A Study of Macao Outbound Tourists Behavior and Their Choice of Tour Mode for Pleasure Travel

Transcription

1 South Asian Journal of Tourism and Heritage (2009), Vol. 2, No. 1 A Study of Macao Outbound Tourists Behavior and Their Choice of Tour Mode for Pleasure Travel MAN-u IO * and LEONIE HALLO ** * Man-u IO, Ph.D., Graduate of University of South Australia, Australia ** Leonie Hallo, Ph.D., Senior Adjunct Research Fellow, International Graduate School of Business, University of South Australia, Australia ABSTRACT This study aims to explore the characteristics of group package tour (GPT) travelers and free independent tour (FIT) travelers in terms of their travel patterns, travel activities, demographics, and previous satisfaction with the two tour modes, and to examine how these variables influence tourists choice of a tour mode for pleasure travel. This research is conducted in Macao, and the findings have revealed the profiles of the local residents who traveled abroad for vacation by taking either GPT or FIT. Some crucial factors determining tourists choice of a tour mode have been found in this study, in which, tourists previous satisfaction with their chosen tour mode had higher degree of influence, whereas tourists demographics were found little influence on their choice of a tour mode, Moreover, this study has revealed the trend of Macao outbound tourism that Macao outbound tourists tend to pursue a short but quality vacation at the destinations in Asia, and they enjoy a small travel group size and traveling with family and friends. Some practical implications for tourism marketing were suggested accordingly. KEYWORDS: Group Package Tour (GPT); Free Independent Tour (FIT); Travel patterns; Travel activities; Previous satisfaction with tour modes. INTRODUCTION With rapid developments in gaming and tourism industries, Macao, as a small city with a population of around 500,000, has improved a lot in productivity and economy. In 2007, Macao s GDP was recorded a 27.3% increase to MOP$153.6 billion (US$19.2 billion) in comparison with The rapid development in hospitality and tourism industry has spurred the locals to spend more time on work. The statistics of 2007 indicated that the weekly work hours in hospitality industry are 48.5 hours in average (Macao Statistics and Census Bureau 2007). The long work hours have also caused employees a certain degree of work stress. In addition, a significant increase in the number of foreign workers results in increasing the working population of Macao, which also increases the city density and narrows the individual living space. This change further spurs the tension and stress among Macao residents. In order to escape stress and to have a relaxing time, many city residents choose to leave their residential place temporarily for a vacation abroad. This phenomenon is very common in many places around the world, and is explained by academics in a theory calling upon push and pull factors, which motivate people to reduce their stress by traveling overseas. This theory has contributed much to explaining why people desire a pleasure trip instead of trying other pleasurable experiences in order to relax (Gabbott & Hogg, 1998; Holloway, 2002; Hyde & Lawson, 2003; Johns & Gyimothy, 2002; Lau & Mckercher, 2004; A. M. Morrison, 1996). In Macao, along with the rapid growth of the economy, most of the locals have increased their work pressures while increasing their income, and thus their desire for reducing tension by having an overseas vacation is not unexpected. Macao's free outbound travel policy is also a factor which acts to encourage more Macao residents to travel overseas for a vacation. In 2007, Macao local residents traveled out of Macao 598,000 times by joining a group package tour and being free 2009 South Asian Journal of Tourism and Heritage

