Destination Evaluation: The Role of Previous Travel Experience and Trip Characteristics

Abstract

This study uses canonical correlation analysis to examine the relationship between two sets of variables that can be used in evaluating a travel destination. The first set is composed of five variables that are referred to as previous travel experience and trip characteristics. These five variables include two measures of previous travel experience (number of countries visited, number of countries visited for pleasure) and three trip characteristics (length of stay, number of people in the travel party, and travel mode). The second set of variables consists of four criterion variables referred to as destination evaluation variables. These variables (satisfaction, service quality, value, and likelihood to return) are used to evaluate the travel destination. Results of the study indicated that a portion of the variance in destination evaluation can be attributed to previous travel experience and trip characteristics.