 2.2-fold higher for Canadians visiting China. Different methodologies used to capture arrival and departure statistics result in different estimations of traveler numbers. Data from a single source does not provide a comprehensive picture of most tourism itineraries. Inbound statistics give a more accurate reflection of the total visits made by travelers from a source country.

Using Cellular Automata to Reduce Congestion for Tourist Navigation Systems in Mobile Environments

Tourist navigation systems have become an important area of research because they help people increase the quality of their travel. This work proposes an adaptive recommendation mechanism that relies on a congestion-aware scheduling method for multiple groups of travelers on multi-destination trips. The recommendation scheme uses the cell (number of groups) mechanism of the cellular automata model for group system distribution. To reduce congestion while visiting multiple destinations, we present a tour group with adaptive recommendations from a system to yield a high quality tour experience. When faced with congestion, the system proposes a path by which the group visits a secondary destination first and then visits the primary destination. Simulation results reveal the strengths of the proposed "adaptive recommendation mechanism" model in terms of decreasing the average wait time, congestion, and the ratio of congestion avoidance to the number of groups.

Multi-Destination Trips and Tourism Statistics: Empirical Evidences in Sicily

AbstractThe knowledge of the actual magnitude and main features of tourism flows in a given destination is an essential prerequisite for the evaluation of tourism impacts and externalities. Indeed, many pleasure trips are often characterized by the visit to more than a single destination. Although the topic is well-documented in literature, the empirical results are limited to a few pioneering studies. The lack may be attributable to the failure of tourism organizations to collect data on multi-destination trip behaviour. This can be seen, for example, in the system of European statistics on tourism (according to the Council Directive 95/57 EC), where information on the average number of visited destinations within a single trip is not provided. This paper aims at discussing the main implications of multi-destination trips, both on tourism statistics and on destination management. It also proposes to describe the research design and main preliminary results of a survey on incoming tourism in Sicily. Some remarks dealing with the positive and negative impacts of unobserved tourism and of multi-destination trips are reported at the end.

Multi-Destination Trips: A Survey on Incoming Zourism in Sicily

Many pleasure trips are often characterized by the visit of more than a single destination. Despite the topic is well documented in literature, the empirical studies are limited to a few pioneering studies. This lack may be attributable to the failure of tourism organizations to collect data on multi-destination trip behaviors, as it results, for example, from the system of European statistics on tourism (according to the Council Directive 95/57 EC), where no information on the average number of destinations visited within a single trip are provided. This paper aims to analyze the main implications of multi-destination trips both on tourism statistics and in tourism planning, and to describe the research design and the solutions adopted for the analysis of incoming tourism in Sicily. Some results related to the number of destinations visited and on the main travel itineraries undertaken by tourists in Sicily derived from the survey are presented.

The Nature of Japanese Travelers' Multidestination Trips in the United States

This study seeks to understand the nature of travelers' decisions to visit multiple destinations during a trip. In order to do so, this study frames travelers' multidestination travel decisions as a result of the specifics of a trip, traveler characteristics, and destination characteristics. For empirical investigation, the spatial behavior of Japanese travelers to the United States of America (US) was examined. Published US In-flight survey data from 1997 were used to test the study propositions. Analysis focused on the influence of independent variables on the probability of visiting multiple states as compared to visiting a single state and, for multidestination trips, the likelihood of visiting more than one destination within a state versus across multiple states. The results of logistic analyses indicate that Japanese travelers' likelihood of visiting more than one state in the US significantly differ by gender, age, the number of activities undertaken, the number of transportation types used, trip length, main purpose of trip, and by main destination region The probability of visiting multiple destinations across states, in comparison to within a state, for Japanese travelers is significantly influenced by the number of previous visits to the US, the characteristics of the region in which the first stop was made, and main purpose of trip. This study suggests that considerations of destination characteristics, in addition to the specifics of trip and traveler characteristics, needs to be made in modeling approaches to travelers' multidestination travel decisions. This study also argues that a travel decision to visit more than a destination within a state in the US represents a different decision task for Japanese travelers from multidestination travel across several states.

