Motivational Theories for Travel and Tourism

Motivational Theories for pilgrimage and TourismAbstractThe endeavors of this dissertation argon to demonstrate how the penuryal theories in travel and phaetonry can be apply as a foundation for re front into ceasing severalizeicipation in organized leisure activities, and to discuss methodological implications that emerge from much(prenominal) an approach. The look for problem is the appointment of three indigenceal operators that mostly puzzle out the choice of leisure activity in the Lebanese touristry field. The dissertation every(prenominal)ow rely heavily on literature review and primary enquiry that utilise university students and a focus group of industriousness professionals in Lebanon.The theoretical background of this study is structured check to Iso-Aholas motivational possibility. Iso-Aholas speculation asserts that personal escape, personal want, interpersonal escape, and interpersonal seeking spark tourism and am practisement. This dissertation ope rationalizes and empirically tests Iso-Aholas theory for similar tourism and merriment meets. The motivation dimensions atomic turn 18 monitored using scenario-based entropy for sporting events, b individuallyes, amusement parks, and inbred parks. The commencement ceremony investigation apply confirmatory factor analysis to explore the efficacy of six competing motivational structures.Three of these competing models achieved superior and similar fit statistics, with cardinal model incorporating the most parsimonious structure. This model gave exist and direct salience to each of the four motivations. The second investigation examined the differences in motivation levels for tourism and deflexion figures. Tourism experiences exhibited higher levels of motivation, particularly for the personal seeking and personal escape dimensions. The three investigation found no relationship surrounded by the arrive of new-made domestic and international vacations and tourism motiv ations among the subjects.Chapter I gateThis dissertation seeks to explore the rationale for, and difficulties of operationalizing, the touchst ace of tourists comfort with their experiences in particular cultivations. It suggests that the on-going systematic cadencement of mirth with ends is a valuable exercise that impart shake off tangible benefits, but acknowledges the difficulties of doing this in a meaningful manner. The principal argument cedeed is that the standard of tourists ecstasy with a particular stopping point involves more than simply meter the level of gratification with the advantages delivered by item-by-item enterprises. There needs to be a frequently broader, more encompassing means of measuring rejoicing, one that relates closely to the motivations which tourists bring in for reproofing the destination in the first vest.The tourism industriousness consists of a number of divergent sectors including the travel, hospitality and visitor retu rnss sector. indoors each of these sectors there argon a number of individual(a) enterprises that offer a range of wait ons to pile who ar traveling away from their inhabitation environment. This travel could be for a variety of reasons including for pleasure, to visit friends and relatives, to work on a short experimental condition basis, to attend conferences, to participate in business activities, or any of a number of ad hoc reasons.While the industry distinguishes between the miscellaneous groups according to their aim for travel, convention has it that all these short- margin travelers argon defined as tourists Likewise, the industry distinguishes between various trades according to their place of origin (international, domestic, intra-state, interstate, etc). These attributes are non applicable to this newspaper publisher which is concerned with all these forms of tourism.Tourists visit destinations and suck up in various activities while there. These destin ations can be class in various ways and at various scales of analysis. For example, Lebanon could be regarded as a destination for international visitors while Beirut could be one for nation from northern Lebanon. At a diametrical scale, a city or even a region could be regarded as a destination. This paper is concerned with all these levels. It is not concerned with individual enterprises which exist within certain destinations. As remark below, there appears to be adequate analysis of tourism atonement at the individual enterprise level.What is abstracted is a broader view that odors at the way tourists move to the meatity of their experiences in a particular destination irrespective of the particular activities that they engage in. I am going to provide an explanation of the Lebanese tourism economy be move this market is the model that this dissertation uses as the benchmark for testing Iso-Aholas motivational theory. I encounter chosen this soil due to its repute of being the jewel of the Middle East and one of the most dispositiond destinations in the region. The reasonableness of the characteristics of this market will coquette a circumstantial use in laying the foundations for the look and would allow to plus the integrity and reliability of this research.Moreover, the market is highly intemperate and the geographic field of force is small this aspect would play a paramount consumption in diminishing sources of error and in case of their chancerence it would be easier to isolate and rectify. In addition, being my home country I view studying this market as a personal passion which would allow me to present with a high motivational level. I will leadingt by providing a review of the state of Lebanese tourism and highlight the trends, review infrequent research findings, and pinpoint the market characteristics.Tourism in the Lebanese EconomyOver the last cristal the tourism industry has emerged as a evidential sector of the Leba nese economy generating approximately $5 billion in income, employing 1 in 9 Lebanese and contributing nearly $1.5 billion in export earnings.While approximately 55% of tourism activity involves domestic travel, the fastest formulateing sector is in-bound travel. This has been increasing significantly over the last decade with Lebanon receiving 1.1 million visits in 2004. Despite the novel d knowledgeswing in the economies of major source countries, and the unstable political landscape visitor arrivals to Lebanon are expected to grow at an average annual rate of between 5.7 and 7.8 per cent to reach between 1.4 and 1.7 million visitors in 2010.Being a relatively new industry characterized by growth, the focus has been on marketing, visitor numbers, and duration of stay, expenditure patterns and other measures of economic consumption. As the industry has begun to mature in the last five or so years there has been an increasing interest in such things as lineament of dish up, ac creditation procedures, and quantity of invitee merriment. The looses discussed in this paper should be seen as part of this maturation cognitive process in which the industry is face to achieve long-term sustainable growth that generates benefits for the industry, the clients and the community as a self-colored.Methodology of Research accumulate information in marketing research practically involves several different strategies, such as interviewing and analyzing documents (Merriam, 1998). Using multiple sources of knowledge is useful in our research since we have doubts that a single source of discipline will provide a complete and comprehensive judgement of the research problem, so in our research we use multiple sources of information. Basically, there are dickens forms of data primary and secondary data. While writing the dissertation, I will use several different sources when collecting data in purchase order to increase the validity of the collected data.Seconda ry data is the data that has been