Vacation Benefits and Activities

Abstract

Family as a travel unit is an emerging phenomenon in China. This market segment, however, has not received as much scholarly attention as it deserves. This study investigated the vacation benefits that Chinese families pursue and their destination activity participation. Factor analysis revealed four dimensions of vacation benefits sought, namely, Communication and Togetherness, Shared Exploration, Escape and Relaxation, and Experiential Learning for Children. Taking pictures and videos was noted to be the most prevalent activity that Chinese family travelers were engaged in.This study further explored the interrelationships between the benefit-sought domains and destination activities. The results identified significant linkages between the two. The uncovered associations suggested that vacation activities served as a functional means to an end for Chinese families. Theoretical and managerial implications of the findings were discussed, followed by recommendations for future research.

Chinese Tourist Vacation Satisfaction and Subjective Well-being

“…The present study was conducted in the context of China, where far-reaching changes have taken place both socially and economically, with the country's opening up to the outside world. Since China has been recognized as a market with tremendous buying potential (e.g., Fu, Lehto, and Cai 2012;Lehto, Fu, Li, and Zhou 2013), this study's findings may serve as guidelines for better service provision to Chinese customers.…”

“…Second, such a classification was based on the travel-related characteristics of the target population. A recent study by Lehto et al (2013) found that the average trip length for Chinese family travelers, a major market segment in China, was 4 days. Taking shorter vacations is gaining popularity in China, where people tend to combine weekends with a public holiday (Wu et al 2000).…”

Vacation co-creation: the case of Chinese family travelers

“…There have been two streams of research in family vacation literature. The first stream has mainly addressed vacation decision-making, including familial agreement (Bronner and de Hoog, 2008) and adaptation during vacation planning (Decrop and Snelders, 2004), whereas the second stream has tried to better understand the family vacation experience, including topics such as how family functions during vacation and how destination activities relate to family functioning (Kluin and Lehto, 2012;Lehto et al, 2013;Lehto et al, 2012). Among the current research, family interaction at destinations has largely been treated as a uni-dimensional variable.…”

Consumer behaviour: the influence of age and family structure on the choice of activities in a tourist destination

“…Smaller families with no children are more inclined to travel than large families which have more economic and physical constraints (Bernini & Cracolici, 2015). Based on the degree of interactivity, activities shared with family members are either parallel or joint (Lehto et al, 2017). Parallel activities require minimal interaction (hunting, listening to music, visiting a museum) while joint activities require significant interaction among family members (playing games, visiting friends, camping).…”

“…Besides, over the past few decades the tourist industry has been regarded as the key driver of growth in national economies, in both developed and developing countries (Mari c, studies are tourism activities (Mumuni & Mansour, 2014). Like in other studies (Lehto, Fu, Li, & Zhou, 2017), the purpose of this paper was to improve the understanding of tourists from Vojvodina by linking 'what do they want?' to 'what do they do?'…”