Understanding the motivation of repeat visitors to Rome
2016; Varna University of Management; Volume: 13; Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
1314-0817
Autores Tópico(s)Digital Marketing and Social Media
ResumoIntroductionIn the tourism marketplace, the success of a destination depends on tourist motivations and the consequent interplay between tourist satisfaction and loyalty (Yoon, Uysal, 2005). The motivations of first-time visitors should be considered; however, because retaining tourists is as important as attracting new ones, it is also necessary to understand repeat travellers' motivations to be able to create offerings that attract and retain tourists. In the tourism literature, there are abundant studies regarding travel motivations during the first-time destination selection process (Cha, McCleary, Uysal, 1995), while repeat motivations and the consequent effects have not been thoroughly investigated (Freytag, 2010; Quintal, Polczynski, 2010; Tavares, Ivanov, Neves, 2016).Tourist satisfaction and consequent repeat visitation are two core dimensions of tourists' destination loyalty (Oppermann, 1999; 2000) and continue to draw attention from both academics and practitioners. In the tourist market context, this focus is growing and reaching maturity because retaining tourists is as important as attracting new ones. In the literature, several researchers have widely explored and determined the role of travel motivations during the pre-purchase destination selection process (Chen, Tsai, 2007; Lee, Jeon, Kim, 2011; Mechinda, Serirat, Gulid, 2009; Cha, McCleary, Uysal, 1995; Crompton, 1979; Dann, 1981); less attention, however, has been paid to repeat visit motivations (Hughes, Morrison-Saunders, 2002; Lau, McKercher, 2004; Xiang, Li, Cheng, Kim, Petrick, 2008).Therefore, to the best of our knowledge, empirical inquiries into the motivations behind repeat visits are rare. Moreover, most of the empirical studies on travel motivations have focussed on North American and Asian countries. Less attention has been given to European countries, including Italian destinations. Although Rome is one of the top tourist destinations both in Europe and worldwide (UNWTO, 2014), we are not aware of any empirical study identifying the travel motivations of travellers to Rome nor of the motivations of travellers to revisit Rome.The purposes of this study are to examine the motivations of tourists that spend a holiday in their country of origin - identified as national travellers - and tourists that spend holiday abroad - international travellers - to revisit Rome. Then, to explore the dimensions of the motivations behind repeat visits, to identify whether there are significant differences in travel motivations among travellers with different demographic and trip profiles, and to discuss the influences of repeat motivations and tourism satisfaction on destination loyalty. The concepts of motivation, tourism satisfaction, and destination loyalty are explored in the literature review that follows, as well as the sections covering the methods and the findings of this study. A discussion of theoretical and managerial implications follows the presentation of the results.Literature reviewTravel motivationMotivation is the need that drives an individual to act in a certain way to achieve the desired satisfaction (Beerli, Martin, 2004). Because a paradigm of tourism is related to human beings and human nature, investigating why people travel and what they enjoy is a complex proposition.People decide to travel for different reasons and motives, perceived as forces that reduce a state of tension. This state gives rise to a need that stimulates an attitude or behaviour (Fodness, 1994). In practice, all human behaviours are motivated even though the choices to satisfy needs can depend on other psychological variables (Crompton, 1979). Therefore, human behaviours can be predicted by inner motives, such as desire, which direct people to reach their goals (Gleitman, 1986). These inner motives have been described as internal stimuli, or personal needs that can be psychological, social, and egocentric in nature. …
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