Visitor Motivations Research Articles

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English

생태체험마을 방문 동기에 따른 시장세분화

The purpose of this study was to examine the motives of tourists who visited ecotourism villages in Korea. A self-administered survey was obtained from 254 visitors in six ecotourism villages. As for the motivations of ecotourism village visitors, four factors (`relaxation`, `adventure`, `experience natural` and `family togetherness`) were extracted. Three distinct segments were identified based on the motivation : multipurpose seekers (45.3%), relaxation seekers (34.6%), family togetherness seekers (20.1%). Socio-demographic characteristics and tourism behaviors of each segmentation were also analyzed. The findings should be of interest to practitioners of ecotourism village marketing and operation.

Managing ghosts: exploring local government involvement in dark tourism

In the growing discussion of dark tourism, attention has focused on dark tourism theory, interpretation of tragic events, management of dark tourist sites, and visitor motivations. The local government component, however, has been overlooked in this field of study. Fame from notorious events often transfers to the city where it happened, sometimes sharing a name (the Amityville Horror, the Villisca Axe Murders, Auschwitz) whether the community likes it or not. This fame transfer creates a shared city ‘ghost’ lingering in its shadows, but draws curiosity seekers from around the globe. This study presents factors local governments should consider as they examine their role in dark tourism, including planning for site management, consideration of the safety of, and services provided to, their citizens, examination of potential economic benefits, and most importantly, to ensure that they have a voice in the stewardship of their history.

Segmentation of Visitors Attending a Multicultural Festival: An Australian Scoping Study

An understanding of visitors' motivations to attend a multicultural event is essential for the development of attracting event offerings. Whilst it is acknowledged that a multicultural festival provides many benefits for tourists and residents alike, there is little consensus on why visitors are motivated to attend these cultural events. Furthermore, it is not confirmed whether these motivations differ amongst visitors based on other personal characteristics such as their age and income levels. To address these research gaps, 322 questionnaires were collected at two Australian multicultural festivals and analysed using exploratory factor analysis. Four motivational segments labelled as culture, escape, people and enjoyment were identified. Differences amongst these visitor motivations were evident based on their profiling characteristics. This study has provided several theoretical and practical contributions relating to segmenting visitors to multicultural festivals. Future research opportunities and limitations of this research are also outlined.

Festival attendees’ motivations: the case of International Troia Festival

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate underlying motivational dimensions of visitors attending the International Troia Festival (ITF), Çanakkale, Turkey. Design/methodology/approach – Surveys with 26 items on six motivational dimensions were empirically tested. Data were collected by a self-administered survey. The study sample comprised attendees of particular festival events which were suitable for survey practice in the ITF lasting for five days. The participants of the survey were the attendees of two theater shows, two conferences, and two folk dance shows. A total of 473 usable forms were obtained from the visitors and processed in the analysis. Findings – Significant differences and relations in motivational dimensions were found on the basis of visitors’ socio-demographic origins. Female visitors are more likely to attend festival events with high motivation of family togetherness and cultural exploration. Also male visitors are more likely to attend the events with more motivation of event attraction and escape and excitement than family togetherness. Motivation of cultural exploration is also high for all socio-demographic groups of festival visitors. Thereby, cultural exploration and family togetherness are also highly important for attendees. The basic theme of the ITF was identified as a cultural festival which essentially motivates visitors to attend particularly for cultural exploration. Research limitations/implications – The findings of this paper solely reflect the motivational dimensions identified during a Turkish festival with a cultural lifestyle. Practical implications – The field research of the study demonstrates the application of methodology by event managers to gain better understanding into visitor motivation, satisfaction, behavioral intention, event organization, and event theme. Originality/value – The important theoretical contribution of the study is in the area of establishing a meaningful and empirical relation between motivation of festivals and cultural structure of community as part of the perceived socio-cultural impacts of festivals. This implies and empirically substantiates the common belief that festivals and events can be instrumental in enriching cultural life.

‘The Sons of Marx Greet the Sons of Sandino’: West German Solidarity Visitors to Nicaragua Sandinista

This article explores the phenomenon of revolutionary tourism to Nicaragua under the Sandinistas and conceives of it as a practice of transnational solidarity, which was fostered by activists and Sandinistas alike. Individual visits and solidarity brigades proved to be an effective tool to strengthen support for the revolution. It provided activists with the possibility to experience the revolutionary process first-hand and to establish personal, emotional bonds. The knowledge and experiences collected during visits represented a strong incentive to engage in solidarity actions afterwards, thus emphasizing the multiplying propagandistic effects of solidarity tourism. On the one hand, personal motivations of solidarity visitors mostly met the official political expectations of Sandinistas and their solidarity partners abroad, on the other hand, they also reflected notions of protest against contemporary West German politics and sometimes also purely touristic desires.

