Multi-destination pleasure trip behaviors in Sicily

Abstract

Many pleasure trips are often characterized by the visit of more than a single destination. The topic is well documented in literature (Cooper 1981; Mings & McHugh, 1992), but the main determinants and consequences of multi-destination trips have not been adequately analyzed (McKercher & Lew, 2004). Moreover, the empirical studies on this topic are limited to a few pioneering studies (Lau & McKercher, 2007; Mings & McHugh, 1992; Wu & Carson, 2008). This lack may be attributable to the failure of tourism organizations to collect data on multi-destination trip behaviors, as it results, for example, from European statistics on tourism (according to the Council Directive 59/95 EC), where no information on the average number of destinations visited within a single trip are provided. Moreover, a deeper analysis of the determinants of multi-destination trip behavior has still to be made. To quantify the relevance of the phenomenon and to analyze its determinants, an empirical research, within a wider project co-funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (MIUR), was conducted between the summer of 2009 and the spring of 2010. Through a complex space-time sampling plan (at two stages: space-time units, and individual units), about 5,000 Italian (Sicilians excluded) and Foreign tourists departing from Sicily were interviewed at the end of their vacation. A specific section of the questionnaire was dedicated to the collection of information on the number of destinations visited (with at least one overnight stay) in Sicily, on the number of nights spent, and on the typology of establishment chosen in each destination. These issues and the main features of this research will be described and discussed in the present paper. A more profound knowledge of tourists choices with reference to the macro-destination Sicily, of the main tour pathways undertaken, of the most visited destinations, and of the factors which are more strongly correlated with particular multi-destination choices (trip motivations, mode of transportation used, group composition of tourists, total cost of the vacation, etc.), are of particular relevance both for tourism public and private stakeholders.