HAMPI: AN INVESTIGATION OF TOURISTS' MOTIVATION, ACTIVITIES AND PERFORMANCE OF THE DESTINATION

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1 HAMPI: AN INVESTIGATION OF TOURISTS' MOTIVATION, ACTIVITIES AND PERFORMANCE OF THE DESTINATION Nichola Anastasia Ramchurjee* Department of Environmental Science, Yuvaraja s College Autonomous, Constituent University of Mysore, Mysore, , Karnataka, India nichola_ramchurjee@yahoo.com Suresha S. Department of Environmental Science, Yuvaraja s College Autonomous, Constituent University of Mysore, Mysore, , Karnataka, India Mobile: sureshakumar12@yahoo.com Abstract The study investigates the characteristics of tourists who visited the cultural/heritage destinations in Hampi. It examines the concept that tourist satisfaction of a destination is a function of importance, performance, and travel motivation. It further evaluates both foreign and domestic tourists opinions of ecotourism attributes in Karnataka and their habits and attitudes towards the environment. The questionnaire survey was conducted at the world s largest open-air museum situated in Hampi, Bellary. Importance performance gap analyses were used to evaluate tourists' opinions on the importance and performance of ecotourism characteristics for the thirteen activities offered. Factor analyses were used to evaluate the habits and opinions of tourists in their home countries and thus their behaviours while on vacation. The study found that the tourists were typically highly educated, traveling with friends or family to learn and explore nature, new cultures and traditions. The study also showed high importance and performance levels of ecotourism characteristics through activities and opinions of the tourists in Hampi. Keywords: tourists, Hampi, travel motivations, ecotourism activities, opinions, Importance performance gap \ 24

2 1. Introduction In recent decades, tourism has become the world s largest industry, with $3.4 trillion in annual revenue. Tourism is a favorite leisure activity and is evident in the rise in the volume of travelers who seek adventure, wonderful climate, nature appreciation and experience, recreation and relaxation and interaction with local people. The motivation which causes someone to choose a certain destination and thus the activities these destination has to offer while on vacation is an interesting issue, which allows for a better understanding of people s behavior in the area of leisure spending and their environmental consciousness. Motivations are the fundamental reasons for a particular traveling behavior and plays a vital role in understanding the decision making process of tourists, as well as assessing the subsequent satisfaction of tourist s expectation (Snepenger, King, Marshall, & Uysal, 2006). In general, the term motivation is simply the processes that answer the question about why and how people s behavior is activated and directed. Therefore, motivation is considered as the internal factors that raise and control human behavior. Motivation is described as a driving force that makes us move (Solomon, 2004). Solomon (2004) further stated that motivation itself is the processes that leads people to behave as they do, and the processes begin when a need arises that a consumer wishes to satisfy. Romando (2008) has defined motivation as an internal drive that moves people to act and gives direction to the behavior. Fodness (1994), indicated that motivations are thus the basis of all behavior, including traveling. Tourist motivation, therefore, 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). When motives are transformed into motivations, the process of choosing specific destinations and activities begins. This initiation process in a tourist context includes factors or questions such as with whom to travel, when to travel, earlier experiences and recommendations from friends and relatives that will affect individual travel motivation and behavior. Traveling with children, for instance, will most likely influence the degree of planning and pre-booking, and ensuring that there are activities for the children available at the destination. For most people, a tourist trip will certainly add something new and enriching to their life. As Prebensen (2007) has written in her research regarding travel motivations, once an individual has the right motivation to travel, the type of holiday and destination is often decided based on his/her perception or value of the various options in the marketplace. She furthermore states that people then go on holiday for many reasons and they participate in the production of the holiday in various ways. The decision to travel during the holiday, therefore, might reflect the need to get away from everyday life. Even so, the search for pleasure, referred to as positive reinforcement (Iso- Ahola, 1983), is more often present, resulting in feelings such as pleasure and joy. Despite these thoughts about broad groups motivations for traveling, the numerous products (destinations, activities and more or less pre-packaged products) offered in the marketplace, 25