Spiritual attitudes and visitor motivations at the Beltane Fire Festival, Edinburgh

Outside the peak season for tourism to Edinburgh, Scotland, during the evening of April 30th, visitors attend a festival with ancient Celtic overtones. Frequently, the evening is cold and windy. Our objectives are to: identify motivations for attending the festival; trial questionnaire items on spiritual attitude; and assess whether spirituality might be relevant in assessing visitor intentions. The method of investigation involved exploration and confirmation phases to test structures in distinct subsamples. Further, a strict approach was applied to identify factors that had theoretical value. Spirituality attitude is found to be a factor, as well as the motivations of cultural adventure and escape. Given the nature of the event, the time of year and composition of the audience, encouraging repeat visitation and using this to develop and manage Edinburgh's tourism strategy has potential. Recommendations are made to management.

도시 오픈스페이스 방문동기 및 만족도 연구 - 서울시 하천변 오픈스페이스를 중심으로 -

도시 오픈스페이스는 다기능적 공간으로서 시민들의 휴식 및 건강, 자연경관 감상은 물론 예술 문화적 체험과 도시관광 및 마케팅 수단으로서 기능한다. 그러나 현대 도시 오픈스페이스의 역할과 기능에 비해 이에 대한 담론과 연구는 미진하였다. 본 연구는 지역주민은 물론 관광객 등의 원거리 이용 수요가 있는 서울시의 4개 하천변 오픈스페이스 방문객들을 대상으로 방문동기 요인을 도출하고, 오픈스페이스의 공간 특성 및 이용행태에 따라 방문동기와 만족도가 어떤 차이를 나타내는가를 알아보고자 하였다. 대상지는 청계천, 서울숲, 선유도공원, 반포한강공원을 선정하였고, 조사방법으로는 관찰조사, 문헌조사, 설문조사를 수행하였다. 분석방법은 SPSS 18.0을 이용하여 탐색적 요인분석, 신뢰도분석, 일원배치분산분석, 다중선형회귀분석을 실시하였다. 분석결과는 다음과 같다. 첫째, 도시 오픈스페이스의 방문동기 요인은 크게 커뮤니티성, 자연성, 문화교육성, 디자인 심미성, 일상탈출성 등 5개로 구분되었다. 둘째, 방문동기 요인 중 커뮤니티성, 자연성, 디자인 심미성은 오픈스페이스별 경관, 집객시설 및 프로그램, 편의시설, 주변지역 특성 등의 공간 특성에 따라 방문객들의 지각 정도에 유의한 차이가 있는 것으로 나타났다. 셋째, 방문객 거주지로부터 오픈스페이스까지의 거리에 따라 방문동기를 지각하는 데 있어 차이가 있는 것으로 나타났으며, 근거리의 방문객은 오픈스페이스의 자연성을, 도시관광객 등 원거리 방문객은 디자인 심미성을 주요 방문동기 요인으로 지각하고 있었다. 넷째, 도시 오픈스페이스 방문객들의 방문만족도를 높이기 위한 공통적인 방문동기 요인은 자연성, 디자인 심미성, 일상탈출성으로 나타났고, 오픈스페이스별 공간 특성에 따라 방문만족도에 영향을 미치는 방문동기 요인에는 차이가 있었다. 종합해 보면, 도시 오픈스페이스는 휴식 및 운동 등의 단순한 체험을 넘어 다양한 형태의 콘텐츠와 결합한 하이브리드 공간으로서 심미적 욕구, 유대감 형성 및 강화, 문화 및 교육, 엔터테인먼트 등의 요인들이 방문동기로서 작용하며, 이들 요인이 전체 방문만족도에 영향을 미치고 있음을 알 수 있었다. 본 연구는 서울시를 대표하는 도시 하천변 오픈스페이스가 방문객들에게 어떻게 인식되고 있는가를 조사 및 분석함으로써 지자체 입장에서는 매력적인 도시 오픈스페이스 창출을 위한 조성 정비는 물론 운영 관리 과정에 활용할 수 있으며, 오픈스페이스 계획 및 설계가 입장에서는 지역 여건에 부합하는 도시관광 및 마케팅적인 기능을 시설배치 및 공간프로그램 구상 과정에 적용하는데 기여할 것으로 기대된다. The functions of urban open space, which embraces community revitalization, are diverse. It is the means of public healthcare, learning centers for children, hub of arts and cultural programs, as well as promoter of urban tourism. However, in-depth discourse and research on the topic of urban open spaces has been limited so far. Hence, this study aims to investigate the motivations and satisfaction of visitation based on four representative waterfront open space in Seoul; Cheongyecheon Waterfront, Seoul Forest Park, Seonyudo Park and Banpo Hangang Park. The methods of study are literature review, observation investigation, and questionnaire survey. The findings are analyzed through the Exploratory Factor Analysis, Reliability Analysis, ANOVA Analysis and Regression Analysis by SPSS 18.0. The results of the study are as follows. First, urban waterfront open spaces in Seoul has 5 factors of visitor motivation; community amenity, nature access, cultural and educational assets, aesthetic enjoyment, and lastly means of escape. Second, factors of recognizing urban waterfront open spaces as community amenity and nature access indicate meaningful differences in visitor's perception by spatial characteristics. Third, distances between the destination and the visitor's residence influence significantly their perceived motivation. Close-range visitors perceived nature access as a principal factor, whilst medium to long-range visitors perceived visitation for aesthetic purposes more importantly. Lastly, the will to escape was shown as the influential factor in visitor satisfaction. Visiting open spaces for the enjoyment of nature and aesthetic purposes were factors that also closely relate to visitor satisfaction. In addition, it was found that there are different visitor motivations that influence visitor satisfaction in accordance with the spatial characteristics of each open space. In summary, it can be said that urban waterfront open space is a hybrid space connected to various types of urban contents beyond daily experiences. It was found that several visitor motivations including community development, design aesthetics, education and culture, entertainment, enjoyment of natural landscape, and relaxation, affect the overall satisfaction of the visiting experience. It is anticipated that the results of the study will be used by the local government in setting up strategies for the creation and management of successful urban waterfront open space, and for those involved in planning and design act as a starting point for spatial programming and amenities arrangement in accordance to the city's tourism and urban marketing approach.