previously collected and published. The secondary data used in the beginning of our research, originated from various sources. In the preceding(prenominal) period, we have started by studying literature related to relationship tourism marketing, tourism buying and motivational behavior and motivational marketing concepts in order to get deeper insight into and understanding of the researched area.The other sources used for collection of our secondary data were newspaper and mag articles, course materials, on-line sources (Internet databases) and tourism companies materials (internal and external).The methodology used for primary research will be depicted at greater length in the third chapter.Current Measurement of Tourists gratification LevelsDespite the large body of literature available on bliss research in familiar, only a few academic studies have focussed directly on customer contentment amongst tourists. Of these, an even more control number have been underinterpreted in Lebanon. The major studies take Fick and Ritchie (1991), Reisinger and Waryszak (1994), Arnold and Price (1993), Crompton and Love (1995), Geva and Goldman (1991), Maddox (1985) and Ryan (1995). Because of the limited material available in the academic literature, a preliminary survey of government activitys that whitethorn have investigated tourist satisfaction was underinterpreted.Given the broad focus of the paper and the limited space, no attempt was made to look at individual tourism enterprises measuring the satisfaction level of clients as part of their on-going quality confidence program. The most common example of this is the questionnaire that is left in individual hotel rooms. These vary from single response questions to sophisticate instruments designed to elicit quite detailed responses from guests. some of these are diagnostic in the sense impression that they are aimed at identifying specific measures that can be taken to imp rove the service. Some specifically enquire nearly customers perceptions of the services repute for money. In some instances, particularly amongst 5 star hotel chains, these are used for benchmarking or as execution of instrument indicators.Because of this decision to exclude individual enterprises, the preliminary survey focused on the following organizationsAcademic departments of Lebanese universitiesState tourist officesNon-government tourist industry organizations and associationsThe search found a range of studies has been completed most of which are primarily data-gathering research exercises rather than conceptual studies. The prime studies are described in extension I.It is fetch that some work has been done in this area by a smattering of agencies each of which approaches it from a quite different perspective. Despite realization of the likely observe of the data, current efforts are not coordinated guideing in a lack of comparison that makes it impossible to ide ntify trends and monitor changes in a systematic fashion. More strategicly, the diversity of approaches demonstrates a need for substantial conceptual work on the record of tourist satisfaction in general and the measurement of tourist satisfaction with destinations in particular. What is required is further exploration into the application of concepts and ideas drawn from the broader consumer literature to the specific challenge of measuring the satisfaction of tourists with particular destinations. This may require a quite different approach to that adopted for other work.Why measure satisfaction at the level of the destination?There are a number of reasons why it would be appropriate to look at extending the measurement of tourist satisfaction to the more global level of the tourist destination. It is critical to understand the underlying motivational factors in order to be able to get a clearer barometer for the measurement of satisfaction of tourists. Without pre-empting th e nature of this measurement, these reasons includeMillions of dollars are worn out(p) each year on destination marketing by national and state tourism offices, airlines and regional tourism bodies. This includes detailed surveys of potential markets as intumesce as extensive advertising and promotional campaigns in source countries. While there is considerable research into the impact of the promotional effort through sensation studies, tracking studies, etc, these all concentrate on the inputs (i.e. has the campaign reached its target audience?). What is missing is an understanding of the clients reaction to the ingathering offering, in particularly whether it meets the needs of the target market. This would suit an integral part of the understanding what the market(s) is/are seeking.Peak organizations in the tourism industry recognize the need to encourage two new and repeat business. The latter can best be achieved by ensuring that our current offerings are full-blooded t he needs, expectations and desires of current tourists and their propensity to recommend the destination to others.The measure could become a barometer of the health of the industry for strategic planning purposes.The tourism industry itself is grappling with the issue of service quality and recognizes that this is the key to long term victory. At present its focus is on establishing accreditation mechanisms to ensure that individual firms conform to appropriate standards. Monitoring tourists satisfaction at the more global level would provide a valuable manikin for this and enable comparison between the efforts of the individual enterprise and those of the industry as a whole.Government agencies are now recognizing the value of assessing the success of their programs in terms of outcomes rather than inputs. As Lebanese government agencies move in this focussing the need for the systematic collection of the type of data proposed will increase. In the case of tourism, this is part icularly relevant to national, state and regional tourism development bodies responsible for destination marketing. Using the level of satisfaction see by visitors to their destination as a measure of success would transfer the focus away from the efforts of the organization towards their achievements.Governments of all persuasions are looking critically at their financial commitments and questioning whether they should continue the traditionally high level of support. If the industry can demonstrate a relationship between the level of support and the satisfaction of visitors to their destination then the argument for continued support would be strengthened greatly. This would complement other measures such as visitor numbers, expenditure, etc.With an appropriate measurement instrument it could be possible for individual sectors of the industry to be compared with other sectors. In an industry where the success of the whole depends on the contribution of each part, this informatio n will help to identify those sectors that need to improve.Recent developments in consumer protection have extended into the area of satisfaction. The 1993 European Union Directive on Travel has required member states to implement laws self-aggrandizing tourists the right to obtain compensation from packaged tour operators in the event that they are dissatisfied with their holiday. This applies in all destinations, including Lebanon. The results of the proposed survey will help to focus the attention of the industry on this issue and provide data on how the industry is going and what needs to be improved.Perspectives on Measuring Tourists triumph with a DestinationMeasuring tourists satisfaction with a destination is conceptually different from measuring satisfaction at the proceeding specific level. Moreover, it is contended that while satisfaction at the destination level is influenced by the various transactions that occur at that destination, an individuals level of satisfact ion is influenced by much