Determinants of Inbound Travelers' Destination Activity Preference

The purpose of this study is to identify the determinants of destination activity preference and the extent of their affect on market segmentation of inbound travelers to Seoul, thus offering useful insights for destination marketing. Data was collected from inbound business travelers in Seoul between June and October, 2004. Factor analysis, cluster analysis and ANOVA were carried out for the total size of 492 samples. Using the multinomial logit(MNL) model, the determinants of inbound travelers' preferred activity types were analyzed. The estimated result of MNL model revealed that the decisive determinants of preferred activity types by gender, age, origin of residence, prior visits, travel party composition, purpose of the travel, and willingness-to-pay for the activities. These determinants of destination activity preference were derived for the six segments: the groups wanting historic appreciation; the group preferring all tourism activities; the group not wanting active tourism; the group indifferent to tourism; the group wanting unique cultural experiences; and the group wanting shopping and dining. Profile of each segment and implications were discussed.