Tourism/ Motives and motivations of visitors to a destination of your choice (Australia, Tanzania, South Africa, Latin America) - Research Paper Example

? Motives and motivations of visitors to Australia: A literature review 15 February Motives and motivations of visitors toAustralia: A literature review A friend of mine once went to Australia, because she is motivated by the need for isolation, so that she can gain spiritual fulfillment and enlightenment. Another acquaintance said that his motives to visiting Australia are merely to enjoy surfing and to watch dragon boat contests. These examples demonstrate the wide array of motives and motivations of visitors to other places. Visitors to Australia may be drawn to its backpack adventures, cycling landscape, ecological journeys, and cultural exploration, among many others. This paper reviews the literature on the motives and motivations of visitors to Australia. To establish the parameters of the concepts motives and motivations, it will be useful to differentiate the two. Motivation is the deeper desire of the person to do something, while motives are the reasons for performing an action. An example of a tourist motive is when a visitor goes to Australia to be exposed to a different culture. Their motivation is to have an insightful cultural experience. Oftentimes though, people and studies use these concepts in the same ways, which makes it hard to actually differentiate motives and motivations for this review of literature. This review found out that tourists have diverse motives and motivations, depending on the purposes of their visits and personal desires and goals as tourists. Hughes (2000) describes “culture tourists” of Australia and their motivations of enjoying its cultural landscapes. These tourists go to cultural events, because they want to be exposed to different cultures. Their personal desires and goals are hinged on motivations regarding cultural knowledge and experience development. Hughes (2000) integrates several researches on motives and motivations of tourists who are interested in arts and entertainment consumption. Cultural tourists are motivated to visit heritage sites (i.e. castles, museums, churches, and others), visual arts centers (i.e. art galleries), and performing arts events (i.e. theaters and concert halls) (Hughes 2000:5). He notes a study of foreign tourists on Australia. Their motivations involve a cultural attraction to a specific cultural experience in Australia, while the general cultural experience is a secondary source of motivation (Hughes 2000:58). Hughes (2000:59) also differentiates visitors using the criteria of holiday and arts goals. For instance, non-holiday arts-core visitors specifically visit Australia to watch a particular cultural event, while a holiday arts-peripheral visitor has the motive of watching a play for entertainment purposes. Hill and Gough (2009) identify the following motives of ecotourists, where these visitors intend to plan enjoying and learning more about Australian ecology during their visits. Findings showed numerous motives, but the top three motives are: encountering scenic beauty, witnessing rainforest wildlife, and enjoying the sounds, smells, and sights of the rainforest (Hill and Gough 2009: 182). Kwan, Eagles, and Gebhardt (2008) examined and compared ecolodge visitors using the categories of budget, mid-price and upscale. They observed that the primary motives for ecolodge consumers are to learn and explore nature, whatever their budget, package price, and lifestyles may be. Potential differences in motives and motivations can occur between first-time and repeating visitors. Alant, and Bruwer (2004) examined wine tourism behavior. Findings showed that there are similarities and noticeable differences between the motives of first-time and repeat visitors and following behaviors in the different wine regions. Similar motives are to taste and to buy wine, while finding interesting and unique wines and enjoying the wine tasting experience are across-group motivations. Motivations differ between first-time and repeat visitors, primarily observed through knowledge of the wine region, the products and wineries through preceding visits. There are also differences between motivations across visitor types, when considering the social nature of the experience, where backpack adventurers tend to focus on self-actualization and isolation as motivations. Laing and Crouch (2009) studied the magnetism of remoteness, isolation and privacy for the frontier travelers. Findings showed that some participants sought the powerful, spiritual experiences at the frontier, with the solitude and silence of their journeys assisted internal and external reflection. Isolation and solitude seemed to provoke a sense of freedom and break out from the cares of day by day life in the frontier traveler, while the study also noted the motivation for self-sufficiency in distant settings, chiefly during the solo frontier travel experience, where the individual is enforced to formulate decisions and manage situations, without option of deferring to another's counsel, skills or experience. Finally, the motivations can also differ even for people visiting the same places, although some visitors that have the same motives may also share the same motivations. Laurie, Murphy, and Benckendorff (2011) assert that tourists of shopping villages may be enjoying the same motives, such as shopping, visiting cultural sites, and dining, but they may continue to have diverse motivations. Some visitors are motivated by the sense of escape, while others want to enhance social connection with families and other cultural groups. McCartney and Osti (2007) explored the differences in perceptions for the pursuit of cultural authenticity in the dragon boat races. Findings showed that the nation of origin can impact the motivations of visitors. Ooi and Laing studied backpacker interest in volunteer tourism and determined that there were overlaps in the motivations between the two forms of tourism. Findings indicated that a motivational relationship can be found between backpacker and volunteer tourists, which suggested the potential of generating volunteer tourism products that also cater to the backpacker market. This review underscored that motivations are much more complex than motives. Furthermore, because Australia has a diverse mix of tourism portfolio, motivations and motives can vary a great deal. Motivations can also differ for the same group that has the same motives, although they can also be the same for some groups of people. Hence, the tourism industry should conduct rigorous qualitative and quantitative studies to understand the wide range of motives and motivations of visitors, so that they can design their marketing mixes based on actual motives and motivations. Reference List Alant, K. and J. Bruwer. 