broader, global factors, some of which are beyond the capacity of the tourism industry to affect. The purpose of this section is to outline some ideas that should be taken into account when developing a method to measure satisfaction at this relatively abstract level.Johnson, Anderson et al., (1995) have distinguished between two different general conceptualizations of satisfaction transaction-specific satisfaction and cumulative satisfaction. The former is concerned with satisfaction as an individual, transaction-specific measure or military rating of a particular product or service experience (Johnson, Anderson et al. 1995).Cumulative satisfaction, on the other hand, is a cumulative, abstract construct that describes customers total consumption experience with a product or service (Johnson, Anderson et al., 1995). As a customers overall evaluation of the purchase or consumption experience, cumulative satisfaction is the most relevant conceptualization w hen the focus is on the tourists evaluation of their overall experience at a destination. This is some cadences referred to as market-level satisfaction.The literature suggests that satisfaction measurement essential be treated differently at these two levels of abstraction. Moreover, when considering consumer satisfaction with their consumption experiences, a major distinction has been made between the consumption of unslopeds and services (Lovelock, 1991).Measures of satisfaction are not the same for these different consumption experiences, more often than not because of the role of the consumer in the service encounter. It could as rise up be argued that tourism is a special service in that, like recreation or education, it is largely self-produced (Williams, 1988). The individual plays a central role in determining the experiences achieved and the benefits derived.The special nature of tourism can be understood by adopting the behavioral perspective first developed within t he recreation and leisure literature. This literature demonstrates the value of perceiving recreation as activity that realises experiences which, in turn, result in benefits for the individual (Driver and Tocher, 1970 Mannel and Iso-Ahola, 1987). This created a focus on the factors which determine the quality of those experiences and the benefits derived. Measurement of satisfaction has therefore involved an judging of whether the experiences have resulted in the desired benefits sought by the individual. In his seminal paper (Wagar 1966) suggested that the quality of recreation experience depends upon how well desired outcomes are realized. rapture is therefore more a function of the needs and interests of the individual than the attributes and characteristics of the service provided. These ideas have gradually become the basis of the conceptualization of the tourist experience and conscious much of the work about tourist motivations and expectations (Crompton and Love, 1995 Rya n, 1995). Therefore tourist experiences can be regarded as the result of an active endeavor by the individual to create a situation in which to achieve satisfaction. It is this active involvement of the individual in the creation of his or her personal experiences that needs to be acknowledged.In a similar vein, the early recreation literature also recognized the implications of this approach for the assessment of recreation service quality. It was recognized that the quality of the experiences can be influenced by input factors provided by managers . . . but to a considerable extent the quality of experiences depends upon choices made by recreationists and how they use the many factors of production (Brown, 1988 413). In other words, the satisfaction levels experienced by recreationists are recognized as being a function of a number of different variables including those brought by the recreationist him/herself which are beyond the influence of the service provider.Drawing on the c onsumer literature, it is too easy to assume that the outcomes of the tourist activity are solo the creation of the tourist operators/industry. However, it is perhaps more illuminating to adopt a transactional perspective outlined in the recreation literature. Here, the tourist actively creates the recreation(tourist) experience, through a transaction with the physical and neighborly setting, including what the recreationist (tourist) brings to the process in terms of history, perceptions, companions, skills, equipment, identities, hopes and dreams (Williams, 1988). With this perspective, more emphasis is placed on the behavior of the individual and their role in creating the experience. not all the responsibility for creating high levels of satisfaction rests with the service deliverer.With this in mind, (Crompton and Love, 1995) make a distinction between quality of chance and quality of experience.Quality of opportunity is defined as qualities of the attributes of a service t hat are under the control of a supplier. Evaluation is concerned with judgments about the performance of the leisure opportunity supplier. . . . In contrast, quality of experience involves not only the attributes provided by a supplier, but also attributes brought to the opportunity by the visitor or recreationist. . Quality of experience is a psychological outcome or emotional response. . Satisfaction is measured by how well leisure activities are perceived to fulfill the sanctioned needs and motives that stirred the idea to participate in the activity (Crompton and Love, 199512).When the neutral is to measure satisfaction with a holiday in a particular destination, it will be of the essence(p) to note this distinction and ensure that both aspects are included in the assessment. We have been reasonably good at assessing tourists perceptions of the quality of opportunity but largely ignored the question of quality of experience.A further perspective that could be of relevance he re is that of Herzberg (1966). While his work mainly focused on the workplace, his theory of motivation has relevance to the expenditure of discretionary time such as going on a holiday. Herzberg (1966) suggests that all aspects of an experience can be classified as either a motivational or a hygienic factor. Motivational factors are those that positively encourage people to do something. For example, a desire to make new friends may motivate people to go on an organized tour rather than travel alone. On the other hand, hygienic factors are those things which would not encourage one to travel, but their absence seizure would discourage such travel.A good example is the availability of clean drinking water. Having this available is tall(a) to motivate someone to travel, while its absence could cause someone to not choose a particular destination. gibe to Roger James Associates (1996) the absence of motivational factors does not lead to dissatisfaction but rather to unsatisfaction a sense of emptiness rather than a sense of anger or disappointment. On the other hand, the absence of a hygienic factor will lead to dissatisfaction. The presence of such a factor will not lead to satisfaction but rather to satisficing, that is, a passive (albeit benign) feeling (Roger James Associates, 1996 34).If we adopt this framework it could be suggested that we have tended to focus on the hygienic factors which are represented by the measurement of how well the services (hotels, airports, travel companies, etc) are provided. These are important because without these being done well, the customer would be very dissatisfied. However, we have not also measured the motivational factors. These are akin to the experience factors how well the destination facilitates the satisfaction of personal needs. The best way of ensuring that we are providing this is to understand the clients needs, etc and to develop product that is relevant to these. In turn, this is linked to the benefi ts to be