2 14 MAN-u IO and LEONIE HALLO independent travelers for overseas travel, while in 2006, there were over 300,000 times for outbound FIT (free independent tour) tourists and 272,000 times for outbound GPT (group package tour) tourists traveling abroad for their vacation (Macao statistics and census Bureau 2007). These statistics show that the number of outbound travelers in Macao is increasing annually. In a city of around 500,000 in population, these statistics reveal the eagerness of local residents for outbound travel. Although there are many outbound travelers in Macao and their desire for pleasure travel is obvious, not much attention has been paid by researchers to this market, perhaps because of the more rapid development of inbound tourism in Macao, which has won more attention over the outbound tourist market. Today GPT and FIT are the two major tour modes for tourism (Mok & Amstrong, 1995). Tour mode has become a popular variable for market segmentation (Lo & Lam, 2004; A. Morrison, O'Leary, & Lehto, 2004; Seiler, Hsieh, O Leary, & Hsieh, 2001): thus GPT and FIT tourists are expected to have different travel behaviors and needs for tourism products and services. In addition, some previous studies suggest that when tourists choose between GPT and FIT for a vacation, their travel patterns, travel activities and demographic characteristics are important factors affecting their decision (Hyde & Lawson, 2003; Seiler et al., 2001; Yamamoto & Gill, 1999). Since traveling with a different tour mode will result in a different preference for tourism products and services, different travel patterns and activities, for tourism marketers and tour operators, it is necessary to find out what crucial factors in terms of travel patterns, travel activities, demographic characteristics and previous satisfaction with the two tour modes influence tourists choice of tour mode, and to understand the differences of these variables between GPT and FIT market segments. However, a literature review suggests that there is lack of in-depth research on how these variables influence outbound travelers choice of tour mode for pleasure travel. An in-depth study of outbound travelers behavior thus will make a contribution to tour operators and tour marketers. This study focuses on an investigation into outbound tourists travel patterns, travel activities, demographic characteristics and previous satisfaction with the two tour modes, in order to identify the crucial factors which influence outbound travelers choice of tour mode. The objectives of this study are as follows: 1. To identify the differences of travel patterns, travel activities, demographics and previous satisfaction of tour mode between GPT and FIT tourists; 2. To identify the major factors which influence tourists choice of tour mode by examining the individual impact of each variable on the tour mode choice; 3. To offer practical suggestions to tour operators/marketers to help them to optimize marketing strategies. Literature review GPT and FIT are always the two major tour modes used by pleasure travelers (Mok & Armstrong, 1995). In the tourism marketing literature, it is not hard to find that tour modes are used as a variable to categorize tourists into different market segments. Different tour modes always shape different travel behaviors, because with different tour modes, tourists face different problems or issues related to the tour. For example, those tourists who choose an independent tour mode probably need to arrange accommodation and transportation by themselves or partially use the services provided by a travel agent, and they need to plan their itinerary on their own. Those tourists who choose an all-inclusive package tour from a travel agent, on the other hand, can enjoy a full tour service arranged by a travel agent, and are informed about their itinerary and travel activities before departure. Different tour modes thus are expected to shape a different tour, and tourists will behave accordingly. Therefore one of the research objectives of this present study is to explore the significant differences between FIT and GPT tourists in terms of their travel behavior and demographics. Under these two tour modes, various forms of package tours and independent tours are produced by travel agents, such as all-inclusive package tours, no escort package tours, accommodation and meal-only tours, shopping tours or event tours (Holloway, 2002; Hyde & Lawson, 2003; A.

3 A STUDY OF MACAO OUTBOUND TOURISTS 15 Morrison, O'Leary, & Hsieh, 1994; Swarbrooke & Horner, 1999; S. Wong & Lau, 2001). Some scholars have suggested two major types of package tours: a basic package tour and an allinclusive package tour; and the classification of the types of package tours depends on the degree of pre-arranged travel services (C.K. Wong & Kwong, 2003; Yamamoto & Gill, 1999). Some scholars have differentiated escorted and non-escorted package tours, and non-package tours (A. Morrison et al., 1994). A tour guide is only included in an escorted package tour. In the nonescorted package tour, tourists may buy a package which usually includes accommodation and transportation and sells at a single price. In a non-package tour, tourists usually arrange accommodation and transportation by themselves and may or may not use the services of a travel agent. These previous studies suggest that GPT and FIT are the fundamental tour modes for the development of a wide range of tourist products offered today. Tourists preference of either GPT or FIT thus may influence their preference of various tourist products. Studies of tourist behavior by segmentation Tourist behavior as a popular research topic is usually studied from various angles. Segmenting tourists into different markets is probably one of the most popular approaches to studying tourist behavior today. A number of variables are used for tourist segmentation; within these variables, tour mode is a popular one for segmenting tourist markets and studying tourist behavior. For example, a group of Hong Kong tourists who took a package tour for pleasure travel was segmented by long-haul and short-haul package tour (Lo & Lam, 2004); and a group of Taiwanese tourists was segmented by free independent travelers and non-free independent travelers (Seiler et al., 2001). European tourists have been segmented by their countries and tour modes (including: independent travel, escorted tour, and non-escorted package) (A. Morrison et al., 1994). (Mehmetoglu, 2006) studied the factors influencing tourists choice of tour mode by segmenting the nature-based tourist by their travel mode. Previous studies suggest that a tour mode is a popular instrument for market segmentation, so the GPT and FIT markets are expected to be distinguishable from each other. In addition to tour mode, travel activity is another popular variable for tourist market segmentation. For example, Hsieh, O Leary & Morrison (1992) segmented international travel markets by activity. They identified five activity sets in their findings: visiting friends/relatives, outdoor sports, sightseeing, the full-house activity set and the entertainment activity set. They argued that tourists were likely to engage in a set of activities rather than one particular pursuit. Another example of segmenting tourist by activity is a study of jazz festival attending tourists (Thrane, 2002). The researcher focused on a group of tourists who had musical interests and visited a destination for a jazz festival. The findings revealed that such a single-variable-based tourist segment had its unique travel behavior in terms of expenditure and travel activities, and this result contributed to destination marketing with a focus on cultural tourism. Some researchers have argued that many tourists, although they were considered as a single market segment, involved a combination of travel motives, as these tourists were found to have multiple travel purposes and various travel activities in a single trip (Lehto, Morrison, & O'Leary, 2001; Moscardo, Pearce, Morrison, Green, & O'Leary, 2000). These previous studies suggest that different tourist markets usually have different degrees of participation in different travel activities, so the degree of participation in different travel activities may also influence tourists preference of a tour mode. To test this proposition, the relationship between the degree of participation in tourist activities and tourists choice of a tour mode will be examined in the present study. Besides travel activities and tour mode, segmenting tourist market by demographic variables is also common in much tourism research. For example, Field (1999) mainly used demographic variables to segment a tourist market. The researcher segmented a group of college students into two sub-groups by their nationality: international and domestic student travelers. The findings suggested that the college market might be a profitable segment for the leisure-travel industry, because two segments had their individual specialty. Reece (2004) segmented tourists by age in his research. He studied tourists by senior age and younger age. His findings confirmed that the two types of tourists displayed different behavior in leisure travel. Another similar but more in-

