MAKERERE UNIVERSITY

MAKERERE UNIVERSITY BUSINESS SCHOOL

THE IMPACT OF MOTIVATION TO TRAVEL AND CHOICE DESTINATION
AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS: A CASE STUDY OF MAKERERE UNIVERSITY
BUSINEES SCHOOL

BY
BATENGA JOAN

17/U/12317/PS

BLHM III

SUPERVISED BY
MR. KAWEERE RICHARD

A RESEARCH PROPOSAL SUBMITTED TO DEPARTMENT OF LEISURE AND

HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF A BACHELORS DEGREE

OF LEISURE AND HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT OF

MAKERERE UNIVERSITY

DECEMBER, 2020
TABLE OF CONTENTS
 CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.0 Introduction
This chapter is intended to provide information concerning an overview of the study. It
involves the background of the research, problem statement, purpose of the study,
research objectives, research question, scope, signature of the study and lastly limitation
of the study.

1.1 Background of the study

Motivation to travel is the inner state of a person, or certain needs and wants of the
tourists that can be considered as one of the most important psychological influences of
tourist behavior, also motivation to travel is considered often difficult, because it is a
phenomenon that cannot be directly observed and reflects the specific need and desires of
individuals (Cakir, Onur 2019). Motivation to travel can also be defined as the
combination of needs and desires that affect the propensity to travel in the general sense.
(O Leary and Deegan 2005). Several studies present what motivates students from
different students to visit various tourist areas.(Ryan and Mo, 2001). Momtivation to
travel can be categories into Physical motivation and Cultural motivation where Physical
motivation is the benefit that a rise from refreshment of body and mind, health purposes,
sport and pleasure. (McIntosh and Goeldner) and Cultural motivation is the desire to see
and know more about other cultures, to find out about the natives of the country, their
lifestyle, music, art, folklore, dance among others.

University students represent an important segment for the tourism and leisure sectors (K.
Kim, Oh, & Jogaratnam, 2007). Their relatively low daily expenditure is generally
compensated for by a longer length of stay (Wang & Davidson, 2008), they travel more
frequently and engage in more tourist experiences than might have been expected
(Richards & Wilson, 2004), thus raising this segment’s potential to be a viable target
market.

Destination choice is conceptualized as a tourist’s selection of a destination from a set of

alternatives (Hsu, Tsai & Wu, 2009). Usually it is considered as a decision-making
 process from need recognition to final decision, during which it is affected by various
factors (Crompton & Ankomah, 2003)

Destination choice is one of the key elements in tourists’ travel decision-making process
(Wu, Zhang & Fujiwara, 2012). Studying tourists’ destination choice behaviors and
identifying factors affecting tourists’ destination decisions is of critical importance for
destination marketers in order to attract tourists to visit and revisit the destinations. Tourists’
destination decision-making has been extensively explored and numerous variables have
been recognized as explanatory variables of destination choice. These variables could be
generally classified into two categories: individual trait factors, such as personal
characteristics and social-demographic profiles, etc.; and environmental factors, like
marketing information and destination attributes, etc. (Hill, 2000).

Choice of destination can be defined as a process of choosing one destination among a number of
alternatives for the purpose of fulfilling the travel related needs at hand ()

Tourism destination choice processes focuses on motivations, typologies by understanding the

customers' behavior in travel and tourism in order to meet the customers' needs and create more
sales opportunities. (Hudson, 2009)

travel choices are risks taken by travellers and these risks include time expenditure,
financial expenditure, risking the satisfaction of expectations and desires, and risk of
social stress (Mansfield, 2002).The more information that exists about a region, the more
familiar it will seem to travellers (and therefore less risky), and therefore more travellers
are likely to visit(Spreitzhofer, 2008).

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It is therefore important for tourism products such as resorts to understand the travel
behaviour and more specific the travel motivations of tourists, as it may assist in product
development, improved marketing strategies, enhanced service delivery approaches and the
creation of a competitive advantage. Therefore, travel behaviour plays an important role in
tourism as concept, industry and economy, and demands investigation.
 March and Woodside (2005:116) state that specific decisions embraces one or more of the
behavioural intensions based on the need to behave in a certain way according to highly
defined situations. In order to predict travel behaviour it is important to understand how
individual characteristics of a person interact with the characteristics of the situation,
therefore understanding the positive and negative evaluative factors influencing destination
choices of the tourists (March & Woodside, 2006; Laws, 1995; Holloway, 2004).

