Travel motivations of package tour travelers

Abstract

IntroductionTourism is an industry for people who are looking for something different and they want to be treated as valuable customers (Jung, 1993).Hughes (2000) indicates that holidays provide a strong fantasy element: there is often a hope that something exciting or romantic will happen while on holiday.Since taking a holiday is likely to be one of the largest single expenditures in a year and one of the greatest sources of satisfaction and fulfillment, it is important for service providers to understand travelers' desires and their psychological and sociological needs in order to accomplish their dreams.Travel motivation reflects one's needs and wants and can be viewed as a critical variable in relation to purchase decision and the outcome of satisfaction.Mill & Alastair (1998) consider that tourists undertaking pleasure travel perceive travel as a satisfier of their needs and wants.Motivation emerges when an individual wants to satisfy a need. Jui Chi Chang Travel motivations of package tour travelersManagers in the travel industry are keen to know what influences customer decision-making and how customers make their decisions.Travel motivation reflects one's needs and wants and can be viewed as a critical variable in relation to their purchase decisions.Travel motives for joining group travel may be different from those of free independent travelers.This study examined travel motives as well as travel decision-making of Taiwanese travellers with a group package tour abroad.The qualitative approach -participant observation first and telephone interviews with tour participants later -was conducted for data collection.It was found that socio-psychological needs were an important motivation for travel, and socio-economic considerations were regarded as a crucial motivation for travel decision-making.Furthermore, their decision-makings are also strongly influenced by their social relationships -friends/relatives' recommendations.The results also revealed that Taiwanese travelers' travel motivations are considerably related to the price paid.The 'push factor' appeared to have much more impact than the 'pull factor' for impelling Taiwanese travelers in the pursuit of a holiday.Since the source of information for taking a vacation plays an important role for decision-making, this research suggested that the travel agency should put more efforts on nurturing a positive corporate image in order to gain consumers' trust.Other recommendations were proposed for the travel service providers to enhance their marketing strategies, particularly for female travelers.