Determinants of tourists’ length of stay

Abstract

This paper aims to identify the determinants of the length of stay (LoS) of international tourists in Norway. The paper reassesses the standard assumption related to tourists’ LoS; it refers to the travel industry’s current trends, and it postulates a more sustainable approach to analyzing tourists’ LoS at the destination level. The paper concludes with a series of recommendations. The data for this study were collected during 153 data collection days and among 5,300 travelers in Norway. The determinants of LoS were analyzed by means of an ordinary least squares (OLS) regression. The results indicate that tourists’ LoS is positively related to their age, interests (nature-based tourists), origin (German, Dutch tourists) and mode of travel organization (package tourists). A negative and significant effect on tourists’ LoS was found for tourists’ interests (urban-based tourists), spending, and origin (home market, long-haul tourists). No significant results were revealed for two covariates, namely, gender and repeat visitation.

Ornamental or tree-filled City Park? A community preference for Sustainable City of Palangka Raya, Indonesia

“…How long a person stays or spends in a city park can differ greatly depending on these various factors. For example, a young visitor may have a different interest and duration of visit compared to someone who is older [18].…”

Exploring the Relationship between Stochastic Events and Patterns of International Tourism in Kenya

“…On the other hand, the percentage of tourists staying for a short period (0-14 days) has progressively increased through time, while the percentage of visitors staying for 15 to 28 days has remained relatively consistent. Studies noted that sociodemographic characteristics, destination attributes, previous visits, and expenditure affects the length of stay at a destination(Oklevik et al, 2021). These factors could in part explain the variation in the length of stay observed although they were not taken into consideration in the current study.…”

“…To do this, one technique is to draw visitors who want to remain longer, including repeat visitors, as the duration of stay is influenced by prior visits, especially during off-peak seasons (Barros & Machado, 2010). Additionally, understanding how visitors choose their stay time is crucial for policy reasons (Oklevik et al, 2021). Short-term visitors typically stay in the city centers and limit their sightseeing to the main tourist sites.…”

Exploring the Factors Involved in Tourists’ Decision-Making and Determinants of Length of Stay

“…Knowing the determinants of tourists' length of stay constitutes valuable information that helps policy makers to develop future strategies in order to improve destination image, to adapt to tourist demand and attract more visitors. Longer stays are directly linked to higher earnings from tourism activity (Thrane and Farstad 2012) to a more sustainable activity, since tourists have the opportunity to visit more tourist sights, local businesses and are more representative for older travelers (Oklevik et al 2021). Previous studies analyzed different characteristics that might affect tourists' length of stay.…”

“…Previous studies analyzed different characteristics that might affect tourists' length of stay. Among them, the most common ones are: gender (Oklevik et al 2021;Soler et al 2020), age (Brida and Scuderi 2013;Barros and Machado 2010;Alén et al 2014), education (Barros and Machado 2010;Gokovali et al 2007), income (Brida and Scuderi 2013;Peypoch et al 2012), children (Soler et al 2020;Bavik et al 2021;Wang et al 2018), destination attributes and image (cultural attraction, climate, cultural heritage, etc.) (Brida and Scuderi 2013;Alén et al 2014).…”