4 16 MAN-u IO and LEONIE HALLO depth work is a study of the influence of tourists gender and age related life cycles on travel purpose by Collins and Tisdell (2002). The results of this study reveal that on the major five travel purposes (holiday, visiting friends and relatives, business, convention/conference, employment and education), tourists of different levels of age- related life cycles and gender have different preferences. All of these previous studies suggest that travel patterns, travel activities, tour mode and demographics are useful variables for studying tourist behavior. Furthermore, these variables may have some influence on tourists choice of tour mode, therefore tourists demographics is one of the variables to be examined in the present study. In addition, previous experience also affects tourists behavior, as it usually affects the intention of a person's next purchase (Kozak & Rimmington, 2000; Wang & Qu, 2006). In a study of tourists satisfaction with a particular destination, (Kozak & Rimmington, 2000) found that previous experience did affect tourists willingness to revisit the destination, so repeat visitors usually had a higher degree of satisfaction with the destination than first-time visitors. The findings also revealed that a higher degree of satisfaction about a tour was likely to increase the possibility of the same or a similar tour purchase. Therefore, the present study also takes into account that how previous satisfaction influences tourists choice of a tour mode. Tourists decision making Regarding tourists decision in choosing a tour mode, several researchers have conducted an investigation into this. For example, Hsieh, O Leary and Morrison (1992, 1994, 2001) reviewed several key factors identified by Engle et al (1990) that influence tourists choice of package or independent tour. The factors concern marketing (quality and price), psychological processes (motivation and perception), social sources (family and peers), and individual differences (sociodemographics and lifestyle). Hsieh et al (2001) developed a travel choice model to examine who, how and why travelers are likely to be independent travelers. Their study presented a comparison between potential FIT and non-fit travelers in terms of their socio-demographic attributes, travel characteristics and psychographic attributes. The outcome indicated a positive relationship between potential FIT and the following variables: travel party size, number of nights away from home, number of trips in the past three years that involved at least four nights away from home, budget accommodation, meeting interesting and friendly local people, education level and gender. The results also indicated that potential FIT travelers tended to be younger, highly educated, budget conscious, travel with a larger party size for purposes of meeting interesting and friendly local people, stay for longer periods of time, and have taken more trips than non-fit in the last three years that involved spending at least four nights away from home, and tend to be male. Morrison et al (1994) in a study of travel arrangements in Europe, compared tourists from Germany, France and UK in terms of their travel arrangements based on independent variables arising from socio-demographics, travel characteristics and travel psychographics. Their findings showed that the independent travel market represents the largest market share of outbound travelers from France, Germany and the UK. Older travelers favored package escorted tours and younger travelers preferred independent tours. Married travelers favored a package tour while independent tourists were more likely to be single. In terms of travel characteristics, tourists with a travel purpose of visiting friends and relatives were likely to choose an independent tour. Tourists on pleasure trips favored package tours more. Independent tourists were likely to take the longest duration trips and relied more heavily on information from friends and family than those on a package tour. Mehmetoglu (2006) in his research about natured-based tourists, found that socio-demographic and trip characteristics had certain impacts on tourists choice of travel mode. The researchers found that two out of four trip characteristics (daily trip expenditure and trip length) had a similar degree of influence on travel mode and were significantly and statistically different between the independent and group package tourists. Independent tourists were likely to value activities that had to do with nature, whereas package travelers had a tendency to demand additional pleasurebased activities. Regarding the findings with respect to demographics, the researcher found that only age and annual household income were significantly different between GPT and FIT travelers, but educational level and marital status were not significantly different.

