The focus of this book is on holiday planning and decision making, which is the cornerstone of tourist behaviour and tourism marketing. The first three chapters deal with the basics, including an overview of decision-making paradigms and variables (chapter 1), a critical review of existing tourist behaviour models (chapter 2) and a description of the methods that may be used for studying holiday decision making (chapter 3). The chapters that follow relate the findings of an in-depth qualitative and interpretative study that followed the decision making process of 25 Belgian households during a whole year. Chapter 4 discusses the context in which holiday decisions are made. In the next two chapters, the focus is on the decision-making process in itself both at the generic and holiday levels (chapter 5) and at the destination level (chapter 6). Post-experience processes are investigated in chapter 7, whereas group processes are the particular focus of chapter 8. Chapter 9 presents the integrative and conclusive part of the book where a new typology of holidaymakers is proposed. The book has a subject index.

This book explores the complex decision-making processes involved in choosing and buying tourism products and services. It combines a theoretical overview of the basics of tourist behaviour and decision-making, with the results of an in-depth qualitative study of vacationers. It considers both the generic decision to go on vacation, or not, and more specific travel decisions, such as destination and accommodation type, from an individual and social point of view. It looks at how, when, and why such decisions are made, and the factors that influence the final outcome. The book concludes by rejecting existing tourist typologies in favour of a new typology of vacationers.

This cutting-edge international book brings together leading experts? latest research in the field of family tourism by adding to its underdeveloped knowledge base. Family Tourism: Multidisciplinary Perspectives underlines the infancy of academic family tourism research that belies its market importance and directs towards future implications and theoretical debates about the place of families within tourism.

Containing original and previously unpublished theoretical and empirical studies, Consumer Behavior in Travel and Tourism will give professionals, professors, and researchers in the field up-to-date insight and information on trends, happenings, and findings in the international hospitality business arena. A great resource for educators, this book is complete with learning objectives, concept definitions, and even review questions at the end of each chapter. From this book, readers will understand and learn the needs and preferences of tourists and how to investigate the process of destination and product selection to help provide customers with products and services that will best meet their needs. In today's highly competitive business environment, understanding travel behavior is imperative to success. Consumer Behavior in Travel and Tourism brings together several studies in one volume, representing the first attempt to explore, define, analyze, and evaluate the consumption of tourist and travel products. This guide offers essential research strategies and methods that enables readers to determine the wants and needs of tourists, including: discussing and evaluating the main factors that affect consumer behavior in travel and tourism, such as travel motivation, destination choice, and the consequent travel behavior exploring the various decision-making processes of consumers that leads to consequent destination choices through case study analysis and marketing suggestions determining customer expectations of products through a variety of research techniques in order to find ways of improving satisfaction examining selected research tools, such as product positioning and repositioning and using perceptual maps, to evaluate the market implications of using qualitative and/or quantitative research techniques detecting and analyzing the relative roles individual, environmental, socioeconomic, and demographic factors play in choosing travel destinations Full of detailed charts and graphs, Consumer Behavior in Travel and Tourism illustrates key points to give you a better understanding of important facts and findings in the field.