` MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY DANG THI THANH LOAN THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TOURISM MOTIVATION, DESTINATION IMAGE AND DESTINATION CHOICE - A CASE STUDY OF TOURISM DESTINATIONS IN BINH DINH PROVINCE Major: Business Administration Code: 62 34 01 02 SUMMARY OF ECONOMIC DOCTORAL THESIS Ho Chi Minh City - 2016 The work was completed at: University of Economics, Ho Chi Minh City The scientific supervisors: Prof Dr Bui Thị Thanh Prof Dr Pham Xuan Lan Reviewers: The dissertation will be defended in front of the Dissertation Evaluation Council at The University of Economics of Ho Chi Minh City at ……………………………………… 2016 The dissertation can also be found at: - National Library of Vietnam - General Scientific Library, Ho Chi Minh City - Library of University of Economics, Ho Chi Minh City LIST OF AUTHOR’S PUBLICATIONS RELATED TO THE THESIS Dang Thi Thanh Loan, Bui Thi Thanh, 2014 Factors affecting tourist attraction: a case study of Binh Dinh province Journal of Economics & Development December - 2014 Number 210 Dang Thi Thanh Loan, 2015 Promoting comparative advantages to develop tourism in Binh Dinh Journal of the Asia Pacific Economy September - 2015 Number 452 Dang Thi Thanh Loan, 2015 Factors affect the satisfaction of tourists about Binh Dinh destinations Journal of Economic Development September - 2015 Number Dang Thi Thanh Loan, 2016 Measuring local residents’ perceptions towards sustainable tourism development: the case study in the South Central Coast region of Vietnam, International conference Sustainable tourism development of South Central Coast of Vietnam, 665 - 682 Da Nang 23 – 07 – 2016 Nanhua University – Taiwan & Vietnam University of Commerce & College of Commerce Dang Thi Thanh Loan, 2016 The pioneering role of local provincial government toward sustainable tourism development: A case study of Binh Dinh province International conference proceedings Sustainable tourism development: roles of Government, Business and Educational Institutions, 307 - 318 Ha Noi 09 – 10 – 2016 Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality – National Economics University CHAPTER 1: OVERVIEW 1.1 Rationale 1.1.1 In term of theoretical aspect Destination choice is an important research concept that has drawn much attention from scholars in recent decades “A holiday destination choice can be conceptualised as a tourist’s selection of a destination from a set of alternatives” (Huybers, 2004, p 1) Thus, tourism destination choice is a very important decision process not only for tourists but also for the destination Although these research had some contributions to scientific development and reality settlement, these research remain highly fragmented so far and there has been no research that logically and systematically determines the relationship between the tourism motivation, destination image and destination choice of tourists From the qualitative research carried out by the author, it was indicated that the relationships between pairs of concepts can appear simultaneously In addition, previous research on destination choice used fairly rudimentary research methods and data processing; for example, most of them used descriptive statistics, logistic regression or multiple regression testing; therefore, they haven’t tested the correlation relationship between these components and considered the impact of potential moderator variables 1.1.2 In term of practical aspect In recent years, tourism represents one of the most important and dynamic areas in the economy world Tourism is a growing industry not only in developed countries but also in developing and less-developed countries (Tasci and Knutson, 2004) Due to the potential benefits that tourism can bring to the destination, there is strong competition in attracting tourists between regions, countries and even between the same local destinations within a country This explains why local governments and other organizations have been focusing efforts on the creation of tourist attractions to compete with other relevant destinations in the target market As a coastal province in South Central region and considered as a land with rich and beautiful nature, and abundant cultural history, Binh Dinh is a place fully converged basic tourism resources and comparative advantages with neighboring provinces to be able to organize most of the large-scale types of tourism that can become a major attraction to domestic and international tourists However, up to now tourism sector has not really promoted these advantages, which is clearly expressed through a number of key aspects such as the modest number of tourists to Binh Dinh, the little average length of stay, the low average expenditure, etc Compared to other coastal south central areas, Binh Dinh tourism sector accounts for a relatively small role There is a big gap between potential and actual tourism development In the eyes of many tourists, Binh Dinh seems to be the promised land for tourism, “potential tourism of Binh Dinh is still … potential ” 1.2 Research objectives and questions The overall objective of the study is to build a model generalizing relationships between antecedent variables such as travel constraint, tourism motivation, destination image and destination choice of tourists The reseach was tested