PLACE OF RESIDENCE AND VACATIONS

Tourism is a major industry with a growing share in most countries economics. A growing part of the tourism industry is the urban tourism. UNWTO describes urban tourism as trips to cities or places with high population density. Several researchers have tried to develop a framework for understanding urban tourism, which is highly important to cities' economies but also requires significant urban infrastructures. In Europe, urban tourism increased by 4.3% representing over 65% of total bedights (235.1 million in 2014). The current research focuses on testing the effect of residence on the number of domestic vacations and on vacations abroad and on the selected type of vacation (nature or urban). The dependent variable is preferences for nature vs. urban destination, measured on a Likert scale. The independent variables include socio-demographic variables, type of residential setting—city or other type of setting. The data were collected using questionnaires distributed between March and June 2018 in different locations in Israel. 46 percent of the respondent were male, the average age was 28 and 75 percent leave in cities. The results indicate that there is no significant correlation between the type of residence and the number of vacations abroad, however those who do not live in a city take significantly more domestic vacations. The regression results indicate that when traveling abroad: Urban tourism is more preferred by those that live in cities and by younger tourists. Similar results are obtained for domestic tourism. The results can help policymakers adapt their marketing efforts to the right tourist. For example, if they want to market urban tourism to international tourists they should address their marketing efforts to those who live in cities and to younger people. Further research should consider the effects of factors such as length of stay, potential travel companions, and other characteristics of the destination (modern or developed country) on destination preferences.