Where else to visit? Demystifying vacationers' diverse intra-destination visitation preferences in a pilgrimage hub

Abstract

Intra-destination travel behavior of tourists is underexplored, particularly regarding the determinants of their preference for tourism spots in and around a prominent tourism destination. This study aims to investigate the tourist groups' preferences for visiting micro-destinations around the pilgrimage city of Puri, India, by utilizing the socio-demographic profile and travel/stay characteristics as explanatory variables. An in-person questionnaire survey was conducted, evoking the responses of 672 tourist groups. Multiple Discrete-Continuous Extreme Value framework was employed to model tourist groups' discrete choice of discretionary tourism location categories and corresponding intensity of engagement as the continuous quantity. To capture the correlation between visitation alternatives, two Multiple Discrete-Continuous Nested Extreme Value models were further estimated each utilizing distinct nested structures. These two structures were formulated by grouping the alternatives based on spatial proximity and attraction type, respectively. The findings highlight that visitation to a particular micro-destination encourages exploration of other nearby attractions. Additionally, inherent preference for a specific type of attraction leads tourists to consistently prefer sites of similar attraction type across all distances away from their stay location. Annual visitors are typically confined to their core purpose with a lesser inclination for distant discretionary micro-destinations. Tourists with a longer stay duration and income are observed to have a higher propensity to choose distant discretionary spots more prominently. Aged groups (predominance of 45+ members) typically avoid distant micro-destinations except for religious tourism spots. Interestingly, the findings suggest that the type of accommodation can explain the visitation preferences significantly. In summary, this study offers a unique contribution through novel behavioral insights and demonstrates a methodological approach to derive a model necessary for estimating trip attractions to diverse tourism sites.