In addition, student travelers should be studied as a discrete market segment as they

substantially differ from the youth market in terms of motivations, travel patterns, and
preferences (Pearce & Son, 2004; Richards & Wilson, 2004). For instance, Pearce and Son
(2004) found that compared to backpackers, international English language student travelers
were more likely to travel in a large group, stay
The growing Student travel market is likely to generate billions of dollars in potential revenue
(Mattila, Apostolopoulos, Sonmez, Yu & Sasidharan, 2001). Undoubtedly, the growing number
of college students is a dominant factor in this continued growth of youthcentric travel market
(Mattila, et al, 2001). According to U.S. Census Bureau (2015), there were about 20.2 million
students enrolled in American universities in 2015, which represents a large source of potential
present and future revenue in tourism industry.

In African context, Papatheodorou (2006) stated that destination choice has always been an
important aspect in South African tourism and there are various factors influencing travel
decisions. These factors constitute of culture, travel motivations, finances and previous
experiences, to name a few (Ankomah, Crompton & Baker, 1996). Cooper and Hall (2008)
state that tourism is subject to a collection of influences and factors that determine its relative
distribution. Travel motivations forms an integral part of travel behaviour and has been
widely researched and applied in tourism marketing strategies. The need to see the unseen
and know the unknown drives people to travel to new places and motivates them to visit new
destinations (Venkatesh, 2006).

In Uganda, since the Occurrence of negative events and attacks on the country including 2010 Kampala
attacks by the Al-Shabaab Islamist militant based in Somalia, the 2016 Kasese clashes, there has been
decline in the number of tourist arrivals in the country, prompting governments to adopt new
approaches in the quest to regain and maintain domestic tourists in the Country. (Nassuna,
2019)Although the government has put efforts to target the locals such as students to participate in
domestic tourism, media reports and studies reveal that very little has been achieved in regard to
destination achoice by usversity students.

University students represent an important segment for the tourism and leisure sectors (k, Kim,
oh and jogaratnam, 2007). The university motivation to travel and its association with choice
destination plays a critical role in predicting future travel patterns. The objectives of this study
were to uncover the underlying push and pull factors of motivation associated with university
student’s pleasure travelers as well as to identify key motivation factors that have significant
effects on choice destination.

Travel behaviour and travel motivation are therefore considered as important fields in
tourism research literature (Huang & Xiao, 2000; Lam & Hsu, 2006). The prediction of
travel behaviour and knowledge of travel motivation play an important role in tourism
marketing, in order to create demand and assist tourists in decision-making (March &
Woodside, 2006; Decrop, 2006; Mazanec et al., 2001; Holloway, 2004). Thus by having
adequate knowledge and understanding of tourist behaviour, strategies and policies can be
developed and implemented to increase the demand for tourism (March & Woodside,2005;
Law et al., 2004:361; Papatheodorou, 2006). It was clear that research has been conducted on
travel motives; however it clearly discovered that very little research, if any, has been done
on travel motives of tourists to resorts.

1.2 Statement of the problem

Student travel is a growing market which is becoming increasingly important for many
countries (UNWTO, 2010). Despite the substantial growth of tourism in Uganda,
 student’s decisions to choose travel destinations are still low in institutions of higher
learning. In Makerere University Business School, students pursing bachelor’s degree in
tourism and those pursing bachelors degree of leisure and hostility management are
subjected to tours as a part of their curriculum. However despite the existence of these
tourism activities, students fail to decide on a particular tourism destination to travel to.
The most current evidence of this situation can be drawn from course work one tour that
was on held on 13th March 2020 for managing entrainment and artists course unit. third
year student pursing a bachelor’s degree in leisure and hospitality management in
academic year 2019/2020 had different decisions on either to travel to lira or Mbarara and
they filed to decide on one destination place to travel to. MOST of the students chose to
travel to northern region leaving out the western region depending on a number of factors
that motivated to choose to travel to the northern region. Therefore this study will
investigate and assess the impact of motivation to travel and choice destination among
university students with a major focus of Makerere University Business School.