What Makes People Travel to Cultural Heritage Festival?

Heritage tourism is the fastest growing segment of the tourism industry and there is also a trend towards an increased specialization among travelers. More and more, well-educated and mature travelers seek interactive learning experiences. Festivals, a fast-growing tourism segments, can serve as a powerful tool to attract tourists during the off-season and create an image and awareness for an area. Therefore, to explore the relationship between visitor motivation and satisfaction with a local cultural heritage festival, this study investigated visitor motivation and satisfaction with Anseong Baudeogi Festival. Nineteen heritage festival motivation variables were organized and reduced to four dimensions by Factor analysis; the cultural learning, escape everyday life, desire authenticity and sought enjoyment/socialization. Also, these motivation factors were examined to identify statistical differences by visitor characteristics using ANOVA and t-tests. Next, Cluster analysis categorized festival visitors into four segments with the largest groups being ‘authenticity/history seekers’ (30%) and ‘enjoyment/socialization seekers’ (29.4%). Finally, regression analysis identified a positive relationship between visitor motivation factors and satisfaction. Among the four motivation factors, ‘Authenticity’ showed the most effective relationship with visitor’s satisfaction.

Exploring the Relationships among Visitor Motivation, Experiential Satisfaction, and Behavioral Intentions within the Film Festival Context

Exploring the Relationships among Visitor Motivation, Experiential Satisfaction, and Behavioral Intentions within the Film Festival Context

Chinese Family Groups' Museum Visit Motivations: A Comparative Study of Beijing and Vancouver

AbstractThis comparative study explored Chinese family groups' dominant visit motivations in science museums and aquariums in order to understand the perceptions of these audiences, who are an under‐represented cultural demographic in the literature. In this study, 503 Chinese participants—131 in the China Science and Technology Museum, Beijing; 127 in the Beijing Aquarium, Beijing; 136 in Science World British Columbia, Vancouver; and 109 in the Vancouver Aquarium, Vancouver—completed a Family Group Visit Motivation Questionnaire. The results report four dominant visit motivations for these Chinese family groups. Significant differences in a fifth motivation, social interaction, were detected in comparing the Beijing and Vancouver Chinese family samples. Also, Chinese family groups were more likely to perceive science museums to be settings that can satisfy their educational and personal interest needs, compared to aquariums. This study provides insights for science museums and aquarium practitioners to better understand this audience demographic.