derived from the experience thus creating satisfaction.The work by Arnold and Price (1993) confirms the role that needs and desires play in the consumers evaluation of a particular experience. They present very clear evidence that the satisfaction of participants in this recreational (or possibly tourist?) activity is related to the extent to which the experience enhances their individual cultural script and are interpreted within the broader narrative context of the consumers life (Arnould and Price, 1993). They suggest that satisfaction with river rafting . . . does not seem to be embodied in attributes of the experience such as amounts of time spent freezing in wet clothes, uncomfortable toilet facilities, bad food or any summary business leader of specific attributes of the falter (Arnould and Price, 1993).These general thoughts appear to be in line with the fundamentals of the marketing concept most normally described as satisfying the needs and desires of the consum er (Keith, 1960 38) and the whole notion of benefit segmentation which suggests that purchases are selected on the basis of the benefits derived by consumers (Haley, 1968). It is also consistent with the recent work of Spreng and his associates which emphasizes the role that desires, as opposed to expectations, plays in determining satisfaction within the disconfirmation framework (Spreng, Mackenzie et al., 1996).Proposed PathSpace does not permit an exhaustive mental testing of the extensive literature outlining the various models used as the basis for measuring customer satisfaction and gauging the behavioral aspects (see Parasuraman, Zeithaml et al., 1994). However, a review of this literature has uncovered a model that could be developed to provide a satisfactory method of evaluating tourists satisfaction at the level of the destination and their motivational map. This model has been developed by Iso-Ahola and has become the basis of extensive work at the national and internati onal level.The index provided by the Iso-Ahola model provides a cumulative evaluation of a sectors market offering coupled with individual evaluation of a specific transaction. Called the Customer Satisfaction Index/Barometer, it has been introduced in Sweden, Germany and the United States of America (Fornell, Johnson et al, 1996). mainland China and New Zealand are also in the process of introducing a similar national satisfaction indicator. While much work still needs to be done, the framework provided by Iso-Ahola model provides a good starting point. It should be possible to make the necessary changes required to produce a useful index that will contribute to the on-going development of this important industry.Chapter IILiterature ReviewIt is imperative to start with a review of literature that addressed motivation in the travel and tourism industry. By adopting this approach we will be able to present a much more comprehensive and inclusive approach to understanding the theorie s of motivation in the travel and tourism industry and thus, we will be able to lay the foundations of clear parameters that can help scholars and decision makers measure the satisfaction of tourists and the underlying motivational factors. This part of the paper is employ to reviewing the literature that currently assesses the main theories of motivation. These theories span across a wide spectrum therefore we will adopt the various theories of travel motivation in the first part and then we will focus our discussions on Iso-Aholas motivational theory.The main theories of travel motivationKnowledge of peoples travel motivations and its association with destination selection plays a critical role in predicting future travel patterns. The essay talks about the various theories propounded by the theorists and analyses their practical benefits for the tourism industry.Tourist motivation can be defined as the global integrating network of biological and cultural forces which gives val ue and direction to travel choices, behavior and experience. (Pearce, Morrison Rutledge, 1998) as cited by Allan R. Rhodes Espinoza. According to Seaton (1997) motivation is a state of arousal of a drive or need which impels people to activity in pursuit of goals. Once the goals have been achieved the need subsides and the individual returns to the equilibrium-but only briefly because new motives arise as the last one is satisfied.Krippendorf (1987), as cited in Seaton (1997) suggests that the motivation of the individual person to travel, to look outside for what he cannot find inside have been largely created by society and shaped by everyday life. People who live in cities, for example, are motivated to travel as tourists to wilderness areas because they need to escape from an artificial, monotonous environment. (Dann Matley, 1976) as cited in Mansfeld 1992). Grays travel-motivation theory, as noted by Mansfeld (1992), gives us two motives about why people go to natural setting s. The first motive is the desire to go from a cognize to an unknown place, called in Grays theory wanderlust.Secondly, a place which can provide the traveler with specific facilities that do not exist in his or her own place of residence, referred in Grays theory as cheer lust (Mansfeld, 1992). It is a common practice to consider traveler or tourist types as potential market segments for travel and tourism marketing (Smith, 1989 as cited in Theobald, 1996).Some of the motives which determine their travel choices are recreation, pleasure, new experiences, cultural interest, shopping.Any reader of literature of tourism motivation cannot help being struck by the similarity in findings by many researchers. The adjectives and categorizations of tourists based upon motivations may differ in number, but recurrent themes emerge. For example the need to escape from everyday environs for the purpose of relaxation, and discovering new things, places and people are often alluded to.Accordi ng to Crompton (1979), as cited in Bello Etzel (1985), the need for relaxation, exploration, loving interaction and enhancement of kinship relationships act as dominant push motives in the vacation decision. Reversely, pull motives are aroused by the destination and include factors like scenic attractions, historical sites. Push factors are thought to establish the desire for travel and pull factors are thought to explain actual destination choice. Seaton (1997) suggests that the push factors include avoidance of work, cultural/social pressures at home. The pull factors include seeking leisure /play, freedom and escape.Maslow (1943) identified two motivational types tension-reducing motives arousal-seeking motives. According to Maslow, there are five needs forming a hierarchy, progressing from the lower to the higher needs. Maslow argued that if the lower needs physiological hunger, thirst, rest, safety security, belonging and love affection, giving and receiving love are fulfill ed the individual would be motivated by needs of the next level of the hierarchy esteem self-esteem and esteem for others, self-actualization personal self-realization.Cooper et al(2005) criticizes Maslows theory saying that why and how Maslow selected the basic five needs remain unclear, although Page(2003) feels that it has relevance in understanding how human action is understandable and inevitable compared to research which argues that human behavior is essentially ludicrous and unpredictable. Cooper et al (2005) also questions the arrangement of the needs. Though Cooper et al (2005) criticizes much about Maslows theory, he feels that tourism industry has borrowed a lot from Maslow because he provides a convenient set of containers that can be relatively labeled.Hudman (1980) as cited in Davidson and Maitland (1997) argue that Maslows (1943) hierarchy of needs provides a useful framework for understanding psychological motivational factors in tourism. Thus, for