3 together with the fact that motivation is a sum of many motives, makes the picture challenging. However, understanding the basis of tourists motivations can help tourism organizations or companies to form good business policies and strategies to maintain and develop their own business. According to The Free Dictionary website 2010, activity is defined as the state or quality of being active ; lively action or movement ; or a specified pursuit in which a person partakes. Based on these definitions, tourist activities can be seen as tourists behaviors of choosing to visit destinations and/or participate in various kinds of recreations. Hence, activities in a tourism context can be understood both as those activities that exist at the destinations, and tourists action of choosing certain destinations for their vacations. Additionally, since tourists activities have taken place during their vacations, the activities will have taken place as leisure activity. This refers to the activities without any compulsion. According to Beard and Ragheb 1983, leisure activities, have been described as non-work pursuits that people participate in without obligation. Intuitively, one should expect that tourists with similar needs and motives would choose similar destinations and related activities. The relationship between motivation and choice, however, is often not that simple. A person might choose one type of activity based on a variety of reasons. Sunbathing might be chosen for the reason of relaxing, to get a tan or to become fit. Different activities can meet the same type of need as well (e.g. walking, dancing and sunbathing can all contribute to the individual s need for relaxation). The choice of destination can also be explained by the fact that several destinations can meet a variety of needs (e.g. relaxation, getting in shape, accomplishment, warm temperatures and nice atmosphere). Consequently, tourists with different motives might choose the same destination and choose similar or different activities while staying there. In contrast, tourists with similar motives might also choose different destinations and different types of activities. The article has three specific objectives: (1) to investigate the relationships between tourists motivation and activities offered at the destinations (2) to analyze foreign and domestic tourists travel motivations; and (3) to evaluate tourists opinions of ecotourism attributes in Karnataka and their habits and attitudes towards the environment. 2. Research Methodology The sample population in this research was composed of tourists, both foreign as well as domestic. The data was collected between May - December, The goal was to give a survey form to each tourist that the authors came in contact with at the ecotourism site visited. Each tourist approached was informed about the objectives of the research and the information required that is about their demographic and trip characteristics and travel motivations. Of the 450 questionnaires distributed, 434 were returned (96.4% response rate). The survey instrument was a six-page questionnaire, divided into three sections. The first and last sections consisted of questions on travel characteristics and demographics. The questions 26

4 on travel motivation attributes used a 4-point scale from strongly disagree, to strongly agree. The second section consisted of 14 ecotourism attributes in Karnataka for which the tourists were asked to evaluate their perception of importance and performance of each attribute. Data from both the close-ended questions and open-ended questions were coded. They were then computed and analyzed by using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Descriptive statistics, including simple frequencies and mean ratings on the respondents demographic and trip characteristics were computed. Study Site The Karnataka state in southwest India is a favorite destination for tourists and the chosen site for this investigation. Hampi (Figure 1) is a village in Bellary, Karnataka India. It is a boulder-strewn landscape along the banks of the Tungabhadra River and is located within the ruins of Vijayanagara, the former capital of the Vijayanagara Empire. It predates the city of Vijayanagara, and houses the Virupaksha Temple, as well as several other monuments belonging to the old city. The ruins are a UNESCO World Heritage Site, listed as the Group of Monuments at Hampi (Srinivasachar & Satyan, 1995). Hampi is the world's largest openair museum Study Map Figure 1. Showing the study site. 3. Analysis of Results The following section of the paper provides a summary of the data collected from the 434 respondents. First, the demographic characteristics will be presented, followed by the trip characteristics and then travel motivations of the respondents were explored. 27