Reinventing tourism at a traditional cultural tourism destination: a case study of Viana do Castelo (Portugal)

Because culture’s role in tourism is key and usually the primary reason for visiting certain tourist destinations, the development of cultural tourism as a component of cultural economic development is important in that it requires a destination to sell its culture and creativity to the intended market. This paper seeks to explore the attitudes, expectations and motivations of visitors to Viana do Castelo, in Northern Portugal, to determine how the destination can reinvent a tourism product strategy based on its heritage and the emerging trends in the tourism market. A total of 205 usable questionnaires were collected using a convenience sample of visitors. Results of this study indicate that visitors are essentially independent travellers, seeking to explore the natural and cultural heritage of the region. Finally, a series of observations and recommendations are proposed that support a new form of cultural tourism based on the valuation of local know-how and creative skills in the form of creative tourism.

Effect of Health and Wellness Values on Festival Visit Motivation

Understanding the motivation to visit particular tourist destinations and festivals is important for building effective tourism marketing strategies. This paper explores the effect of existing health and wellness values on the motivation to visit a festival using a field survey at the Goomeri Pumpkin Festival, a typical Australian festival which uses the natural environment, traditions and local produce to provide 21 events during the festival. The study focused on establishing the relationship between health and wellness values and festival attendees' motivation. Qualitative research with random sampling was selected to collect the data. The results revealed high levels of health and wellness values among the participants as well as social interaction, family togetherness, cultural exploration, novelty, natural environment, relaxation, previous food festival experience and food as motivations. Findings of this paper can contribute to festival tourism marketing especially to demonstrate that health-related interests can be significant catalysts for attracting festival attendees.

Motivations of wine travelers in rural Northeast Iowa

Purpose – The purpose of this exploratory consumer research study was to examine demographic and behavioral characteristics and motivations of wine travelers on the recently established Iowa Wine Trail in rural Northeast Iowa. An array of data on visitor lifestyles, interests, attitudes and values can provide more powerful and actionable research information than demographics alone. Equipped with an understanding of visitor motivations, wineries and vineyards can provide their customers the experience they want and expect, and not products and services they are assumed to desire. Design/methodology/approach – Data for this study were collected using a questionnaire-based survey administered at three participating wineries over the period of April-November 2005. Findings – The demographic profile of visitors on the Iowa Wine Trail falls within a common stereotype of a wine tourist: middle aged (36-55 years old), highly educated (college or postgraduate), in the moderate to high income bracket (higher than the median household income in Iowa), living in close proximity to the Iowa Wine Trail (mostly Iowa residents). The main motives for visiting the wineries were (in order by mean scores) “to taste wine”, “to enjoy the scenery”, “to have a good time with friends and family”, “to relax”, “to support local wine producers”, and “to taste locally produced foods”. This finding supports the statement that wine tourists are often drawn by the whole “local experience package”, and not only by the wine product itself. Research limitations/implications – Findings of this study provide demographic and behavioral characteristics and motivations of wine tourists in rural Northeast Iowa only and should not be generalized to other rural areas. Practical implications – The Iowa Wine Trail attracts typical wine customers, but also younger visitors and females. Rather high incidence of repeat visitors for a trail that is still in its infancy (52 percent), with the mean number of previous visits being 2.64. Importance of word of mouth and eMarketing: over 40 percent of visitors to the Iowa Wine Trail based their choice on word of mouth (to include prior recommendations, suggestions, or reputation), and almost a third of travelers indicated utilizing web sites for information seeking – a number that is higher when compared to other specialized markets in Iowa. The Iowa Wine Trail appeals both to stereotypical wine tourists and those visitors who are not primarily involved with the wine product but nonetheless still visit wineries. Power of rural ambience and appeal of the Iowa landscape: while wine tasting appeared to be the main motive of visiting the wineries, scenery and landscape of the Upper Mississippi River, along with the opportunity to enjoy time with friends and family and taste local foods, scored similarly high. Originality/value – While demographic characteristics of wine tourists have been explored, few studies focused on visitor motivations. In addition, most of wine tourism research has focused on established and functioning wine regions/appellations. Not much is known about the emerging wine culture in rural Midwestern states embracing opportunities of wine and tourism development, en route to diversification from traditional agriculture.

Advance Booking Behavior Of Park Visitors: Ontario Provincial Parks

Research on the advance-booking behavior of park visitors found that 72% of reservations were made before arrival at the park, indicating substantial demand for the booking system. The length of the booking period peaked for groups of 6 (70 days) and declined according to group size. It is probable that as the number of travellers in a group increases, the complexity of making travel arrangements also increases, encouraging trip planning further in advance. Competition amongst park visitors is highest for developed sites with infrastructure such as cabins and yurts, or for locations designed to cater to large recreational vehicles, suggesting higher demand than supply. Sites with minimum levels of infrastructure (i.e., those without electricity) have shorter mean booking lengths, probably due to the large supply of these types of sites. Visitors using less complex equipment (i.e., tents instead of trailers) also exhibited lower mean booking lengths. This study highlights connections between booking activities, visitor motivation, and visitor behavior in camping in parks.