5 A STUDY OF MACAO OUTBOUND TOURISTS 17 Previous studies in general reveal the influence of travel patterns, travel activities and demographic factors on tourists choice of tour mode. However, different research results have arisen in different places. For example, in Macao, due to cultural and environmental differences, outbound tourists travel may behave differently from those tourists from other places. With little current understanding of Macao outbound tourism, there is still much room for improving our knowledge about local outbound tourist behavior. METHODOLOGY A quantitative survey is used as the major method in this study. Since this study aims to investigate experienced outbound tourists behavior, those outbound tourists of Macao with travel experience are the targeted participants. To ensure that more local adults with more travel experience can be found, the sample was collected from an adult school for tourism education, where a number of qualified participants could be easily found, as most adult students were experienced travelers, and many of them were working in various industries while some of them were working in the tourism industry. To recruit the most representative participants, some criteria were set for potential participants. Only those voluntary participants who had fulfilled the criteria could be recruited to be official participants to fill in the survey questionnaire. The criteria for selecting survey participants were as follows: should be local residents; age must be over 18 years. must have taken pleasure travel abroad in the past two successive years. must have stayed away from home for at least one night during the trip. In order to construct a comprehensive survey questionnaire, a comprehensive review of previous studies related to tourist behavior was undertaken, and a number of variables in terms of travel patterns, travel activities and demographics were found and selected from previous studies about tourist behavior for this survey (Field, 1999; Heung Vincent, 2000; Morrison Alastair, 1994; Shoemaker, 2000; Zhang Hanqin, 2003). These variables were presented in the resulting questionnaire. There were 15 questions regarding general travel behavior such as respondents travel party size, expenditure, travel activities etc, and seven questions regarding demographic variables such as age, gender, income, education, etc, in the questionnaire. Ordinal scale and nominal scale were used for measurement, and a 5 point Likert scale was used for measuring participants degree of agreement on some questions presented in statement form, such as previous satisfaction with a tour mode. A total of 1,000 questionnaires were distributed to potential respondents, and 820 questionnaires were collected, but only 792 of these questionnaires were completed. The response rate was thus 79.2%. Participants were asked to complete the questionnaire according to their latest oversea pleasure trip experience. Prior to delivering the questionnaire to participants, a definition of GPT tourists and FIT tourists was given, so that participants were able to classify themselves into either the GPT or the FIT group when filling in the questionnaire. In this study, GPT was defined as an allinclusive package tour sold by a travel agent at a single price. Common tourist services are included in this package tour, such as accommodation and transportation, a tour leader who escorts the tourists during the whole journey, and a tour guide who leads the tourists around the tourist attractions and heritage sites at the destination. FIT was defined as an individual tour which may or may not consist of basic tourist services such as accommodation and an air ticket bought directly from a travel agent, but does not have a planned-in-advance itinerary by a travel agent. In this study, the definition of GPT and FIT tourists are as follows: GPT tourists are those tourists who had booked an all-inclusive package tour with a tour guide from a travel agent prior to departure; FIT tourists are those who bought a hotel-and-transportation only package or little or no service from a travel agent prior to departure. Under this definition, participants easily classified themselves into either the GPT or FIT group. The survey questionnaire was prepared in Chinese. Prior to the official survey being conducted, a