5 3.1. Demographic characteristics of the respondents Gender: From the data, it can be seen that 62.2% of the respondents (n=270) were males and 37.8% (n=164) were females Age Group: The data shows that the most frequent age group among the respondents from the sample was years old (n=137, 31.6%), years old (n=82, 18.9%), followed by age group (n=63, 14.5%), age group was (n= 36, 8.3%), age group (n= 40, 9.2%) followed by the years old group (n=58, 13.4%) and years old category (n=18, 4.1%). Many studies examining the characteristics of ecotourists have found that the average ecotourist was older than the average tourist and that the average ecotourist was between the ages of 36 and 55 (Ballantine, 1991; Cascagnette, 1992; Eagles and Cascagnette, 1995; Wight, 1996a) Education: The majority of the respondents were all educated. Of the total respondents, (n=248, 57.2%) had a Bachelor s degree or above. About (n= 346, 79.8%) of the sample had at least some post-secondary school education. There is agreement in the literature that ecotourists are highly educated, with the majority possessing at least a bachelor s degree (Ballantine, 1991; Cascagnette, 1992; Crossley & Lee, 1994; Eagles, 1992; Fennell, 1990; Higham, Carr & Gale, 2001; Saleh & Karwacki, 1996; Wight, 1996a) Employment Status: A large portion of the respondents from the total sample were employed full-time (n=259, 59.7%). The second largest group of respondents reflects self-employed persons (n= 110, 25.3%), the third largest group were those who were homemakers (n= 41, 9.4%), students accounted for (n=24, 5.5%) of the respondents. Very few other studies examined the employment status of their respondents. Higham, Carr & Gale (2001) found that 40% of their sample employed full-time, 21.5% retired, 10% students, and 9.1% were self-employed Country of Origin: Figure 2 illustrates that the foreign tourists visiting Bellary originated from eleven (11) countries. The largest groups of the respondents were European countries accounting for 67.8% of the respondents with 18.8% coming from North America and 13.4% from Mexico, Central America. Figure 3 shows Domestic tourists from within the country came from nine (9) different states. States of Assam and West Bengal having 27.7% of the respondents are in East India, while the West Indian state of Maharashtra reports 21.7% of the respondents. North Indian states such as Delhi and Kashmir accounts for 27.7% of the respondents and South Indian states account for 37.4% of the respondents coming Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. 28

6 Figure 2. Country of origin for Foreign Tourists Figure 3. State of origin for Domestic Tourists 3.2. Trip Characteristics Travel Companion: The data in Table 1 shows that a large portion of the respondents traveled with their family (37.4%), followed by respondents travelling with their spouses (25.3%), followed by friends (19.2%), and organized groups (9.9%) and tourists traveling alone (8.2%). The cultural features/ruins are particularly attractive to married couples. Saleh & Karwacki (1996) and Wight (1996a) stated that tourists most often travel as a couple. It was found that families make up a sizeable portion of tourists; however, neither study distinguishes between adult families and families with children (Saleh & Karwacki, 1996; Twynam & Robinson, 1997). However, Crossley & Lee (1994) and Wight (1996a) both found that families with children were a common group of tourists. Table 1. Travel Companion Total Travel Companion Frequency Percent (%) Alone Spouse

7 Family Friends Organizational group Total Major sources of information: Major sources of information utilized by foreign ecotourists and domestic tourists are seen in Figure 4 and 5. It is notable to observe the importance of the Internet to the foreign and domestic tourists and the significant use of the sources of television media and friends/family for the domestic tourists. According to Ballantine, 1991; Fennell, 1990; Hatch, 1997; Higham, Carr & Gale, 2001; Meric & Hunt, 1998; Saleh & Karwacki, 1996; Twynam & Robinson, 1997 in previous studies of tourists, the Internet did not make the top four information sources used by tourists. Guide books or travel guides or recommendation from friends/relatives were common responses in the majority of these studies. However, when these studies were conducted, the Internet was still a relatively new phenomenon and was not widespread. Now, it is one of the easiest and most affordable promotional methods to reach the global audience. This study shows the emergence of the Internet as a major element for choosing Hampi as an ecotourist destination. With the promotion of many travel services online and advertising diverse attractions as a whole, this study shows how the Internet and other sources of information informs tourists of the cultural/heritage attractions and ecotourists activities that tourists can engage in with families and friends. Figure 4. Major sources of information by foreign tourists 30

8 Figure 5. Major sources of information used by domestic tourists 3.3. Travel motivation and satisfaction factors Attraction motives: From Table 2, the respondents ranked the importance of each of 10 attraction attributes used when planning their trip to Bellary. The most important attraction motives were: Wonderful climate (mean =3.82, SD=0.39), Nature appreciation and experience (mean =3.75, SD=0.43), Recreation and relaxation (mean =3.67, SD=0.47), See maximum in time available (mean=3.65, SD=0.48), Have fun and be entertained and be physically active (mean =3.64, SD=0.48), and Feel at home away from home (mean =3.59, SD=0.49). Table 2. Travel motivation attributes Attraction motives Total Attraction motives Mean Standard Deviation Nature appreciation and experience Local culture and human experience Feel at home away from home Gain professional nature knowledge See maximum in time available Recreation and relaxation Have fun and be entertained Increase environment protection knowledge Wonderful climate Be physically active Importance and performance of ecotourism attributes: Respondents were asked to evaluate their opinions on the importance of thirteen ecotourism activities. This was measured by a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 31