An approach for serious game development for cultural heritage

The unique aspects of different places seem to require games of different characteristics. This paper describes the initial steps of an attempt to design games for different places of cultural heritage and consists of three parts. In the first part, the descriptive model to be used as a classification method for games of different characteristics for cultural heritage sites is presented. In the second part, the model is used for the creation of different cultural heritage games. Finally, the third part presents a detailed case study of one of the developed games, showing the implementation and user testing processes as well as its efficiency in terms of education and visit motivation.

The effect of visitor motivation on the success of environmental education at the Toronto Zoo

With the number and scope of environmental challenges continuing to increase, an understanding of the effectiveness of conservation programs is essential in order to allocate limited resources. This paper examines the effectiveness of environmental education within a zoo setting, focusing on the role of learners’ identity-related motivation. Results from survey (n = 296) and interview (n = 116) data collected from visitors to the Toronto Zoo suggest that education success is dependent on visitors’ dominant motivation, with preliminary data suggesting that Spiritual Pilgrims and Experience Seekers demonstrate greater gains in knowledge of environmental issues compared with Facilitators. Given that most zoo visitors fell into this Facilitator group, this finding may have an effect on future zoo management decisions. In addition, the proportion of visitors falling into each motivation group was significantly different than those previously found in the United States (p = 0.05), suggesting that zoo education strategies developed internationally may not be directly transferable to the Toronto Zoo.

Het concentratiekamp als oord van ‘thanatoerisme’

This paper explores the increasing market for tourism at sites of former Nazi concentration camps. It reviews the recent literature on dark tourism and applies the concept to visits to concentration camps, focusing on the mixed motivations of visitors to these sites, and the role of the former camps as sites of education, memorialisation and tourism. Particular emphasis is placed on Dachau memorial site and museum, and the author’s recent fieldwork in Germany and Austria.

An investigation of push and pull motivations of visitors to private parks

This exploratory study aims at closing an inherent gap in the literature on research on private parks. Specifically, the aim of this study is threefold: (a) to identify the push and pull factors that influence decisions to visit private parks; (b) to examine the differences in these push and pull factors for different sociodemographic groups; and (c) to investigate the interrelationships among these push and pull factors. Data were collected from 228 visitors who were intercepted at various locations in a private park. The survey instrument assessed the reasons for visiting the park (push factors) and evaluated how well the park performed on a series of selected park attributes (pull factors). The results of a factor analysis revealed three push factors and three pull factors. Other analyses included an evaluation of the interrelationship between these factors in terms of different sociodemographic subgroups and a general correlation analysis on the interrelationship among push and pull factors. This study provides useful managerial and practical implications for park managers, policymakers and communication strategists to gain an understanding of how push and pull factors affect tourists and their choice of private parks.

Place attachment and recreation experience preference: A further exploration of the relationship

Place attachment and recreation experience preferences (REP) have received increasing attention in natural resource management, with previous literature (Anderson & Fulton, 2008; Kyle, Mowen, & Tarrant, 2004) indicating that REP predicts place attachment development. This study expands current insight into the relationship between the two concepts. Specifically, we tested two predictive models: the first explored the influence of REP dimensions on place attachment dimensions as tested in previous research; the second explored the influence of place attachment dimensions on REP dimensions alluded to, but not tested, previously. Contrary to expectations, our results did not support the model in which REP predicts place attachment development. Interestingly, our results support the second model and indicate that select place attachment dimensions predict REP dimensions. This positive influence of place attachment on REP dimensions empirically supports the notion that attachment to a setting may influence motivations to visit that setting. Specifically, findings suggest that meaningful social relationships nurtured within the resource encourage visitors to learn, be more knowledgeable, or teach about the resource, and experience quiet, solitude and personal growth. Additionally, respondents’ dependence on the resource motivates them to be among others like themselves. Overall, our findings suggest the complexity of REP–place attachment relationships. Management implicationsPlace attachment has emerged as one important concept in recent outdoor recreation research. Managers should be aware that both the influence of experience on place attachment and the relationship of place attachment on the motivation to visit matter and influence each other. Exploring the relationship between place and recreation experience preference may enable resource managers to gain new insights and help further understand the development of visitor motivations. These insights can contribute to more appropriate site development, including social interactions and exchange of knowledge.