example, altho ugh the apparent purpose of a trip may be to visit friends and relatives, the underlying psychological motivation may be a need for belongingMotivational Theories for Travel and TourismMotivational Theories for Travel and TourismAbstractThe purposes of this dissertation are to demonstrate how the motivational theories in travel and tourism can be used as a foundation for research into ceasing participation in organized leisure activities, and to discuss methodological implications that emerge from such an approach. The research problem is the identification of three motivational factors that mostly influence the choice of leisure activity in the Lebanese tourism sector. The dissertation will rely heavily on literature review and primary research that used university students and a focus group of industry professionals in Lebanon.The theoretical background of this study is structured according to Iso-Aholas motivational theory. Iso-Aholas theory asserts that personal escape, personal seeking, interpersonal escape, and interpersonal seeking motivate tourism and recreation. This dissertation operationalizes and empirically tests Iso-Aholas theory for similar tourism and recreation experiences. The motivation dimensions are monitored using scenario-based data for sporting events, beaches, amusement parks, and natural parks. The first investigation used confirmatory factor analysis to explore the efficacy of six competing motivational structures.Three of these competing models achieved superior and similar fit statistics, with one model incorporating the most parsimonious structure. This model gave equal and direct salience to each of the four motivations. The second investigation examined the differences in motivation levels for tourism and recreation experiences. Tourism experiences exhibited higher levels of motivation, particularly for the personal seeking and personal escape dimensions. The third investigation found no relationship between the number of recent domestic and international vacations and tourism motivations among the subjects.Chapter I IntroductionThis dissertation seeks to explore the rationale for, and difficulties of operationalizing, the measurement of tourists satisfaction with their experiences in particular destinations. It suggests that the on-going systematic measurement of satisfaction with destinations is a valuable exercise that will have tangible benefits, but acknowledges the difficulties of doing this in a meaningful manner. The principal argument presented is that the measurement of tourists satisfaction with a particular destination involves more than simply measuring the level of satisfaction with the services delivered by individual enterprises. There needs to be a much broader, more encompassing means of measuring satisfaction, one that relates closely to the motivations which tourists have for visiting the destination in the first place.The tourism industry consists of a number of different sectors inclu ding the travel, hospitality and visitor services sector. Within each of these sectors there are a number of individual enterprises that provide a range of services to people who are traveling away from their home environment. This travel could be for a variety of reasons including for pleasure, to visit friends and relatives, to work on a short term basis, to attend conferences, to participate in business activities, or any of a number of specific reasons.While the industry distinguishes between the various groups according to their purpose for travel, convention has it that all these short-term travelers are defined as tourists Likewise, the industry distinguishes between various markets according to their place of origin (international, domestic, intra-state, interstate, etc). These distinctions are not relevant to this paper which is concerned with all these forms of tourism.Tourists visit destinations and engage in various activities while there. These destinations can be class ified in various ways and at various scales of analysis. For example, Lebanon could be regarded as a destination for international visitors while Beirut could be one for people from northern Lebanon. At a different scale, a city or even a region could be regarded as a destination. This paper is concerned with all these levels. It is not concerned with individual enterprises which exist within certain destinations. As noted below, there appears to be adequate analysis of tourism satisfaction at the individual enterprise level.What is missing is a broader view that looks at the way tourists respond to the totality of their experiences in a particular destination irrespective of the particular activities that they engage in. I am going to provide an explanation of the Lebanese tourism economy because this market is the model that this dissertation uses as the benchmark for testing Iso-Aholas motivational theory. I have chosen this country due to its reputation of being the jewel of the Middle East and one of the most desired destinations in the region. The understanding of the characteristics of this market will play a critical role in laying the foundations for the research and would allow to increase the integrity and reliability of this research.Moreover, the market is highly concentrated and the geographic area is small this aspect would play a paramount role in diminishing sources of error and in case of their occurrence it would be easier to isolate and rectify. In addition, being my home country I view studying this market as a personal passion which would allow me to present with a high motivational level. I will start by providing a review of the state of Lebanese tourism and highlight the trends, review precious research findings, and pinpoint the market characteristics.Tourism in the Lebanese EconomyOver the last decade the tourism industry has emerged as a significant sector of the Lebanese economy generating approximately $5 billion in income, employ ing 1 in 9 Lebanese and contributing about $1.5 billion in export earnings.While approximately 55% of tourism activity involves domestic travel, the fastest growing sector is in-bound travel. This has been increasing significantly over the last decade with Lebanon receiving 1.1 million visits in 2004. Despite the recent downturn in the economies of major source countries, and the unstable political landscape visitor arrivals to Lebanon are expected to grow at an average annual rate of between 5.7 and 7.8 per cent to reach between 1.4 and 1.7 million visitors in 2010.Being a relatively new industry characterized by growth, the focus has been on marketing, visitor numbers, and length of stay, expenditure patterns and other measures of consumption. As the industry has begun to mature in the last five or so years there has been an increasing interest in such things as quality of service, accreditation procedures, and measurement of client satisfaction. The issues discussed in this paper should be seen as part of this maturation process in which the industry is looking to achieve long-term sustainable growth that generates benefits for the industry, the clients and the community as a whole.Methodology of ResearchCollecting data in marketing research often involves several different strategies, such as interviewing and analyzing documents (Merriam, 1998). Using multiple sources of information is useful in our research since we have doubts that a single source of information will provide a complete and comprehensive understanding of the research problem, so in our research we use multiple sources of information. Basically, there are two forms of data primary and secondary data. While writing the dissertation, I will use several different sources when collecting data in order to increase the validity of the collected data.Secondary data is the data that has been previously collected and published. The secondary