for the case of Binh Dinh province, thereby suggesting some policy implications to attract tourists to the destination The specific research objectives of the thesis are: - Building a model of the relationships between antecedent variables such as travel constraint, tourism motivation, destination image and destination choice of tourists; testing these relationships for the case of tourism destinations in Binh Dinh province; - Measuring and testing the relationships between antecedent variables such as travel constraint, tourism motivation, destination image and destination choice of tourists under the influence of potential moderator variables such as socio-demographic characteristics and trip characteristics From the research results, some policy implications are proposed to help Binh Dinh tourism management agencies plan strategies to attract tourists to Binh Dinh Research question: How are the relationships between travel constraint, tourism motivation, destination image and destination choice of tourists? And what are the results in the case of Binh Dinh destination (testing for the case of Binh Dinh destination)? How the relationships between travel constraint, tourism motivation, destination image and destination choice of tourists change under the influence of potential moderator variables such as socio-demographic characteristics and trip characteristics? 1.3 Objects and scope of the research Research objects The thesis focuses on the concepts of travel constraint, tourism motivation, destination image and destination choice of tourists and the relationship between them Research Scope The thesis focuses on analysing the case of Binh Dinh tourism destination The survey period started from September 2013 to September 2015 and was divided into stages Respondents - Respondents in qualitative research are tourists, tourism lecturers and managers in the tourism field - Respondents in quantitative research are domestic and international tourists visiting Binh Dinh 1.4 Research Methods The thesis mainly uses quantitative research combined with qualitative research 1.5 New contributions of the thesis In terms of theoretical aspect: - The study systematically overviews all targeted theoretical research that serve as the basis for the modeling study Specifically, based on the synthesis of previous research, the author organizes, reviews and makes comments and observations which are fundamental to the research model design The research not only clarifies the theory on destination choice in Vietnam's economy, but also adds and tests the relationship between travel constraint and tourism motivation as well as that between travel constraint and destination image which are neglected in previous studies - This is the first study that simultaneously tests and measures the relationship between antecedent variables such as travel constraint, tourism motivation, destination image and destination choice The research hypothseses are accepted and the reliability guaranteed The results of the study help researchers and managers have a more complete and comprehensive view on a method to approach and measure the relationship between tourism motivation, destination image and destination choice from the customer perspective and identify key factors and their influence role in destination choice - In addition to inheriting and adjusting the scale of tourism motivation, destination image and destination choice, the thesis has built a new travel constraint scale based on customers’ perceptions In terms of practical aspect: - Combining academic research with applied one, the research builds up and tests the scales and research model of the relationship between tourism motivation, destination image and destination choice (testing for the case of Binh Dinh destination) and apply these results to assess the situation and suggest some policy implications to attract tourists to the destination This information will help the relevant authorities, incorporations and individuals operating in the tourism sector decide what they should to attract tourists on the basis of enhancing the most of their peculiar conditions in the most effective way - The results of research also contribute to the basis for further studies in this field to explore more factors as well as their importance in promoting the destination choice 1.6 Research structure The thesis is presented in five chapters: - Chapter 1: Overview of research - Chapter 2: Theoretical foundations and research models - Chapter 3: Study design - Chapter 4: Findings - Chapter 5: Conclusion and policy implications CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW AND STUDY MODELS 2.1 Some basic concepts 2.1.1 Tourism In general, the concept of tourism depends on the approach angles for different purposes According to Article 4, Term of the Law on Tourism (2005), “Tourism is the activity related to people’s trip outside the regular place of residence in order to satisfy their needs for sightseeing, research, entertainment and relaxation in a certain time period” 2.1.2 Tourist There are many different points of view on identifying who tourists are According to Article 4, Term of the Law on Tourism (2005) “Tourists are people who travel or combine travel, except for schooling, working or practicing to get income at the destination” 2.1.3 