Understanding millennials' tourism experience: values and meaning to travel as a key for identifying target clusters for youth (sustainable) tourism

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to better understand the tourism experience of millennials by connecting their value orientations to the meaning that they give to travel. In doing so, it also aims at discovering profiles of young tourists that can be targeted both now and in the future by tourism organisations. Design/methodology/approach A survey based on validated scales reached 423 Dutch millennials. An integrated multidimensional research strategy has been applied where models that reduce the gathered data to fewer components (principal component analyses) were followed by a cluster analysis. Findings Ten value orientations (Schwartz, 1994) and four travel meanings have been identified. By combining these ten value orientations and four meanings, nine clusters have been identified representing groups of millennial tourists with different needs. For example, while two clusters fit into the popular description of young travellers seeking only unpretentious enjoyment, millennials represented in two other clusters are strongly motivated by self-transcending values, distance themselves from the travel meaning escapism and relaxation and will therefore not positively respond to a merely hedonic travel offer. Research limitations/implications Replication of this research is recommended in other national contexts, possibly using a longitudinal approach. Practical implications The nine clusters should be approached with a dedicated travel offer. In particular, at least two clusters of millennials may be successfully approached with a sustainable tourism offer. Originality/value The combination of value orientations and travel meanings portrays a detailed and realistic picture of the tourism experience looked for by millennials

Looking from a local lens: Inbound tour operators and sustainable tourism in Kenya

Few empirical studies on sustainable tourism take into account the perspective of developing countries’ actors. This is even the case in debates about the need to adapt sustainability’s definitions to the context of developing countries. The present study aims at giving a voice to developing countries’ actors by describing how inbound tour operators (ITOs) in Kenya conceive sustainable tourism and their role in promoting it. ITOs were reached through the two official Kenyan category associations for tour operators and through Ecotourism Kenya. Both a survey and in-depth interviews were used to gather data. Results suggest that Kenyan ITOs are familiar with the current definition of sustainability as being constituted of an economic, a social and an environmental dimension. Contrary to expectations, respondents weight their responsibility towards the natural environment at least as highly as their social responsibility. In the end, it is the business long-term survival that dictates this choice: respondents are aware that tourists expect to find in Kenya a flourishing natural environment. Kenyan ITOs are on the whole keenly aware of their role in promoting sustainability to tourist, staff and the community. They experience as a major challenge the lack of institutional pressure from the government. Though this is a common complaint of organisations in developing countries, it is interesting in a Kenyan context where the Government has deployed several policy initiatives on sustainable tourism. A major limitation of this study is the limited sample. Only category associations’ members were sampled, leaving ITOs that operate in the informal economy unheard.Keywords: sustainable tourism development, corporate social responsibility, inbound tour operators, Keny

Fun, animal welfare or community development? Understanding young tourists' preferences for a wildlife tourism package

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Local food consumption and practice theory: A case study on guests’ motivations and understanding

This study explores the relationship between guests’ perceptions of local food and the motivations leading to its consumption at restaurants. Applying practice theory to consumption studies, the research draws on the “practical turn” in social theories and the renewed interest in “everyday life” and “lifeworld”. In doing so, the study uses Schatzki’s and Reckwitz’s reformulation of practice as a routinised set of behaviours interconnected with one another and rooted in a background knowledge made up of understanding, know-how, state of emotion and motivational knowledge. The research is organised as a case study collecting data from 162 potential guests of local restaurants in the municipality of Ooststellingwerf, in the northern Netherlands, via a survey questionnaire. The dataset was analysed using the Statistical Package for Social Science [SPSS] software, focusing on customers’ understanding of “local food” and the factors motivating them to order a local dish at restaurants. The exploratory findings contribute to the understanding of the conceptualisation of “local food” from the consumers’ perspective and shed light on the use of practice theory in tourism studies with regard to consumers’ pro-sustainability behaviour. Keywords: consumer behaviour, food consumption; local food; practice theor

Change as a travel benefit: Exploring the impact of travel experiences on Italian youth

