Multi-faceted tourist travel decisions : a constraint-based conceptual framework to describe tourists' sequential choices of travel components

Abstract

This paper introduces a first step towards analyzing tourist travel choice in situations where tourists may: (i) temporally separate their choice of different components of the travel package, e.g. tourists may choose travel destination before accommodation, and (ii) face a structure of constraints that limits their choice options, e.g. tourists may be restricted by school holidays when choosing the period in which to travel. Theoretical insights with regard to tourist travel, destination and activity choices are reviewed as a basis for the proposed conceptual framework. An exploratory empirical study of the proposed framework is given and implications are discussed.