9 (strongly disagree), 2 (disagree), 3 (neutral), 4 (agree) to 5 (strongly agree). From Table 3, the mean importance was 4.22, with nine (9) items receiving an importance rating above 4.0. The five highest rated attributes were, in order: (1) Visiting protected areas (4.98), (2) Wildlife viewing (4.97), (3) Taking pictures (photography) (4.92), (4) Visiting historical monuments (4.84), and (5) Nature walk (4.73). Three of these highest-ranked importance values of activities are concerned with conserving and safeguarding protected areas, enjoying the interaction of wildlife and photographing heritage and cultural places and its populous flora and fauna. This reveals the unique position in which ecotourism activities are being offered in Karnataka presently. The five attributes ranked lowest included: (1) Bird watching (3.18), (2) Boating and sailing (3.24), (3) Hiking (3.62), (4) Horseback riding (3.84), and (5) Cycling (4.05). Respondents were also asked to evaluate the performance of ecotourism characteristics in Hampi for the thirteen activities offered. The mean performance ranking was 3.48, with eight (8) activities ranking three (3.00) and above. The five highest ranked activities for performance were: (1) Nature walk (4.68), (2) Visiting historical monuments (4.38), (3) Visiting protected areas (4.37), (4) Taking pictures (photography) (3.95), and (5) Cycling (3.88). Three of these highly performing activities deal with exploring and getting in touch with nature, experiencing the feeling of being a part of tradition and customs by visiting protected areas and historical monuments. The five attributes that were ranked poorest by the tourists in terms of performance were: (1) Boating and sailing (2.43), (2) Bird watching (2.57), (3) Communicating with the local people (2.74), (4) Horseback riding (2.8.), and (5) Buying souvenirs/crafts (2.99). The tourists indicate that these five activities were very important, but that these attributes has performed poorly and requires improvements. The difference between the value given to importance and the one given to performance is known as the importance performance gap or IP gap. This value is an indication of the relative difference between how important an attribute is and how well ecotourism activities in Karnataka performs. In this study, all of the IP gaps were positive and the mean IP gap is 0.74, Table 3. Table 3. Importance - performance rating of ecotourism activities offered in Hampi, Karnataka Factors Importance Performance Rating Rating Gap Nature walk Communicating with the local people Bird watching Hiking Visiting protected areas

10 Visiting historical monuments Taking pictures (photography) Sightseeing Boating and sailing Buying souvenirs/crafts Cycling Horseback riding Wildlife viewing Mean Factor analysis: This was used to evaluate the habits and opinions of tourists in their home countries and states. The habits and opinions of tourists in their home countries and states were measured using four (4) point Likert scale. In order to test the conformity of habits and opinions with the factor analysis, the statistics of KMO and Barlett test (Bartlett's test of sphericity approx. Chi-square) were used as seen in Table 4. The KMO (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of sampling adequacy) value was determined as The values between 0.70 and 0.80 were labeled as average. The results of the factor analysis applied were presented in Table 4. Only variance of 0.50 or higher in the factor analysis was considered, and it is seen that the five components explained this. According to this, 11 variables were gathered in five factor groups. The eigenvalues displayed in the table, the difference between successive values, the proportion of the variation represented, and the cumulative proportion of the variation represented is shown. Generally, eigenvalues of 1 or greater are accepted as explaining an adequate amount of the data variance. It shows for the habits and opinions of tourists in their home countries and states, F1 accounts for three (3) factors which refers to, I recycle aluminum cans, I collect and recycle used paper (e. g Newspaper, Magazine Articles) and I actively recycle household items and waste at home. F2 encompasses I refuse excess packaging when I buy products and I use public transportation instead of a car. I conserve energy at home (e. g energy efficient fridge), I use biodegradable packaging to plastic packaging and I actively pursue nature based activities during leisure/holiday time falls in F3, F4 includes I use aerosol sprays and I participate in conservation projects in my home area. F5 covers I recycle /reuse plastic bags. Table 4. Factor Analysis of habits and opinions of the tourists Factor Components Habits and opinions of the tourists F1 F2 F3 F4 F5 I recycle /reuse plastic bags I actively recycle household items and waste at home I use aerosol sprays I collect and recycle used paper (e