Tourist destination Gartrell (1994) defines tourist destination as the geographic area with particular properties, features, attractiveness and services to attract potential tourists In the strategic perspective, Buhalis (2000, p.98) defines a tourist destination as “a geographical region which is understood by its visitors as a unique entity, with a political and legislative framework for tourism marketing and planning” 2.1.4 Tourist product “Tourist product is a set of necessary services to meet the needs of the tourists in their trip” (Article 4, Term 10, Law on Tourism, 2005) Tourist product includes tangible and intangible elements, in which intangible elements usually account for high proportion 2.2 Behavior theory 2.2.1 Theory of consumer behavior Theory of consumer behavior studies how people buy, what they buy, when they buy and why they buy Studying consumer behavior focuses on how a person decides to spend his/her available resources (time, money, effort) on goods and services (Schiffman and Kanuk, 2004) 2.2.2 Tourist behavior theory Tourist behavior is the consumer behavior in the travel sector Although consumer behavior in the travel sector is interesting and fascinating, it is very difficult to carry out research in this field Customers in tourism sector has become more diverse, more experienced, higher quality required, more conscious and generally more complex (Knowles et al, 2001) Tourist behavior is an important aspect to be studied in all marketing activities (Fratu, 2011) 2.2.3 Applying tourist behavior theory in travel business Understanding consumer behavior is very important for marketing success Swarbrooke and Horner (2007) suggests that the subject of consumer behavior is the key for building the foundation of all marketing activities that are undertaken to develop, promote and sell tourist products 2.3 Tourism motivation 2.3.1 Definition “Motivation refers to a need that drives an individual to act in a certain way to achieve the desired satisfaction” (Beerli and Martin, 2004b, p 626) Tourism motivation is accepted as a central concept in understanding tourist behavior and the process of choosing a destination 2.3.2 The components of tourism motivation The number of components of social-psychological motivation is not inconsistency in studies, but most previous studies have tried to determine the tourism motivation by developing a list of factors in several criteria and then used factor analysis techniques to reduce the number of items in the list 2.4 Destination image 2.4.1 Definition There has been no agreement on the concept and the components of destination image among researchers According to Bojanic (1991), destination image is a person’s impression on a place he/she does not reside Sharing this view, Crompton (1979), Barich and Kotler (1991) suggest that destination image is the sum of beliefs, ideas and impressions that a person has on a destination Many recent studies accept the concept of “destination image is an interactive system of thoughts, opinions, feelings, 2.7.2 Tourism motivation and destination choice There are many studies demonstrating tourism motivation factor, which can be divided into the pull factors and push factors affecting the travel behavior (Yoon and Uysal, 2005; Jang and Wu, 2006; Huang and Hsu, 2009; Wu et al, 2009; Mohammad et al, 2010) in which the destination choice is the decision to visit the destination as well as commitment to revisit and recommend to others Recently, Hsu et al (2009), Zhang (2009), Guillet et al (2011), Mutinda and Mayaka (2012) confirm that tourism motivation is one of important factors affecting the destination choice Accordingly, the research hypothesis proposed is: H2: There is a positive relationship between tourism motivation and destination choice 2.7.3 Destination image and destination choice Testing the influence of destination image on destination choice is a popular topic of research (Gartner, 1989; Bigne et al, 2001) These studies conclude that destination image creates expectations before the trip and it affects the decision making of tourists on the trip (Gartner 1989; Woodside and Lysonski, 1989; Fakeye and Crompton, 1991 ) and post-trip evaluations as well as intentions to revisit a destination in the future (Wang and Hsu, 2010) Accordingly, the research hypothesis proposed is: H3 There is a positive relationship between destination image and destination choice 2.7.4 Travel constraint and destination image Travel constraints are factors limiting the formation of leisure hobby, inhibit or prevent the entertainment participation and enjoyment Chen et al (2013) confirm that destination image plays a mediate role between travel constraint and intend to visit, and hence the negative impact of perceived travel constraints to visit intention can be reduced through the intermediate effects of the destination image In very few research papers, Chen et al (2013) find a significant relationship between travel constraint and destination image The authors concluded that travel constraint influences on the formation of the image destination for young tourists to Brunei Accordingly, the research hypothesis proposed is: 10 H4: There is a negative relationship between travel constraint and destination image 2.7.5 Travel constraint and destination choice Several researchers