6 18 MAN-u IO and LEONIE HALLO pilot test was conducted with 15 participants from the adult students of the tourism school, to ensure the wordings in the questionnaire were well understood. There were 375 group package tourists (47%) and 423 free independent tourists (53%) in the final sample. The dependent variable is the choice of tour mode: GPT and FIT. The independent variables were allocated in travel patterns, travel activities, previous satisfaction of the two tour modes and demographics. Chi-square and T-test were employed to identify the differences between the two tour modes by every independent variable. Those independent variables in the sections of travel behavior and demographics were analyzed by Chi-square, as they were mostly measured at interval and nominal levels, and Chi-square statistics are useful in answering questions about data that are nominally scaled (Hair, Bush, & Ortinau, 2003). The independent variables in travel patterns, travel activities and previous satisfaction of the two tour modes were analyzed by mean comparison and T-tests, as they were measured by Likert scale, and a T-test requires interval or ratio data. For the analysis of the relationship between independent variables and a tour mode choice, discriminant analysis was applied, which is a multivariate technique used for predicting group membership on the basis of two or more independent variables (Hair et al., 2003). According to the application of discriminant analysis by Hair et al, the method is applicable when the independent variables are metric and the dependent variables are nonmetric or categorical. In this study, the dependent variable is the choice of tour mode, which is nonmetric, and the independent variables of travel patterns, travel activities, previous satisfaction of the two tour modes and demographics were mostly measured in metric system. Using discriminant analysis, it is possible to find out which independent variable can predict the dependent variable and determine tourists choice of tour mode. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION As shown in Table 1, Chi-square tests were employed to test the differences of travel patterns between the two groups of respondents. The statistical results show that most variables were significantly different between GPT and FIT respondents. Regarding respondents travel patterns, many previous research studies claim that FIT tourists are more spontaneous, like to travel to more destinations, and stay a longer time on the trip (Hyde & Lawson, 2003; Tidewell & Faulkner, 1999). However, in this study FIT respondents have some characteristics which are different from those characteristics found in previous research (Hyde & Lawson, 2003; Seiler et al., 2001; Yamamoto & Gill, 1999). FIT respondents in this study had a shorter trip length than GPT respondents, tended to travel to a familiar destination, and usually visited a single destination. The characteristics of FIT respondents having a shorter trip length and visiting the destinations nearby their home land reflect that FIT respondents enjoy a short vacation. Many FIT respondents are repeat visitors to a destination, as they have traveled more than one time to the same destination. Many FIT respondents had friends or relatives in the destination, so they chose friends or relatives homes for accommodation. This is a very common characteristic for those independent tourists who had a travel purpose of visiting friends and relatives in previous research (Hsieh et al., 1992; Seiler et al., 2001) and this characteristic reflects the fact that FIT respondents traveled for multiple purposes rather than for pleasure only. Meanwhile, the results of this study indicate that most FIT respondents relied on word-of-mouth from friends/relatives for travel information. Greater travel experience and knowing people in the destination are also their common characteristics. On these issues, FIT respondents are similar to those investigated in previous research (Morrison et al, 1994, Yamamoto et al, 1999). Table 1 Travel patterns GPT FIT Chi-square Frequency % Frequency % value Travel companions lover/couple friends/colleagues family/relatives

7 A STUDY OF MACAO OUTBOUND TOURISTS 19 GPT FIT Chi-square Frequency % Frequency % value alone Destination China/HK Asian country Europe North America Others Type of accommodation hotel friends and relatives' home own house camp others No. of nights stay in the destination 1 to to to to or above Most spending accommodation transportation food & beverage a shopping entertainment a Individual spending Mop$ 0 to 1, Mop$ 1,000 to 3, Mop$ 3,100 to 5, Mop$ 5,100 to 7, above Mop$ 7, Purchase from travel agent Accommodation Transportation Travel insurance others Sources of travel information Internet Travel agent Word-of-mouth Printed media TV a Others Note: All Chi-square values are significant at the.05 confidence level (p <0.05) except those figures marked

