Search

This article reports on an empirical study of the motivations behind tourists' repeat visits to an urban destination from a longitudinal perspective. The study was conducted in Xiamen, a coastal city in Southeast China, which offers leisure lifestyles and attracts repeat visits. Six motivational factors driving repeat visit intentions are identified using exploratory factor analysis. Based on motivational differences, repeat visitors are typologized using K-means cluster analysis into four groups: Externally driven repeaters, Memory recallers, Novelty seekers, and Special interest repeaters. Implications of the study for destination marketing and management are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents findings of a completed research project on the competitive position of Turkey vis-à-vis five countries in the Mediterranean basin: Spain, Italy, Greece, France and Cyprus. These partner countries are self-selected by foreign tourists and service providers (hoteliers, travel agents or tour guides) as the direct competitor to Turkey. The discussion of findings is based upon the analysis of data gathered from 1,086 respondents through a six-week period in the summer of 2004. Findings obtained from the two groups were then compared to each other using t-test. Results suggest that both foreign tourists and service providers are homogeneous to suggest that Turkey is stronger on the friendliness of local people, but is weaker on the physical distance to the target markets and the effective using of methods for promotion and advertising. The detailed assessment of findings and implications is also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports findings with respect to the possibility of classifying international tourists on the basis of their quality expectations in hotels of Mauritius, an economy where tourism plays a crucial role in reducing the Balance of Payments deficit problem. Discovering which characteristics are most relevant for the international tourist market is important for the hospitality industry as it can provide means where they can adapt their offer and enable their customers to attain the highest degree of satisfaction. This study highlights some empirical considerations when using service quality as a basis for market segmentation. The study indicates that the segmentation proposed is operational and that, in general, the aspects for which the customers have greater expectations are those which influence their satisfaction to a greater extent. Finally, managerial implications are discussed based on the results of the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]