2004. Wine tourism behaviour in the context of a motivational framework for wine regions and cellar doors. Journal of Wine Research Vol15 (1) pp27-37. Hill, J. and G. Gough. 2009. Can the conservation attitudes and behavioral intentions of tourists to tropical forests be improved through biodiversity interpretation? A case study from Australia. In Ecotourism and Environmental Sustainability: Principles and Practice (175-196), by J. Hill and T. Gale. England, Ashgate. Hughes, H. 2000. Arts, entertainment and tourism. Massachusetts, Butterworth-Heinemann. Kwan, P., Eagles, P.F.J., and A. Gebhardt. 2008. A comparison of ecolodge patrons' characteristics and motivations base. Journal of Sustainable Tourism Vol16 (6), pp698-718. Laing, J.H. and G.I. Crouch. 2009. Lone wolves? Isolation and solitude within the frontier travel experience. Geografiska Annaler Series B: Human Geography Vol91 (4), pp325-342. Laurie, M., Murphy, L. and P. Benckendorff. 2011. Tourist Shopping Villages: Forms and Functions. New York Routledge. McCartney, G. and L. Osti. 2007. From cultural events to sport events: a case study of cultural authenticity in the dragon boat races. Journal of Sport & Tourism Vo12 (1), pp25-40. Ooi, N. and J.H. Laing. 2010. Backpacker tourism: sustainable and purposeful? Investigating the overlap between backpacker tourism and volunteer tourism motivations. Journal of Sustainable Tourism Vol18 (2), pp191-206. Bibliography Bowdin, G. A. J., Allen, J. and W. O'Toole. 2006. Chapter 7: Events Management. Australia, Butterworth-Heinemann. Chapter 7 explores strategic marketing for events. Authors discussed the motives for festival attendance, namely socialization, family togetherness, escape, learning about cultures, excitement and thrills, and event novelty. Carr, N. 2006. A comparison of adolescents' and parents' holiday motivations and desires. Tourism & Hospitality Research Vol6 (2), pp129-142. Author studied adolescents' and parents' holiday motivations and desires. Findings showed that the kinds of holiday experiences likely to result in satisfaction for the parents and adolescents frequently differ. It suggests how age also shapes motivations of visitors. Hadwen, W.L., Hill, W., and C.M. Pickering. 2007. Icons under threat: Why monitoring visitors and their ecological impacts in protected areas matters. Ecological Management & Restoration Vol8 (3), pp177-181. Authors studied the management of ecologies in tourism. They noted the importance of motivating visitors to protect ecological welfare. This article provides information on the environmental motivations of tourists. Hartley, N. and P. Harrison. 2009. An exploration of motives for attending Australian ecotourism locations and their influence on future intentions. Available at: http://www.duplication.net.au/ANZMAC09/papers/ANZMAC2009-547.pdf (accessed February 12, 2011). Authors studied the push [internal] motivations of eco-tourists and their impact on future ecotourism intentions. Findings determined five main internal motivations, explicitly, ‘self-esteem’, ‘relaxation’, ‘social interaction’, self-fulfillment’ and ‘thrill and excitement’. Analysis revealed that ‘self-esteem’, ‘relaxation’ and ‘self-fulfillment’ motives were considerably associated with ecotourism’s objective to volunteer as well as their objective to donate money to an eco-tourism destination. Furthermore, ‘self-fulfillment’ and ‘thrill and excitement’ motives can also affect future attendance intentions. This paper relates to the motives part of visitors to Australia. Hoye, R. and K. Lillis. 2008. Travel motivations of Australian Football League fans: an exploratory study. Managing Leisure Vol13 (1), pp13-22. Authors studied the relationship between the interstate travel frequency and motivations of Australian Football League fans and used the Motivation Scale for Sport Consumption (MSSC) developed by Trail and James to scrutinize motivational factors that forecast conventional fans' behavior to travel to interstate matches to support their team. Findings showed that the motivation to connect with other fans in social settings was the most important predictor of sport fan travel behavior. This is an interesting study on the social motivations of some sports visitors. Hsu, C.H.C. and S. Huang. 2008. Travel motivation: a critical review of the concept’s development. In Tourism management: analysis, behaviour and strategy, by A.G.Woodside. Oxford, CABI. Authors discussed the travel motivation of visitors. It uses Maslow’s hierarchy of needs theory. Findings showed the motivation for leisure, using escaping and seeking models. This chapter is important in understanding the motivations of tourists in Australia. Griffin, T. and B. Hayllar. 2006. Historic waterfronts as tourism precincts: An experiential perspective. Tourism & Hospitality Research Vol7 (1), pp3-16. Authors studied experiential motivation of tourists. Findings showed that relaxation and escape were important motives. This article will provide information on motives and motivations. Kay, P.L. 2009. Cultural experience tourist motives dimensionality: a cross-cultural study. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management Vol18 (4), pp329-371. Author studied differences across cultures for cultural tourists. Findings showed that there were no cultural differences between Western and Asian tourists, but there were noteworthy differences between English-speaking tourists in their motives for attending cultural experiences. This article differentiates cultural experiences of different groups. Lamont, M. 2009. Reinventing the wheel: a definitional discussion of bicycle tourism. Journal of Sport & Tourism Vol14 (1), pp5-23. Lamont critically studies present definitions of bicycle tourism and recommends a technical characterization of bicycle tourism aimed at assisting a more meticulous and dependable statistical measurements regarding this form of tourism. This source contributes to the conceptualization of motivation from the perspective of bicycle visitors. Ritchie, B.W., Tkaczynski, A, and P. Faulks. 2010. Understanding the motivation and travel behavior of cycle tourists using involvement profiles. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing Vol27 (4), pp409-425. Authors studied the motivation and behavior of cycle tourists. They used the concept of enduring involvement, in combination with tourist motivational theory, to segment and better comprehend cycle tourist behavior and intentions. Findings showed that noteworthy differences were found on their travel motivations, travel behavior, and behavioral intentions, including sociodemographics and cycling behavior. This article provides information on different motivations and factor that demographics and cycling behavior play in motives and motivation. Read More