8 20 MAN-u IO and LEONIE HALLO with a. GPT respondents, as shown in Table 1 and 2, behaved like traditional tourists who travel for pleasure. They liked to travel in a bigger party size, (2-5 and 10 above travel companions), travel with friends/colleagues and family/relatives, and mainly visit one destination but with a will to visit more destinations. They also liked to visit a further and less familiar destination. Their trip length was usually 3 to 5 nights, and GPT respondents had less travel experience. They used a longer time to prepare for their trips, and mostly chose hotels for accommodation. They mostly spent Mop$1,000 5,000 individually during their trip, and spend this mostly on shopping. GPT respondents purchased their package from a travel agent, so mostly rely on travel agents for travel information. These findings are similar to those in some previous studies about GPT tourists, such as traveling in a bigger party size, having less travel experience, and getting travel information from travel agents (A. Morrison et al., 1994; S. Wong & Lau, 2001; Yamamoto & Gill, 1999). Table 2 Mean comparison of travel patterns Variables Mean GPT respondents FIT respondents Chi-square value No. of companions No. of tourist destination No. of times to the destination No. of trips taken before Time for trip preparation Note: All Chi-square values are significant at the.05 confidence level (p <0.05); all mean values were tested with t-test, and are significant at the.05 confidence level (p<0.05). In the discriminant analysis for travel patterns, three variables were proved to be effective predictors to predict respondents membership of tour mode choice: number of travel companions, number of times to travel to the same destination, and the purchase from travel agent. As shown in Table 6, only these three variables are highly statistically different (p=.000) and their functional values are higher than the cutoff level, 0.3. Meanwhile, the results of Chi-square and T-tests indicate that GPT respondents traveled with more companions and had a higher frequency of purchasing from a travel agent than FIT respondents, while FIT respondents traveled more frequently than GPT respondents. Table 3 Travel activities Variables Mean GPT respondents FIT respondents t value Sight seeing * Theme events * Sport * Visiting friends & relatives * Shopping * Rest & Sleep Entertainment/ recreation Note: The results were presented as the mean on a 5-point scale from 1 (very little/no participation) to 5 (very much participation). * Significant at the.05 confidence level (p <0.05). Regarding the activities participated in by respondents during the pleasure trip, as shown in Table 3, t-tests were employed to test the mean differences of GPT and FIT respondents on a number of travel activities, and the results show that the two groups of respondents are quite different. GPT respondents seemed to enjoy tourist activities more than FIT respondents. On sightseeing, participation in theme events, sport activities, and shopping, GPT respondents were recorded with higher mean scores, whereas FIT respondents had a higher mean score than GPT respondents only on visiting friends and relatives. The results reflect that GPT respondents had a higher degree of participation in tourist activities for pleasure, and behave more like a classical

9 A STUDY OF MACAO OUTBOUND TOURISTS 21 pleasure traveler who mainly travels for pleasure; whereas FIT respondents have a lower degree of participation in tourist activities for pleasure, and behave more like a tourist with multiple travel purposes rather than traveling for pleasure only. The results of discriminant analysis, as shown in Table 7, indicate that there are three variables which are highly statistically different (p =.000) with functional values surpassing the cutoff level, 0.3: sight-seeing, theme events, and visiting friends/ relatives. Thus these three variables are good predictors of the group membership of tour mode choice. This result supports the argument in previous research studies that travel behaviors were important variables influencing the choice of tour mode (Hyde & Lawson, 2003; Mehmetoglu, 2006; Seiler et al., 2001; Yamamoto & Gill, 1999). In the case of Macao, there are only three kinds of travel activities which were proved to be effective factors influencing tourists choice of a tour mode. Marketers should be aware of these crucial factors when planning marketing strategies. Table 4 Previous satisfaction Variables Mean GPT respondents FIT respondents t-value Satisfaction with GPT 3.32 * 2.64 * * Satisfaction with FIT 2.8 * 3.95 * * Note: The results were presented as the mean on a 5-point scale from 1 (very unsatisfactory) to 5 (very satisfactory). * Significant at the.05 confidence level (p <0.05). Table 5 Demographics GPT FIT Chi-square Frequency % Frequency % value Gender (sig.165) Male Female Age or above Language ability English don't know weak average fluent very fluent Local Language don't know weak average (sig.170) (sig.199) (sig.000) *

10 22 MAN-u IO and LEONIE HALLO GPT FIT Chi-square Frequency % Frequency % value fluent very fluent Occupation (sig.028)* businessman executive manager white collar blue collar housewife student retired or unemployed Education primary school or below middle school high school post secondary undergraduate or above Monthly Income 5,000 or below ,001-9, ,001-13, ,001-20, ,001-30, ,001 or above Family Life cycle single live with family single live independently married/cohabited (sig.544) 9.87 (sig. 079) (sig. 175) without kids married with kids single with kids Note: * t-value is The mean difference is significant at the.05 confidence level (p <0.05). Significant differences in demographics between the two groups of respondents were only found on the variables of knowing the local language and occupation, as shown in table 5. The statistics show that most FIT respondents spoke the local language of the visited destination more fluently than GPT respondents. This implies that FIT respondents knew more about the visited destination than GPT respondents did, and the familiarity of destination diminishes travel risks such as taking wrong transportation, behaving against the local taboos, and uncertainty about other issues such as climate, accommodation, and expenditure in the destination. Regarding other demographic variables, with chi-square test, significant difference was only found on occupation. Most FIT and GPT respondents were white collar and students. This result implies that occupation may also influence tourists choice of tour mode. However, the results of discriminant analysis for demographics, as shown in Table 8, indicate that only knowing the local language as a variable is highly statistically different between the two groups (p =.000) and their functional value surpassed the cutoff level of 0.3. The mean values for this variable (p<.05) also indicate that FIT

