Abstract
Propensity to travel, loosely defined as willingness of a person to be a tourist, is one of the most fundamental concepts of tourism research. It is deeply rooted into the core of tourism demand, and draws the attention of actors on tourism supplyside. Three of the theoretically most discussed socio-demographic determinants of propensity to travel are: age, education and income. It is quite dogmatically accepted that these three socio-demographic factors immensely influence somebody’s willingness to become a tourist. The aim of the present paper is to examine this stance by conducting an empirical analysis of the determinants of propensity to travel on the macro level. In 2011, the European Parliament and The European Council have adopted the Regulation by which the Member States are obligated to compile annual data on trips of its residents. Accordingly, the data on participation in tourism for personal purposes of EU inhabitants have recently been published by Eurostat. Those data were used to answer the question which of the determinants of propensity to travel are truly important on the macro level.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Alegre J, Pou L (2004) Micro-economic determinants of the probability of tourism consumption. Tour Econ 10(2):125–144
Alegre J, Pou L (2006) An analysis of the microeconomic determinants of travel frequency. Department of Applied Economics, Universitat de les Illes Balears
Brida JG, Scuderi R (2013) Determinants of tourist expenditure: a review of microeconometric models. Tour Manag Perspect 6:28–40
Candela G, Figini P (2010) The economics of tourism destinations, 2nd edn. Springer, Berlin
Collins D, Tisdell C (2000) Changing travel patterns with age: Australian evidence and the need to modify current theories. Aust J Hosp Manag 7(1):15–26
Collins D, Tisdell C (2002) Age-related lifecycles: purpose variations. Ann Tour Res 29(3):801–818
Crouch GI (1994) The study of international tourism demand: a review of findings. J Travel Res 33(1):12–23
Deaton A (1997) The analysis of household surveys: a microeconometric approach to development policy. World Bank and John Hopkins University Press, Baltimore
European Commission (2013) Challenges and opportunities for sustainable tourism development. United Nations Sustainable Development Knowledge Plat from: http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/4119I.LELONEK_HUSTING_UN%20Expert%20meeting_Final.pdf. Retrieved 28 Apr 2014
European Union (2011) Regulation (EU) 692/2011. European Union, Bruxelles
Eurostat (2014a) Methodological manual for tourism statistics. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg
Eurostat (2014b) Record level of 2.6 bn nights spent in tourist accommodation in the EU28 in 2013. Eurostat Press Office, Luxembourg
Fleischer A, Pizam A (2002) Tourism constraints among Israeli seniors. Ann Tour Res 29(1):106–123
Hageman RP (1981) The determinants of household vacation travel: some empirical evidence. Appl Econ 13:225–234
Hong GS, Fan JX, Palmer L, Bhargava V (2005) Leisure travel expenditure patterns by family life cycle stages. J Travel Tour Market 18(2):15–30
Hong GS, Kim SY, Lee J (1999) Travel expenditure patterns of elderly households in the US. Tour Recreation J 24(1):43–52
Jang SS, Ham S (2009) A double-hurdle analysis of travel expenditure: Baby boomer seniors versus older seniors. Tour Manage 30(3):372–380
Lawson R (1994) Demographic segmentation. Tourism, marketing and management handbook. Prentice-Hall, New York, pp 311–315
Lim C (2006) A survey of tourism demand modeling practice: issues and implications, International handbook on the economics of tourism. Edward Elgar, Cheltenham, pp 45–72
Oppermann M (1995) Travel life cycle. Ann Tour Res 22(3):535–552
Sakai M, Brown J, Mak J (2000) Population aging and Japanese international travel in the 21st century. J Travel Res 38(3):212–220
Song H, Li G (2008) Tourism demand modelling and forecasting: a review of recent research. Tour Manage 29(2):203–220
UNWTO (2014) UNWTO world tourism barometer. UNWTO, Madrid
World Travel and Tourism Council (2014) Travel & tourism in Europe – economic impact 2014 Europe. World Travel and Tourism Council, London
You X, O’leary JT (2000) Age and cohort effects: an examination of older Japanese travelers. J Travel Tour Market 9(1–2):21–42
Zimmer Z, Brayley RE, Searle MS (1995) Whether to go and where to go: identification of important influences on senior and decisions to travel. J Travel Res 33(3):3–10
Zimmerman CA (1982) The life cycle concept as a tool for travel research. Transportation 11(1):51–69
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kožić, I., Mikulić, J., Krešić, D. (2016). Propensity to Travel: What Is the Macro-Data Telling Us?. In: Matias, Á., Nijkamp, P., Romão, J. (eds) Impact Assessment in Tourism Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14920-2_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14920-2_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-14919-6
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-14920-2
eBook Packages: Economics and FinanceEconomics and Finance (R0)