data used in the beginning of our research, originated fr om various sources. In the preparatory period, we have started by studying literature related to relationship tourism marketing, tourism buying and motivational behavior and motivational marketing concepts in order to get deeper insight into and understanding of the researched area.The other sources used for collection of our secondary data were newspaper and magazine articles, course materials, on-line sources (Internet databases) and tourism companies materials (internal and external).The methodology used for primary research will be depicted at greater length in the third chapter.Current Measurement of Tourists Satisfaction LevelsDespite the large body of literature available on satisfaction research in general, only a few academic studies have focused directly on customer satisfaction amongst tourists. Of these, an even more limited number have been undertaken in Lebanon. The major studies include Fick and Ritchie (1991), Reisinger and Waryszak (1994), Arnold and Price (1993), C rompton and Love (1995), Geva and Goldman (1991), Maddox (1985) and Ryan (1995). Because of the limited material available in the academic literature, a preliminary survey of organizations that may have investigated tourist satisfaction was undertaken.Given the broad focus of the paper and the limited space, no attempt was made to look at individual tourism enterprises measuring the satisfaction level of clients as part of their on-going quality assurance program. The most common example of this is the questionnaire that is left in individual hotel rooms. These vary from single response questions to sophisticated instruments designed to elicit quite detailed responses from guests.Most of these are diagnostic in the sense that they are aimed at identifying specific measures that can be taken to improve the service. Some specifically enquire about customers perceptions of the services value for money. In some instances, particularly amongst 5 star hotel chains, these are used for benc hmarking or as performance indicators.Because of this decision to exclude individual enterprises, the preliminary survey focused on the following organizationsAcademic departments of Lebanese universitiesState tourist officesNon-government tourist industry organizations and associationsThe search found a range of studies has been completed most of which are primarily data-gathering research exercises rather than conceptual studies. The prime studies are described in appendix I.It is clear that some work has been done in this area by a smattering of agencies each of which approaches it from a quite different perspective. Despite acknowledgement of the potential value of the data, current efforts are not coordinated resulting in a lack of comparability that makes it impossible to identify trends and monitor changes in a systematic fashion. More importantly, the diversity of approaches demonstrates a need for substantial conceptual work on the nature of tourist satisfaction in general and the measurement of tourist satisfaction with destinations in particular. What is required is further exploration into the application of concepts and ideas drawn from the broader consumer literature to the specific challenge of measuring the satisfaction of tourists with particular destinations. This may require a quite different approach to that adopted for other services.Why measure satisfaction at the level of the destination?There are a number of reasons why it would be appropriate to look at extending the measurement of tourist satisfaction to the more global level of the tourist destination. It is critical to understand the underlying motivational factors in order to be able to get a clearer barometer for the measurement of satisfaction of tourists. Without pre-empting the nature of this measurement, these reasons includeMillions of dollars are spent each year on destination marketing by national and state tourism offices, airlines and regional tourism bodies. This include s detailed surveys of potential markets as well as extensive advertising and promotional campaigns in source countries. While there is considerable research into the impact of the promotional effort through awareness studies, tracking studies, etc, these all concentrate on the inputs (i.e. has the campaign reached its target audience?). What is missing is an understanding of the clients reaction to the product offering, in particularly whether it meets the needs of the target market. This would become an integral part of the understanding what the market(s) is/are seeking.Peak organizations in the tourism industry recognize the need to encourage both new and repeat business. The latter can best be achieved by ensuring that our current offerings are satisfying the needs, expectations and desires of current tourists and their propensity to recommend the destination to others.The measure could become a barometer of the health of the industry for strategic planning purposes.The tourism industry itself is grappling with the issue of service quality and recognizes that this is the key to long term success. At present its focus is on establishing accreditation mechanisms to ensure that individual firms conform to appropriate standards. Monitoring tourists satisfaction at the more global level would provide a valuable framework for this and enable comparison between the efforts of the individual enterprise and those of the industry as a whole.Government agencies are now recognizing the value of assessing the success of their programs in terms of outcomes rather than inputs. As Lebanese government agencies move in this direction the need for the systematic collection of the type of data proposed will increase. In the case of tourism, this is particularly relevant to national, state and regional tourism development bodies responsible for destination marketing. Using the level of satisfaction experienced by visitors to their destination as a measure of success would tran sfer the focus away from the efforts of the organization towards their achievements.Governments of all persuasions are looking critically at their financial commitments and questioning whether they should continue the traditionally high level of support. If the industry can demonstrate a relationship between the level of support and the satisfaction of visitors to their destination then the argument for continued support would be strengthened greatly. This would complement other measures such as visitor numbers, expenditure, etc.With an appropriate measurement instrument it could be possible for individual sectors of the industry to be compared with other sectors. In an industry where the success of the whole depends on the contribution of each part, this information will help to identify those sectors that need to improve.Recent developments in consumer protection have extended into the area of satisfaction. The 1993 European Union Directive on Travel has required member states to implement laws giving tourists the right to obtain compensation from packaged tour operators in the event that they are dissatisfied with their holiday. This applies in all destinations, including Lebanon. The results of the proposed survey will help to focus the attention of the industry on this issue and provide data on how the industry is going and what needs to be improved.Perspectives on Measuring Tourists Satisfaction with a DestinationMeasuring tourists satisfaction with a destination is conceptually different from measuring satisfaction at the transaction specific level. Moreover, it is contended that while satisfaction at the destination level is influenced by the various transactions that occur at that destination, an individuals level of satisfaction is influenced by much broader, global factors, some of which are beyond the capacity of the tourism industry to affect. The