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Independent travelers are those vacationers who have booked only a minimum of their transportation and accommodation arrangements prior to departure on the vacation. Independent travel is an important and growing sector of worldwide tourism. Choice of vacation itinerary for the independent vacation represents a complex series of decisions regarding purchase of multiple leisure and tourism services. This chapter builds and tests a model of independent traveler decision-making for choice of vacation itinerary. The research undertaken employs a two-phase, inductive–deductive case study design. In the deductive phase, the researcher interviewed 20 travel parties vacationing in New Zealand for the first time. The researcher interviewed respondents at both the beginning and the end of their New Zealand vacations. The study compares pre-vacation research and plans, and actual vacation behaviors, on a case-by-case basis. The study examines case study narratives and quantitative measures of crucial variables. The study tests two competing models of independent traveler decision-making, using a pattern-matching procedure. This embedded research design results in high multi-source, multi-method validity for the supported model. The model of the Independent Vacation as Evolving Itinerary suggests that much of the vacation itinerary experienced in independent travel is indeed unplanned, and that a desire to experience the unplanned is a key hedonic motive for independent travel. Rather than following a fixed itinerary, the itinerary of an independent vacation evolves as the vacation proceeds. The independent traveler takes advantage of serendipitous opportunities to experience a number of locations, attractions and activities that they had neither actively researched nor planned.

Introduction: Just as the tourism event begins with the human element, it again ends with the human element. Therefore, the existence, behaviours and attitudes of the human factor is an issue that should be prioritised much more when compared to other sectors. Consumer behaviour involves certain decisions, activities, ideas or experiences that meet the needs and desires of the consumer. Prior to these actions, consumer behaviour is concerned with all the activities directly related to the attainment, consumption and disposition of the products and services. In this chapter, touristic consumer behaviour, consumer choice and behaviour of the relevant destination, and the management of the destination choice process are presented.

Aim: The chapter aims to reveal how important it is to know the consumer’s destination choice behaviour in both ensuring that the consumer has had a satisfied holiday during the holiday process, and that employers and employees, as service providers, experience the peace and pride of providing a good and quality service. Knowing the behaviour patterns of potential consumers and developing their marketing activities accordingly will provide great convenience to service marketers in the future.

Method: To do this a literature review has been carried out on the issues of destination choice behaviour and tourist travel behaviour.

Result: Tourist behaviour is the most significant indicator or predictor of future tourist behaviour. Considering the social role of the tourist, the behaviour of a tourist can also be an indicator of the behaviour of others. With their behaviours, tourists determine the norms of social behaviour within the context of tourism. These norms are also followed by other consumers such as engaging in tourist behaviour, as well as those who have not travelled yet. Tourist behaviour is the context of the consumer behaviour in the purchasing and abandoning the tourist services.

Implication: The characteristics of the consumer, their past experiences, the level of influence from other consumers, etc. In the future, knowing the behaviour patterns of potential consumers and developing their marketing activities in this direction will provide great convenience to service marketers.

Originality of Study: In the study, it is desired to draw attention to the importance of knowing consumer behaviours in their destination selection. Therefore, this study is thought to be useful in future studies, especially in terms of shedding light on the consumer behaviours and roles that play a role in determining the factors that play a role in destination selection.

Consumer behavior in tourism (CBT) is an interdisciplinary field of study encompassing the basic behavioral and economic sciences (e.g., psychology, sociology, and economics) and applied fields of study (e.g., management, marketing, tourism, and hospitality) focusing on all aspects of discretionary travel. This chapter describes major issues and findings in the literature relating to CBT. The chapter directs the reader’s attention to some of the highly-cited studies in this literature – these studies provide a foundation of knowledge on the central topics, issues, methods, findings, and theoretical/practical contributions in research on CBT. Research studies in CBT focus on one-to-all five core theoretical issues in basic and applied fields of study: describe who is doing what, when, where, how, and the consequences of the activities; explain the meanings of activities and motivations of the actors; predict (model) what actions and outcomes will occur and the impacts of influence attempts before, during, and after engaging in tourist actions; control (influence) the beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, and assessments of tourists, local community members, and additional stakeholders; evaluate tourism service/product delivery, tourism management performance, and customer satisfaction. Survey research using verbal (written) responses to questions is pervasive and the most frequent method for data collection in CBT. Additional research genres in CBT include direct observations of tourism behavior with or without some oral questioning (unobtrusive studies, the long interview method (McCracken, 1988), use of “consumer culture theory”), participant observation including semester abroad and unpaid internships away from home, formal field experiments, and the study of secondary sources (e.g., photographs and writings in blogs and social media (e.g., TripAdvisor) reviews).