11 A STUDY OF MACAO OUTBOUND TOURISTS 23 respondents know the local language better than GPT respondents (mean=3.87 for FIT vs 3.12 for GPT). Thus only the variable knowing the local language is a good predictor of group membership. According to this finding, language seems to be the only demographic factor determining Macao outbound tourists choice of tour mode. Table 6 Discriminant analysis for travel patterns Tests of Equality of Group Means Wilks' Lambda f df1 df2 Sig. Structure Matrix Function Number of travel companions Number of destinations Number of times to the same destination Number of nights to stay away from home Number of times to travel abroad Time to prepare for the trip Purchase from travel agent Amount of individual spending % of original grouped cases correctly classified Table 7 Discriminant analysis for travel activities Tests of Equality of Group Means Wilks' Structure Matrix f df1 df2 Sig. Lambda Function Sight seeing Theme events Sport activities Visiting friends / relatives Shopping Rest and sleep Entertainment & recreation % of original grouped cases correctly classified Tests of Equality of Group Means Table 8 Discriminant analysis for demographics Wilks' Lambda f df1 df2 Sig. Structure Matrix Function Gender Age English ability Local language ability Occupation Education Monthly income % of original grouped cases correctly classified. Table 9 Discriminant analysis for previous satisfaction with GPT and FIT Tests of Equality of Group Means Wilks' Structure Matrix f df1 df2 Sig. Lambda Function Satisfaction with GPT Satisfaction with FIT % of original grouped cases correctly classified.

12 24 MAN-u IO and LEONIE HALLO Regarding the prediction of group membership for the two tour modes by previous satisfaction with GPT and FIT, as shown in the table 9, both variables are highly statistically different (p=.000) and their functional values are higher than the cutoff level of 0.3. The results indicate that previous satisfaction with the two tour modes are good predictors of the group membership for tour mode choice. The mean values, as shown in Table 4, for these two variables (p<.05) also indicate that GPT respondents were more satisfied with GPT than FIT respondents (mean = 3.32 for GPT vs 2.64 for FIT), and FIT respondents were more satisfied with FIT than GPT respondents (mean=3.95 for FIT vs 2.8 for GPT). The results support tourists rational decision on choosing a tour mode; those tourists who chose GPT did so because they had a happier experience with GPT in their previous tours, while FIT tourists did vice versa. CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS The findings of this study indicate a phenomenon that today Macao outbound tourists tend to be more spontaneous in taking a pleasure trip, and they usually just spend a few days to arrange their pleasure trip. For tourism marketers, it is a challenge to encourage pleasure travelers to book their tourist services earlier, but such instant need for tourist services may enhance service providers bargaining power over tourists. Furthermore, two to five traveling companions are the most favorable party size for Macao outbound tourists, and especially many FIT tourists enjoyed traveling alone or with only one companion. This reflects the fact that outbound tourists enjoy traveling in a small group which enables them to have more personal interaction with each group mate. Since the number of travel companion is a crucial factor determining tourists choice of tour mode, and FIT tourists favor fewer travel companions than GPT tourists, marketers should be careful in designing tourism products for small group and individual tourists. Meanwhile, traveling with family and relatives, friends and colleagues, is very common for outbound tourists. These findings suggest that the travel agency should not only tailor make a bundle of services for a small group of tourists, but also develop some tourist products which suit a family or a friends tour. The findings also reflect that most Macao outbound tourists prefer a short but quality holiday rather than a quick tour around several destinations, as they mainly visit one destination for their pleasure trip, and their trip duration is usually about a week only. If most Macao outbound tourists prefer a short tour, it is not surprising to see the findings in this study indicate that most respondents traveled to a destination near Macao, such as Hong Kong, Mainland China, and other Asian countries. Besides, the number of times to the same destination is a crucial factor determining tourists choice of tour mode, and the findings reveal that many FIT tourists are repeat tourists to a destination while many GPT tourists are the first time visitors to a destination. Marketers should be aware that repeat tourists and first time visitors to a destination may have different needs for service, thus the services for each group of tourist should be tailor made accordingly: for example, more specific services should be provided to repeat tourists, while general and comprehensive services should be provided to the first time tourists to the destination. According to the findings about travel activities in this research, the most favorable activities for pleasure travelers were sightseeing, shopping, and entertainment/recreation. Among these activities, GPT tourists favored sightseeing and shopping more than FIT tourists, while FIT tourists favored visiting friends and relatives more than GPT tourists. Moreover, the results of discriminant analysis, as shown in Table 7, reveal that sightseeing, shopping and visiting friends and relatives are three of key variables determining tourists choice of tour mode. Tour operators and marketers may need to enrich these classical pleasure travel activities for FIT tourists and provide more flexible itineraries to FIT tourists who may also want to spend some time with friends and relatives while enjoying a relaxing vacation. The findings also reveal that previous satisfaction with the two tour modes has a significant impact on tourists current choice of a tour mode. The more satisfied they are with a tour mode, the more likely tourists will choose this particular tour mode for their next pleasure travel. Marketers should be aware of what makes tourists satisfied and unsatisfied with a tour mode, in order to improve the quality of the tours developed based on GPT or FIT, and the marketing campaign. Finally, the impact of some key demographic variables on tourists choice of tour mode has