purpose of this section is to outline some ideas that should be taken into account when developing a method to measure satisfaction at this relatively abstract level.Johnson, Anderson et al., (1995) have distinguished between two different general conceptualizations of satisfaction transaction-specific satisfaction and cumulative satisfaction. The former is concerned with satisfaction as an individual, transaction-specific measure or evaluation of a particular product or service experience (Johnson, Anderson et al. 1995).Cumulative satisfaction, on the other hand, is a cumulative, abstract construct that describes customers total consumption experience with a product or service (Johnson, Anderson et al., 1995). As a customers overall evaluation of the purchase or consumption experience, cumulative satisfaction is the most relevant conceptualization when the focus is on the tourists evaluation of their overall experience at a destination. This is sometimes referred to as market-level satisfaction.The literature suggests that satisfaction measurement must be treated differently at th ese two levels of abstraction. Moreover, when considering consumer satisfaction with their consumption experiences, a major distinction has been made between the consumption of goods and services (Lovelock, 1991).Measures of satisfaction are not the same for these different consumption experiences, largely because of the role of the consumer in the service encounter. It could also be argued that tourism is a special service in that, like recreation or education, it is largely self-produced (Williams, 1988). The individual plays a central role in determining the experiences achieved and the benefits derived.The special nature of tourism can be understood by adopting the behavioral perspective first developed within the recreation and leisure literature. This literature demonstrates the value of perceiving recreation as activity that creates experiences which, in turn, result in benefits for the individual (Driver and Tocher, 1970 Mannel and Iso-Ahola, 1987). This created a focus on t he factors which determine the quality of those experiences and the benefits derived. Measurement of satisfaction has therefore involved an assessment of whether the experiences have resulted in the desired benefits sought by the individual. In his seminal paper (Wagar 1966) suggested that the quality of recreation experience depends upon how well desired outcomes are realized.Satisfaction is therefore more a function of the needs and interests of the individual than the attributes and characteristics of the service provided. These ideas have gradually become the basis of the conceptualization of the tourist experience and informed much of the work about tourist motivations and expectations (Crompton and Love, 1995 Ryan, 1995). Therefore tourist experiences can be regarded as the result of an active endeavor by the individual to create a situation in which to achieve satisfaction. It is this active involvement of the individual in the creation of his or her personal experiences that needs to be acknowledged.In a similar vein, the early recreation literature also recognized the implications of this approach for the assessment of recreation service quality. It was recognized that the quality of the experiences can be influenced by input factors provided by managers . . . but to a considerable extent the quality of experiences depends upon choices made by recreationists and how they use the many factors of production (Brown, 1988 413). In other words, the satisfaction levels experienced by recreationists are recognized as being a function of a number of different variables including those brought by the recreationist him/herself which are beyond the influence of the service provider.Drawing on the consumer literature, it is too easy to assume that the outcomes of the tourist activity are solely the creation of the tourist operators/industry. However, it is perhaps more enlightening to adopt a transactional perspective outlined in the recreation literature. Here, the tourist actively creates the recreation(tourist) experience, through a transaction with the physical and social setting, including what the recreationist (tourist) brings to the process in terms of history, perceptions, companions, skills, equipment, identities, hopes and dreams (Williams, 1988). With this perspective, more emphasis is placed on the behavior of the individual and their role in creating the experience. Not all the responsibility for creating high levels of satisfaction rests with the service deliverer.With this in mind, (Crompton and Love, 1995) make a distinction between quality of opportunity and quality of experience.Quality of opportunity is defined as qualities of the attributes of a service that are under the control of a supplier. Evaluation is concerned with judgments about the performance of the leisure opportunity supplier. . . . In contrast, quality of experience involves not only the attributes provided by a supplier, but also attributes brought to th e opportunity by the visitor or recreationist. . Quality of experience is a psychological outcome or emotional response. . Satisfaction is measured by how well leisure activities are perceived to fulfill the basic needs and motives that stimulated the idea to participate in the activity (Crompton and Love, 199512).When the objective is to measure satisfaction with a holiday in a particular destination, it will be important to note this distinction and ensure that both aspects are included in the assessment. We have been reasonably good at assessing tourists perceptions of the quality of opportunity but largely ignored the question of quality of experience.A further perspective that could be of relevance here is that of Herzberg (1966). While his work mainly focused on the workplace, his theory of motivation has relevance to the expenditure of discretionary time such as going on a holiday. Herzberg (1966) suggests that all aspects of an experience can be classified as either a motiva tional or a hygienic factor. Motivational factors are those that positively encourage people to do something. For example, a desire to make new friends may motivate people to go on an organized tour rather than travel alone. On the other hand, hygienic factors are those things which would not encourage one to travel, but their absence would discourage such travel.A good example is the availability of clean drinking water. Having this available is unlikely to motivate someone to travel, while its absence could cause someone to not choose a particular destination. According to Roger James Associates (1996) the absence of motivational factors does not lead to dissatisfaction but rather to unsatisfaction a sense of emptiness rather than a sense of anger or disappointment. On the other hand, the absence of a hygienic factor will lead to dissatisfaction. The presence of such a factor will not lead to satisfaction but rather to satisficing, that is, a passive (albeit benign) feeling (Roge r James Associates, 1996 34).If we adopt this framework it could be suggested that we have tended to focus on the hygienic factors which are represented by the measurement of how well the services (hotels, airports, travel companies, etc) are provided. These are important because without these being done well, the customer would be very dissatisfied. However, we have not also measured the motivational factors. These are akin to the experience factors how well the destination facilitates the satisfaction of personal needs. The best way of ensuring that we are providing this is to understand the clients needs, etc and to develop product that is relevant to these. In turn, this is linked to the benefits to be derived from the experience thus creating satisfaction.The work by Arnold and Price (1993) confirms the role that needs and desires play in the