Does ignoring multidestination trips in the travel cost method cause a systematic bias?

The present paper demonstrates that treating multidestination trips (MDT) as single‐destination trips does not involve any systematic upward or downward bias in consumer surplus (CS) estimates because the direct negative effect of a price increase (treating MDT as a single‐destination trip) is offset by a shift in the estimated demand curve. Still, ignoring MDT can greatly underestimate or overestimate the CS. In addition, we demonstrate that there is a sound theoretical basis for using preference information for allocating travel costs between different sites included in the MDT package. A novel extreme value approach is proposed, which does not require any overly restrictive assumptions about consumer preferences. This approach is applied to the zonal travel cost model of the Bellenden Ker National Park, Australia. Parametric and non‐parametric estimation techniques are used for calculating CS estimates, and the effects of different MDT treatments and estimation methods are compared.

Multidestination Travel Patterns of International Visitors to Queensland

Tourists frequently undertake multidestination trips to maximize the benefits of travel. A more detailed understanding of this phenomenon contributes to destination marketing by enabling identification of potential multidestination marketing synergies. For individual destinations lacking the critical mass of attractions, such synergies provide a foundation for leveraging strategies. While research has revealed a range of factors associated with variations in travel patterns, no attempt has been made to explore the relative contribution of each factor in a specific context. Research conducted to date has focused primarily on domestic recreational travel (largely in the United States) rather than international tourism. This study uses an Australian database on international visitor travel patterns in Queensland to do this. It is revealed that risk-reduction tendencies associated with long-haul travel, variations in mobility, multiple-benefit seeking, and information sources used by visitors prior to their trip all have a bearing on the level of multidestination travel.

Evidence of Cumulative Attraction in Multidestination Recreational Trip Decisions

Most destination demand models in the tourism and outdoor recreation literature are predicated on the assumption that when travelers leave home, they go to a single destina tion. This assumption is often fallacious, since many pleasure trips involve visits to mul tiple destinations. This study provides evidence of multiple destinations offering cumula tive attractions within a single trip. Multidestination travel is conceptualized as a constrained choice process in which individuals evaluate travel alternatives as bundles of attributes. Using a multistage sampling technique, each subject was given a unique set of six treat ment scenarios composed of three pairs of multidestination trips and asked to rate the likeli hood of going on each trip. Three destination attributes, each with two different levels, were used to characterize the destinations: tourism services and facilities, settings for relax ation and sport, and distance between the primary and secondary destinations. Conjoint analysis techniques indicated that preference for a destination was enhanced by inclusion of a combination of destinations.

Conceptualization of multi-destination pleasure trips

A four-cell typology of pleasure trips is developed based on number of destinations visited and the trip purpose or benefits sought. Five distinctive spatial patterns evolving from this typology are identified that may be adopted by pleasure travelers: single destination, en route, base camp, regional tour, and trip chaining. Four of these involve visiting multiple destinations. Multi-destination visits are a rational behavior pattern and reasons that account for this behavior are discussed. It is suggested that the concept of cumulative attraction offers a conceptual underpinning for explaining such trips. Benefits accruing from a better understanding of multi-destination trip behavior are discussed.

Main destination ratios: Analyses of tourist flows

Published data such as those from the World Tourism Organisation omit statistics about multidestination trips. The main Destination Ratio and its derivatives provide a partial remedy, illuminating patterns and trends that otherwise may be hidden. The techniques are illustrated by data about trips in one year by Japanese, New Zealanders, and Australians to sixteen countries, and about Australians' visits over thirteen years to Singapore and Hong Kong. The techniques' distinction is data collected at two points in a tourism system; conventional statistics about traveler-tourist flows usually rely on one point. Practical applications of the new techniques are discussed.