This paper aims, firstly, at identifying the main dimensions of perceived change induced in young people by a travel experience and, secondly, at understanding which dimensions of the tourism experience have the greatest influence on this change. A survey was designed based on the contemporary literature and validated through a series of in-depth, semi-structured interviews with experts. Data were collected from a representative sample of 400 young Italian travellers. Principal Components Analysis (PCA) identified two dimensions of perceived personal change. The first dimension is linked to cultural knowledge and openness to other cultures, while the second relates to the introspective benefits that allow young travellers to enhance their self-understanding. By using logistic regression models, the influence of sociodemographic variables and the tourism experience on the two change dimensions were identified. This study confirms the potentiality of tourism to promote change in the young traveller. Moreover, in answering its first aim, it shows that change is a two-dimensional construct involving personal and interpersonal change. Regarding the second research aim, this study has contributed to a more solid distinction between meaning and motivation to travel. Results moreover show that meaning, motivation and satisfaction are the components of the travel experience that exercise a significant influence on the perceived change.Keywords: youth tourism, millennial travel experience, personal and interpersonal chang

Private label organic food products: profile and behaviour of Italian consumers characterized through a multivariate approach

This paper analyses data collected across a panel of 1.000 representative Italian family units, gathered by means of electronic questionnaires. The contents of the surveyed data were in relation to individuals’ consumption and purchasing behaviour in regards to organic and conventional food products. The general objective of the research has been primarily to characterize trends emanating from the surveyed results, and secondly to explore the possibility of reducing the number of the variables without losing statistical information from the data. Through the multiple correspondences analysis the complex space of the variables has been reduced to two main factors that explain the greater part of the inertia of the data. In addition, the number of consumers is categorised into five clusters, in order to evidence and to synthesize their total behaviours or attitudes

Private label organic food products: profile and behaviour of Italian consumers characterized through a multivariate approach

This paper analyses data collected across a panel of 1.000 representative Italian family units, gathered by means of electronic questionnaires. The contents of the surveyed data were in relation to individuals’ consumption and purchasing behaviour in regards to organic and conventional food products. The general objective of the research has been primarily to characterize trends emanating from the surveyed results, and secondly to explore the possibility of reducing the number of the variables without losing statistical information from the data. Through the multiple correspondences analysis the complex space of the variables has been reduced to two main factors that explain the greater part of the inertia of the data. In addition, the number of consumers is categorised into five clusters, in order to evidence and to synthesize their total behaviours or attitudes

A study of students’ travellers values and needs in order to establish futures patterns and insights

Purpose – If the only viable future for tourism is sustainable tourism then ways should be sought to increase the demand for sustainable offers. The purpose of this paper is to explore whether sustainability values influence the travel needs of students. The aim is to discover cues in the present behaviour of young tourists that can enhance sustainable travel choices and therefore secure the future of the tourism industry. Moreover, the study provides a solid basis for predicting the future travel behaviour of young tourists. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected in The Netherlands in 2013 through a survey. A non‐probabilistic sample of 365 students (a sub‐group of young tourists) was reached. Multivariate analyses were used to test whether position in the social structure and value orientation influence the travel need. The logistic models allowed youth tourism behaviour to be predicted. Findings – Respondents with a biospheric value orientation associate travel with being in contact with nature and chose rest as a motivation. This is highly interesting from a future perspective because biospheric values are considered the most stable antecedent of sustainable behaviour. Findings also highlight women's role as the sustainable tourists of the future: women harbour strong sustainability values and see travel as a growth opportunity. Research limitations/implications – This research focuses on travel needs because this is the most future‐oriented phase of the tourism experience, and on students because they tend to travel independently. Future research might include travel consumption and evaluation as well as non‐students in the sample to give a more balanced view on young tourists. Future research might also include values not related to sustainability to assess their relative strengths in influencing youth tourism. Practical implications – Both policy makers and industry could capitalise on the sustainability values already present in young people's need for travel to nudge this group – who represents tourism's future – towards a sustainable tourism choice. For example, strengthening sustainability values through marketing and education will increase demand for a sustainable offer. Originality/value – Values related to sustainability influence general tourism choices by young travellers, and not only choices related to a sustainability offer. This finding suggests a path to address the classic dilemma between individualism and sustainability and assure tourism's future by showing young travellers that they already harbour sustainability values

YOUTH TRAVEL EXPERIENCE: AN ANALYSIS OF THE RELATIONS BETWEEN MOTIVATIONS, SATISFACTION AND PERCEIVED CHANGE

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