have considered the concept of constraints as inhibitors to participation in tourism activities (Lee and Tideswell, 2005) and destination choice (Hong et al., 2006) Research results of Lee and Tideswell (2005), Mao (2008), Srisutto (2010), Li et al (2011) confirm that different levels of travel constraints are factors affecting tourists’ destination choice Accordingly, the research hypothesis proposed is: H5: There is a negative relationship between travel constraint and destination choice 2.8 Research models 2.8.1 Theoretical model Based on travel behavior theory and the results of the previous studies combined with the natural characteristics, economic - social characteristics and the typical population of tourist attractions of the province of Binh Dinh together with the results from qualitative research and approach from tourists, the author proposes a model of relationship between tourism motivation, destination image and destination choice of tourists as follows: Destination image H3(+) H6 H4(-) Travel constraint - Demographic characteristics - Sociological characteristics H5(-) Destination choice H1 (+) H2(+) Tourism motivation Figure 2.6: Theoretical model 2.8.2 Competition model According to Nguyen Dinh Tho and Nguyen Thi Mai Trang (2008, page 174), “competitive model plays an important role in building marketing theory in particular 11 and in social science research in general” Zaltman et al (1982, page 110) cited in Nguyen Dinh Tho and Nguyen Thi Mai Trang (2008) say that “Instead of focusing on testing a model we need to test it with competitive models” Bagozzi (1984) argues that we should not wait for testing the competition model in other studies but it has to be done at the same time in the current study Travel constraints, as presented by Kerstetter et al (2005), are key factors hindering people from starting or continuing the trip Through the structural equation modeling analysis SEM, Alexandris et al (2011) propose a negative relationship between the constraint and motivation of recreatonal skier However, the relationship between these two concepts has not been proposed and tested in the tourism field in any studies Most destinations have their own constraints making travel market entry of tourists becomes more difficult Wright and Goodale (1991) claim that current participants may also have constraints, which prevent the participation as often as they desire Through qualitative research results, many participants suggest that it is necessary to add the relationship between travel constraint and tourism motivation because they think that when tourists find constraints to travel, their tourism motivation will decrease Accordingly, the research hypothesis proposed is: H7: There is a negative relationship between travel constraint and tourism motivation Thereby, a competitive model, shown in Figure 2.7 is recommended: Destination image H3(+) H6 H4(-) Travel constraint - Demographic characteristics - Sociological characteristics H5(-) Destination choice H1 (+) H7(-) H2(+) Tourism motivation Figure 2.7 Competitive model 12 CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH DESIGN 3.1 Research process Research objectives Research model and draft scales Research documents Discovery research (N1 = 200) Qualitative research (Discussion groups and depth interviews) Adjust models and questionnaires Preliminary questionnaires Preliminary quantitative research (N2 = 200) Evaluating the reliability of the scale Exploratory factor analysis - EFA Rejecting variables with low total correlation ( < > < > < > < > < > RAOCAN DONGCO RAOCAN LUACHON LUACHON LUACHON Estimates -0,622 0,879 -0,651 -0,647 0,863 0,862 SE = CR = SQRT ((1- λi )/(n-2)) (1 - λi)/SE 0,021 77,839 0,013 9,536 0,020 81,729 0,020 81,166 0,013 10,190 0,013 10,230 Source: Results from the author’s survey data processing P-value 0,000 0,000 0,000 0,000 0,000 0,000 17 Testing the reliability of the scales in Table 4.9, it is shown that although the factors of tourism environment, general infrastructure and atmosphere have not reached the reliability of variance extracted ([...]... studies shows that the system of travel constraint level exist at different levels However, individuals can overcome (negotiating) some travel constraints, such as cost, if the desire to visit destinations is strong enough (Chen et al, 2013) 2.6.1 Concept In broad terms, a destination can be viewed as a product or service Destination choice, at the macro level, is concepted as the process to select a... Adjust models and questionnaires Preliminary questionnaires Preliminary quantitative research (N2 = 200) Evaluating the reliability of the scale Exploratory factor analysis - EFA Rejecting variables with low total correlation ( ... 2.1.4 Tourist product “Tourist product is a set of necessary services to meet the needs of the tourists in their trip” (Article 4, Term 10, Law on Tourism, 2005) Tourist product includes tangible... the tourism field - Respondents in quantitative research are domestic and international tourists visiting Binh Dinh 1.4 Research Methods The thesis mainly uses quantitative research combined with... economy world Tourism is a growing industry not only in developed countries but also in developing and less-developed countries (Tasci and Knutson, 2004) Due to the potential benefits that tourism