Factors Influencing Length of Stay and Expenditure of Domestic Tourists in Al Aqaba City, Jordan
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Date
2014-09
Authors
MOHAMMAD HUSSEIN, HUSSEIN
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Abstract
Domestic tourism has a significant economic contribution to local development, and is not affected by seasonality, common issues related to international tourism like ticketing and hotel reservations, security and economic recession. Despite the important role of domestic tourism in total tourism activity, few studies discussed the problems facing this market, factors influencing length of stay and tourists' expenditure and changes in consumer behaviour and travel choices. The current study discusses the relationship between a wide range of independent variables such as socio-demographic characteristics, travel characteristics and destination attributes and their influence on length of stay and tourists' expenditure. The model used in this study is based on economic theory of consumer behaviour to examine and explain the consumption behaviour of domestic tourists visiting Aqaba city in Jordan. A total of 417 surveys was administrated to Jordanian tourists who visited Aqaba city. In order to obtain accurate and reliable, data was collected after they completed their trips from two stations: the custom checkpoints and the departure gate at King Hussein International Airport in Aqaba. The results show that socio-demographic characteristics, travel characteristics and destination attributes are closely linked to length of stay, while length of stay is also closely related to expenditure. As such, these variables are intertwined and correlated in terms of relationships among them. The results proved that length of stay had a partial mediating influence on tourists' expenditure and independent variables were the most powerful predictor for expenditure. The current study provides a comprehensive picture of domestic tourism market and would be a useful reference point to
Jordanian authorities and stakeholders to plan and implement policies that would encourage domestic tourism in Jordan.
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Keywords
Tourism , Western Asia