Abstract
The objective of this longitudinal study is to explore whether changes in tourists’ outbound travel behavior can be explained by their demographic characteristics and by economic fluctuations over time. A multilevel model of outbound travel behavior that incorporates both individual characteristics and changes in the economy is proposed. Based on a large sample from a 10-year longitudinal study, our findings show that both individual- and macro-level factors directly influence tourist behavior. The multilevel model suggests that tourist travel behavior and the effects of tourist demographics are time-variant, and can be best explained by economic fluctuations. In addition, the findings suggest that the tourist life cycle and the economic cycle, and the cross-level interaction of both, jointly influence tourist travel behavior, thus suggesting a new cross-level, dual-cycle model of travel behavior.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 957-970 |
| Number of pages | 14 |
| Journal | Journal of Travel Research |
| Volume | 55 |
| Issue number | 7 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Sept 2016 |
Keywords
- demographic variables
- economic performance
- multilevel analysis
- outbound travel
- tourist behavior
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Geography, Planning and Development
- Transportation
- Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Management