An analysis of the relationships between the image of British Columbia and the travel interest of American tourists
Date
1994
Authors
Monkman, Martin Hugh
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Abstract
Tourism has shown remarkable growth in the post-World War Two era. In spite of this growth, social scientists have only recently begun to shown substantial interest in tourism as a suitable topic for research. Tourism destination choice is a form of spatial choice, made about a pleasure trip to an area that the traveller may know little about. Geographers have developed a number of spatial choice models, but have not applied these models in the context of tourism.
This research uses as its conceptual framework the model of traveller destination choice developed by Woodside and Lysonski (1989). The model suggests that the affective associations, which can be conceptualized as the image, a traveller holds of a destination will play a large part in determining the level of interest the traveller has in that destination. In the model, the level of interest allows the destination to be placed in one of four choice sets: the inept, inert, unavailable, and consideration sets. The assumption that attitudes influence behaviour which underlies the Woodside and Lysonski model is akin to the "theory of reasoned action" developed by Ajzen and Fishbein (1980). Working within these conceptual models, the objective of this research is to confirm the relationship between destination image and level of interest in travel to that destination.
The research utilizes survey data gathered by Tourism British Columbia in 1992. A total of 2252 American persons, screened to ensure that they had both the inclination and financial resources necessary for international travel, provided responses to a wide range of questions. Of particular relevance to this research were a series of ten image statements and two measures of interest in B.C. as a pleasure travel destination. Further, a number of demographic characteristics were probed.
The data were analysed using correlation, discriminant, and cluster analysis techniques to determine if a relationship exists between the image that respondents hold of B.C. and the level of interest in travelling there. The nature of the image was more closely examined, as were a number of demographic characteristics of the respondents. In all phases of the data analysis, statistically significant associations were found to exist between image and interest in travel.
The results of the data analysis establish that links between attitudes and behaviour, as given in the Ajzen - Fishbein "theory of reasoned action", may exist in a tourism setting. Further, the assumption made in the Woodside and Lysonski (1989) model that affective associations play a role in determining the level of interest in travel to the destination was confirmed.
A limited number of image statements were found to be important components at all phases of the analysis: B.C. is an ideal destination to relax and get away, the scenery in B.C. is some of the most beautiful in the world, B.C. would be a very exciting vacation destination, and B.C. has friendly, welcoming people. Three demographic characteristics were also found to be associated with a higher level of B.C. as a destination: the respondent's proximity to B.C., a higher level of education, and a greater level of knowledge of the province. This limited array of variables has implications for the province's tourism marketing strategy.