One of the most well-known, seminal models in the tourism field is the one proposed 50 years ago by Stanley C. Plog. His venturesomeness model has been widely cited in journal articles, textbooks, and has also been used as a reference for planning and designing tourism marketing projects. However, empirical research using Plog's psychographics has yielded varied results, some of which have corroborated his model, while others have found partial or no support for some postulates. Therefore, the purpose of this chapter is to offer an exhaustive review of 47 studies in the literature which have employed Plog's venturesomeness concept to examine travelers' personality traits, attitudes, and behavior, synthetizing empirical findings and drawing conclusions from the cumulative results. A discussion of the model's contribution to the current body of knowledge, managerial implications for tourism practitioners, and directions for future research are presented.

This research attempts to understand how individuals prevent themselves from exposure to COVID-19 when dining out at a restaurant and what situational factors shaping their COVID-19 preventive behavior (CPB) are. It collects 303 questionnaires responded by restaurant patrons in the United Arab Emirates. The resultant data reveals the ranks of the relative importance among the five CPBs proposed by this study that wearing a mask is considered the most critical CPB. In contrast, wearing gloves is the least desirable CPB. Concerning five health-risk factors under investigation, there is no difference in CPB between the vaccinated and non-vaccinated. People suffering from issues with their immune system show a significant inclination to stress social distancing compared to those without any immune issues. Those having an inflected family member are apt to wear gloves. Further, individuals bearing risk factors concerning chronic illness, an immune problem, and an infected family member are inclined to wash their hands and wear gloves. Lastly, this research finds six situational factors affecting an individual's CPB.

Luxury consumption in the Czech Republic and other post-socialist countries has a shorter history than in the developed Western countries. The historical development of these countries still reflects the differences in buying behaviour. The chapter focusses on luxury travellers' behaviour and consumption patterns in the Czech Republic. In the Czech Republic, where the concept of old luxury has prevailed, it is already possible to observe a gradual shift towards a new luxury travel model. This new luxury model is associated with a high level of comfort and privacy, exclusive location and first-class services and new elements such as travelling, authenticity and sustainability.

The chapter provides different perspectives on consumption patterns. It points to consumer behaviour in luxury travel in dependence on the selected sociodemographic variables and spatial determinants. It also reveals the luxury-driven travel motivation and preferences on a luxury holiday. The results show that Czech luxury travellers are different in comparison with the traditional European markets. The Czechs fall behind the European luxury travellers, especially regarding the financial possibilities. As far as the Czech luxury traveller profile is concerned, the category of baby boomers with tertiary education and regular income is the most dominant among Czech affluent clients. The satisfaction of the needs for relaxation and the exploration of new destinations are the primary motives for taking luxury holidays. Concerning the regional income inequality, disparities between the capital city of Prague and the rest of the country are observed.

Since early 2020, the world has faced a pandemic that has caused a disruption in our lives, the likes of which have never been seen before. The COVID-19 pandemic changed the way we live, work, communicate, socialize, travel and even plan our future life. The lockdowns and civilian and travel restrictions imposed by countries worldwide have drastically affected citizens' daily routines and mobility. In consequence, all sectors are currently struggling with an unprecedented crisis, as health-related concerns have substantial effects on travel industry at the local, national and global level. The current increase in mortality rate caused by the new coronavirus has affected individuals' risk and safety perceptions and consequently their travel behaviour.

A quantitative research methodology using an online questionnaire was implemented in Portugal, and a sample composed of 1900 answers collected during one year allowed to analyze the impact that the current pandemic has on people's safety and risk perceptions and how it is affecting their daily life and travel behaviours and their willingness to accept civilian and travel restrictions. The results confirmed that the pandemic had a strong impact on Portuguese residents' safety perceptions and their travel and tourism plans. Also, it was possible to conclude that those perceptions have changed over the course of three pandemic waves.

The discussion focuses on the kind of implications this situation may have for tourism destination management and marketing. Study limitations and guidelines for future research are also forwarded.

While tourism is mostly considered a crucial driver for local development, its impact in terms of sustainability and attractiveness of local destinations must also be taken into account. This is especially true for small islands, where tourism may determine detrimental effects in the long term to the limited space and resources. The “sustainable tourism” approach considers this phenomenon and proposes possible solutions to problems such as the loss of public space, waste management, energy and water over-consumption, traffic congestion, air, water, and visual pollution. This chapter presents and discusses the results of a survey that has been carried out in Ischia, a small Mediterranean island located in the Gulf of Naples in order to explore the propensity toward sustainable mobility of both tourists and residents. In particular, the mobility patterns of the respondents have been deeply investigated both at home (domestic behavior) and on holiday (tourist behavior). The results suggest that the promotion of a higher level of cooperation among different stakeholders and local governments is of paramount importance in order to achieve sustainable tourism on islands. This may also generate important effects in terms of destination attractiveness.