International tourists’ decision making: perspectives from frontline service providers

Abstract

This report describes data collected as part of a project investigating international tourists’ decision making in New Zealand. The research is a follow-up to a series of interviews undertaken with tourists in 2009 which explored their decision making (see Moore et al., 2009). This research examined the ways in which people working in the tourism industry (i.e. frontline service providers) influence the tourist experience and tourist decision making and, in particular, explored the role of these frontline service providers as a social source of information and advice. The research was undertaken in the Canterbury region and involved 27 semi-structured interviews with frontline tourism service providers (10 i-SITEs or information centres, 14 accommodation providers, 2 activity operators and a transport operator). The specific research locations were Christchurch, Kaikoura, Hanmer Springs, Geraldine, Ashburton, Timaru, Fairlie and Tekapo. Interview topics addressed included perceptions of tourist decision making: the types of questions asked by tourists and typical responses/answers given to these questions; perception of tourist behaviour and categorisation of tourists by frontline staff; perceptions of tourists’ decision making around itineraries, accommodation and activities. A further set of questions focused on variations in decision making according to destination type and included: location on itinerary routes; variations in the attractions and activities on offer; types of tourists attracted; and, the stage of trip at which tourists visit particular destinations.