consumers evaluation of a particular experience. They present very clear evidence that the satisfaction of participants in this recrea tional (or possibly tourist?) activity is related to the extent to which the experience enhances their individual cultural script and are interpreted within the broader narrative context of the consumers life (Arnould and Price, 1993). They suggest that satisfaction with river rafting . . . does not seem to be embodied in attributes of the experience such as amounts of time spent freezing in wet clothes, uncomfortable toilet facilities, bad food or any summary index of specific attributes of the trip (Arnould and Price, 1993).These general thoughts appear to be in line with the fundamentals of the marketing concept most commonly described as satisfying the needs and desires of the consumer (Keith, 1960 38) and the whole notion of benefit segmentation which suggests that purchases are selected on the basis of the benefits derived by consumers (Haley, 1968). It is also consistent with the recent work of Spreng and his associates which emphasizes the role that desires, as opposed to ex pectations, plays in determining satisfaction within the disconfirmation framework (Spreng, Mackenzie et al., 1996).Proposed PathSpace does not permit an exhaustive examination of the extensive literature outlining the various models used as the basis for measuring customer satisfaction and gauging the behavioral aspects (see Parasuraman, Zeithaml et al., 1994). However, a review of this literature has uncovered a model that could be developed to provide a satisfactory method of evaluating tourists satisfaction at the level of the destination and their motivational map. This model has been developed by Iso-Ahola and has become the basis of extensive work at the national and international level.The index provided by the Iso-Ahola model provides a cumulative evaluation of a sectors market offering coupled with individual evaluation of a specific transaction. Called the Customer Satisfaction Index/Barometer, it has been introduced in Sweden, Germany and the United States of America (Fo rnell, Johnson et al, 1996). Taiwan and New Zealand are also in the process of introducing a similar national satisfaction indicator. While much work still needs to be done, the framework provided by Iso-Ahola model provides a good starting point. It should be possible to make the necessary changes required to produce a useful index that will contribute to the on-going development of this important industry.Chapter IILiterature ReviewIt is imperative to start with a review of literature that addressed motivation in the travel and tourism industry. By adopting this approach we will be able to present a much more comprehensive and inclusive approach to understanding the theories of motivation in the travel and tourism industry and thus, we will be able to lay the foundations of clear parameters that can help scholars and decision makers measure the satisfaction of tourists and the underlying motivational factors. This part of the paper is dedicated to reviewing the literature that cur rently assesses the main theories of motivation. These theories span across a wide spectrum therefore we will tackle the various theories of travel motivation in the first part and then we will focus our discussions on Iso-Aholas motivational theory.The main theories of travel motivationKnowledge of peoples travel motivations and its association with destination selection plays a critical role in predicting future travel patterns. The essay talks about the various theories propounded by the theorists and analyses their practical benefits for the tourism industry.Tourist motivation can be defined as the global integrating network of biological and cultural forces which gives value and direction to travel choices, behavior and experience. (Pearce, Morrison Rutledge, 1998) as cited by Allan R. Rhodes Espinoza. According to Seaton (1997) motivation is a state of arousal of a drive or need which impels people to activity in pursuit of goals. Once the goals have been achieved the need su bsides and the individual returns to the equilibrium-but only briefly because new motives arise as the last one is satisfied.Krippendorf (1987), as cited in Seaton (1997) suggests that the motivation of the individual person to travel, to look outside for what he cannot find inside have been largely created by society and shaped by everyday life. People who live in cities, for example, are motivated to travel as tourists to wilderness areas because they need to escape from an artificial, monotonous environment. (Dann Matley, 1976) as cited in Mansfeld 1992). Grays travel-motivation theory, as noted by Mansfeld (1992), gives us two motives about why people go to natural settings. The first motive is the desire to go from a known to an unknown place, called in Grays theory wanderlust.Secondly, a place which can provide the traveler with specific facilities that do not exist in his or her own place of residence, referred in Grays theory as sun lust (Mansfeld, 1992). It is a common pra ctice to consider traveler or tourist types as potential market segments for travel and tourism marketing (Smith, 1989 as cited in Theobald, 1996).Some of the motives which determine their travel choices are recreation, pleasure, new experiences, cultural interest, shopping.Any reader of literature of tourism motivation cannot help being struck by the similarity in findings by many researchers. The adjectives and categorizations of tourists based upon motivations may differ in number, but recurrent themes emerge. For example the need to escape from everyday surroundings for the purpose of relaxation, and discovering new things, places and people are often alluded to.According to Crompton (1979), as cited in Bello Etzel (1985), the need for relaxation, exploration, social interaction and enhancement of kinship relationships act as dominant push motives in the vacation decision. Reversely, pull motives are aroused by the destination and include factors like scenic attractions, histor ical sites. Push factors are thought to establish the desire for travel and pull factors are thought to explain actual destination choice. Seaton (1997) suggests that the push factors include avoidance of work, cultural/social pressures at home. The pull factors include seeking leisure /play, freedom and escape.Maslow (1943) identified two motivational types tension-reducing motives arousal-seeking motives. According to Maslow, there are five needs forming a hierarchy, progressing from the lower to the higher needs. Maslow argued that if the lower needs physiological hunger, thirst, rest, safety security, belonging and love affection, giving and receiving love are fulfilled the individual would be motivated by needs of the next level of the hierarchy esteem self-esteem and esteem for others, self-actualization personal self-fulfillment.Cooper et al(2005) criticizes Maslows theory saying that why and how Maslow selected the basic five needs remain unclear, although Page(2003) feels t hat it has relevance in understanding how human action is understandable and predictable compared to research which argues that human behavior is essentially irrational and unpredictable. Cooper et al (2005) also questions the arrangement of the needs. Though Cooper et al (2005) criticizes much about Maslows theory, he feels that tourism industry has borrowed a lot from Maslow because he provides a convenient set of containers that can be relatively labeled.Hudman (1980) as cited in Davidson and Maitland (1997) argue that Maslows (1943) hierarchy of needs provides a useful framework for understanding psychological motivational factors in tourism. Thus, for example, although the apparent purpose of a trip may be to visit friends and relatives, the underlying psychological motivation may be a need for belonging