Understanding Travel Constraints: Application and Extension of a Leisure Constraints Model

Abstract

which is about 40% of worldwide international tourist arrivals (World Tourism Organization 2006).There has been an abundance of research conducted on constraints in a wide variety of leisure contexts including outdoor recreation and general leisure participation; however, there is little understanding as to why some people do not travel (Peterson and Lambert 2002). In a large sample of the U.S. population, Peterson and Lambert (2002) discovered that more than 40% of adults did not take a vacation in the past 12 months. Peterson and Lambert suggested that the theoretical foundation based on leisure constraints can have a wider application in understanding non-travelers. Although leisure constraints theory could be valuable in a travel and tourism context, it needs further examination within the broader body of travel and tourism behavior research (Gilbert and Hudson 2000), as leisure travel is fundamentally different from other general leisure activities, requiring longer time commitments and more money. This study employs and extends a leisure constraints model to examine the reasons that keep people from traveling. LEISURE CONSTRAINTSIn the past three decades, a growing number of research studies on constraints to leisure activity participation have emerged. A leisure constraints model, originally proposed by Crawford and Godbey (1987) and further elaborated by Crawford, Jackson, and Godbey (1991), has made a significant contribution. The model explains that an individual's desire to participate in leisure-related activities is inhibited by three dimensions of constraints: intrapersonal, interpersonal, and structural. Intrapersonal constraints are individual psychological states and attributes that affect preference, rather than intervening between preference and participation, and

Segmenting Chinese Outbound Tourists by Perceived Constraints

“…Although barriers to travel have been documented in the tourism literature since the 1980s, only a few articles have applied the concept of leisure constraints to tourism (Hung & Petrick, 2010;Nyaupane & Andereck, 2008). In recognition of the lack of understanding regarding travel constraints, Blazey, Crompton, and Lansing and Blood documented that lack of money, time, family support or interest, and poor health are the primary constraints perceived to influence the decision of an individual of whether to travel (Blazey, 1987;Crompton, 1977;Lansing & Blood, 1964).…”

Tourism constraints for Spanish tourists with disabilities: Scale development and validation

“…Although constraints are an important component of the leisure literature, it is a fairly new phenomenon in the tourism literature (Carneiro and Crompton, 2009;Hudson and Gilbert, 2000;Nyaupane and Andereck, 2007;Priporas et al, 2015) and has only recently been applied in studies on travellers with disabilities.…”

Travel as a Life Priority?

“…Constraints theory assumes obstacles prevent people from travelling, and if the obstacles could be removed, non-travelers would become travelers (Nyaupane & Andereck, 2008). A variety of classification systems have been proposed to categorize constraints according to their nature, type and function.…”

“…Thus, intrapersonal barriers must be resolved before interpersonal barriers can be addressed, and in turn, they must be resolved before structural barriers can be overcome. Jackson, Crawford, and Godbey (1993) evaluated this model from a tourism context, while it has also been used by a number of other researchers (Hudson & Gilbert, 2000;Nyaupane & Andereck, 2008) with modest success.…”

“…However, only a few studies have investigated the issues of non-or infrequent-travel (Haukeland, 1990;Hudson & Gilbert, 2000, Nyaupane & Andereck, 2008Smith & Carmichael, 2005;Wright & Goodale, 1991). Ideally, everyone has, or should have an opportunity to engage in pleasure tourism.…”