An exploratory analysis of multi-destination pleasure travel behavior

Abstract

Destination demand models that have appeared in the outdoor recreation and tourism literature have in large part been predicated on the assumption that when travelers leave home, they go to a single destination. This assumption is frequently fallacious since many trips are multi-destinational. This experimental study focussed on multi-destinational travel which was conceptualized as an individually constrained choice process. Individuals were assumed to view choice alternatives and destinations as bundles of attributes. Destination choice was characterized as a process in which decision-makers first perceived a set of destinations based upon a few attributes and then chose more than one destination from this set by cognitively integrating those attributes that would maximize their preference or utility, subject to a set of personal, temporal and spatial constraints. An initial sample of 516 subjects was screened on three criteria to yield a sample of 87 subjects who were qualified to participate in the experiment. Each subject was given a unique set of six treatment scenarios which were comprised of three pairs and asked to rate the likelihood of their being visited. One pair consisted of two destinations and two pairs contained three destinations. Each destination was characterized by two attributes, which each had two levels. Each of the three pairs of scenarios were identical with the exception of two different levels of an expenditure/time constraint attached to them. These treatments permitted the development of models of the choice process which could predict part-worths for alternative attribute and constraint levels. Differences in the levels of attributes used to characterize destinations visited on multi-destination trips had significant effects on scenario preferences, but some of the effects shifted in the models. Subjects with a longer travel distance to the primary destination were more likely to explore a broader geographic area in their multi-destination trips. Duration of the trip, knowledge level of the destination area, and number of perceived needs were positively associated with the three destination scenarios, which was consistent with theoretical expectations. Different complementary relationships were observed between the two secondary destinations on two perceived destination attributes. However, variety seeking behavior of multi-destination pleasure travel was not confirmed.