11 g Newspaper, Magazine Articles). I recycle aluminum cans I use public transportation instead of a car I conserve energy at home (e. g energy efficient fridge) I use biodegradable packaging to plastic packaging I actively pursue nature based activities during leisure/holiday time. I refuse excess packaging when I buy products I participate in conservation projects in my home area Eigen value Variance (%) Cumulative variance (%) KMO= 0.719; Bartlett test= (χ 2 (55) = 1878, 0.000); Explained variance=78.35% Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization 4. Discussion This study showed that more male respondents took part in the survey, and that 19% of the respondents were domestic tourists coming from nine (9) states while foreign tourists came from eleven (11) countries from different parts of the world. The majority of the respondents were between the ages of 18 and 41 (65.0%), highly educated (57.2% had at least a Bachelor s degree), and 94.4% worked full-time. In terms of trip characteristics, most respondents traveled with their families and spouses and their travel motivation to Hampi was usually to enjoy the wonderful climate and to appreciate and experience nature. The internet, guide books, and travel agents were the three most important sources of information that influence the foreign respondents decision for visiting this tourist destination. However, television, internet and friends/family are the major sources sought by domestic tourists. These results were a contrast to older studies (Wight, 1996a) whose findings indicate that word of mouth and travel brochures were more influential than the Internet as sources of information that influence tourists decision-making process. This indicates that there has been a change it marketing approaches with the rapid advancement of Internet technology in the past decade. Three of these highest-ranked importance values of activities are concerned with conserving and safeguarding protected areas, enjoying the interaction of wildlife and photographing 34

12 heritage and cultural places and its populous flora and fauna. This reveals the unique position in which ecotourism activities are being offered in Karnataka presently. It is important to remember that there were nine out of thirteen items with an importance rating of four or above, which means that a large number of activities are important for ecotourism development in Karnataka. There is much similarity between what the tourists rank as important and the performance of the ecotourism activities in the district. All the IP gaps were positive for ecotourism. This study shows that tourists perception of importance with regards to ecotourism activities are high and that certain changes are required to increase the influx of tourists into the district. Immediately, the Government of Karnataka should work to improve their programmes dealing with the quality of tourism service, maintenance of the ecotourism sites and the need to increase promotion of ecotourism in the area. Factor analysis was done to evaluate the habits and opinions of tourists in their home countries and states. This showed that tourists are environmentally friendly and will be responsible for their actions when visiting ecotourism destinations outside their home countries and states which require hands on management and conservation of its natural and cultural features by both tourists and managers at the ecotourism destination. 5. Conclusion Undoubtedly, these types of unique eco destinations have attracted attention and businesses. Ecotourism will continue to grow at a fast pace and attract tourists from around the world. As the ecotourism industry continues to bloom, the ecotourism destinations will become increasingly attractive and increase in tourists to these destinations can put pressures on the carrying capacities of the environment. The ability to offer unique attractions and activities will provide an extension of the ecotourism experience which will help to increase the economic conditions of the livelihoods of the people. References Ballantine, J. L. (1991). An analysis of the characteristics of a population of Canadian Tourists to Kenya Waterloo. Master s thesis, University of Waterloo, Ontario. Cascagnette, J. W. (1992). A socioeconomic profile of the Canadian ecotourist. Unpublished dissertation, University of Waterloo, Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies. Crossley, J., & Lee, B. (1994). Characteristics of ecotourists and mass tourists. Visions in Leisure and Business, 13(2), Eagles, P. (1992). The Travel Motivations of Canadian Eco-tourists. Journal of Travel Research, 3-7. Eagles, P. F., & Cascagnette, J. W. (1995). Canadian ecotourists: Who are they? Tourism Recreation Research, 20(1), Fennell, D. A. (1990). A profile of ecotourists and the benefits derived from their experiences: A Costa Rican case study. Master s thesis, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, Ontario. Fodness, D. (1994). Measuring Tourist Motivation. Annals of Tourism Research, 21(3):

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