13 A STUDY OF MACAO OUTBOUND TOURISTS 25 been revealed in this study. Only the variable knowing the local language of the destination is significant in determining tourists choice of tour mode. FIT respondents spoke the local language of the destination better than GPT respondents. This also reflects that FIT respondents know the destination better than GPT respondents and thus they tend to be repeat visitors to the destination. In addition, this result reflects the fact that GPT and FIT tourists in Macao have similar demographic characteristics, and their demographic characteristics have little influence on their choice of tour mode. However, tourists travel patterns, activities and previous satisfaction with a tour mode have more significant impacts on their choice of tour mode for pleasure travel. Marketers should plan their marketing strategies accordingly in order to better catch these two market segments. CONCLUSION Overall, the findings support some arguments in research studies with respect to tourist behavior, that travel patterns and travel activities have certain impacts on tourists choice of a tour mode. Moreover, the findings of this study have revealed some crucial factors which have an important impact on tourists choice of a tour mode, and more specifically indicated a trend of outbound tourism in Macao that local residents tend to travel with their family or friends in a small group to destinations near Macao for a short but quality vacation. Meanwhile, similar demographic characteristics, which had little impact on respondents choice of a tour mode, also reflect that Macao outbound tourists mainly distinguish themselves by their travel patterns, travel activities and previous satisfaction, but not by demographics. Marketers should plan marketing strategies according to these characteristics. In particular, marketers should improve tourist services according to tourists previous satisfaction with a tour mode, as this has a high-level impact on tourists current choice of tour mode. REFERENCES Collins, D., & Tisdell, C. (2002). Gender and Differences in Travel Life Cycles. Journal of Travel Research, 41, Field, A.M. (1999). The College Student Market Segment: A Comparative Study of Travel Behaviors of International and Domestic Students at a Southeastern University. Journal of Travel Research, 37, Gabbott, M., & Hogg, G. (1998). Consumers and services. England: John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Hair, J., Bush, R., & Ortinau, D. (2003). Marketing Research (2 ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill Heung Vincent, C.R. (2000). Important Factors Affecting Hong Kong Consumers' Choice of a Travel Agency for All-Inclusive Package Tours. Journal of Travel Research, 39, Holloway, J. (2002). The business of tourism (6 ed.): Pearson Education Ltd. Hsieh, S., O'Leary, J.T., & Morrison, A. (1992). Segmenting the international travel market by activity Tourism Management, Hyde, K.F., & Lawson, R. (2003). The Nature of Independent Travel. Journal of Travel Research, 42, Johns, N., & Gyimothy, S. (2002). Market Segmentation and the Prediction of Tourist Behavior: The Case of Bornholm, Denmark. Journal of Travel Research, 40, Kozak, M., & Rimmington, M. (2000). Tourist Satisfaction with Mallorca, Spain, as an Off-Season Holiday Destination. Journal of Travel Research, 38, Lau, A., & Mckercher, B. (2004). Exploration versus Acquisition: A Comparison of First-Time and Repeat Visitors. Journal of Travel Research, 42, Lehto, X., Morrison, A., & O'Leary, J. (2001). Does the visiting friends and relatives' typology make a difference? a study of the international VFR market to the United States. Journal of Travel Research 40, Lo, A., & Lam, T. (2004). Long-haul and short-haul outbound all-inclusive package tours. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 9(2), Macao-Statistics-and-Census-Bureau. (2007). Employment Survey Macao. Macao-Statistics-and-Census-Bureau. (2007). Tourism Statistics Macao: Macao Statistics and Census Bureau Mehmetoglu, M. (2006). Segmenting the Nature-Based Tourists based on Travel Mode Choice. Journal of Hospitality & Leisure Marketing, 14(4),

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