1.3 Purpose of the Study

The major purpose of this study is to assess the impact of motivation to travel and choice
destination of university students with a major interest of Makerere University Business
School.

1.4 Specific Objectives

i. To establish the determinants to motivation to travel of university students.
ii. To determine the travel limiting factors on choice destination of university students.
iii. To establish the relationship between motivation to travel and choice destination of
university students.

1.5 Research Questions

i. What are the determinants to motivation to travel of university students?
ii. What are the determinants to choice destination of university students?
 iii. What is the relationship between motivation to travel and choice destination of university
students?

1.6 scope of the study

1.6.1 Subject scope

The study is to investigate the motivation to travel and choice destination of university students
using makerere university business school as the case study.

1.6.2 Geographical scope

The study will be conducted at Makerere University Business School which is located at port
bell road , Nakawa division.

1.6.3 Time scope

The research covered literature of over 3 months mainly because this is the time it will be the
convenient time to carry out the research on the impact of motivation to travel and choice
destination of university students according to the university time schedule.

1.7 Significance of the study

The research was of great importance to various groups of people like to the current researcher,
future researchers, the management of Makaerere University Business School and the
government in the following ways;.

The research was of great importance researcher because she was able to acquire research skills
which she could apply to conduct research in other subjects. Skills like developing
questionnaires, interacting with new people and get the necessary information and analyzing
data.

The research was also in partial fulfillment of the award of bachelor’s degree of Leisure and
Hospitality Management.
The study sought to establish the impact of motivation to travel on decision making of students
as potential market for tourism in Uganda by identifying the youth demographic and travel
characteristics

The findings would also contribute towards identifying attributes which satisfy students in
Makerere University Business School. This would be useful to the university to offer right
products and would also help in opening up the less visited destinations.

Finally, the findings of the study would contribute to the body of knowledge in students
travel research which has been inadequately undertaken in Uganda while strengthening the
existing body of knowledge in tourism in Uganda.

Conceptual frame work

Independent variable Dependent variable

MOTIVATION TO TRAVEL CHOICE DESTINATION

Travel awareness set
Travel Motivations
 Pull travel motives
 Push travel motives

Tourism Products and Services

 Tourist products
 Accommodation

Transport Travel Constraints

 Intrapersonal
 Interpersonal
 Structural
 CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.0 Introduction
The chapter involves the review of the relevant literature that has been advanced by
various scholars in the field of motivation to travel and choice destination of University
students. The major objective of the study is to find the relationship between motivation
to travel and choice destination of university student.

2.1 Definition of the key terms

2.1 determinants of motivation to travel
Motivation to travel can be defined as the combination of needs and desires that affect the
propensity to travel in the general sense. (O Leary and Deegan 2005). Several studies present
what motivates students from different students to visit various tourist areas.(Ryan and Mo,
2001)

Physical motivation is the benefit that a rise from refreshment of body and mind, health
purposes, sport and pleasure. (McIntosh and Goeldner)
Cultural motivation is the desire to see and know more about other cultures, to find out about
the natives of the country, their lifestyle, music, art, folklore, dance etc.

Travel MotivationMotivation is defined as “a state of need, a condition that serves as

a driving force to display different kinds of behavior toward certain types of
activities, developing preferences, arriving at some expected satisfactory
outcomes” (Backmanet al., 1995, p. 17). Different researchers in tourism have
madean attempt to establish what motivates different people to travel to
different destinations and what engage themin tourism activities provided by
different destinations. Dann(1981, p. 3) defined travel motivation as “a
meaning state of mind which adequatelydisposes an actor or a group ofactors
to travel and which is subsequently interpretable by others as a valid
explanation for such decision”.Moreover, Cohen (2004) provided a clear
explanationof why people travel and what travel means to different people.
Cohen (2004) pointed outthat people who seek familiar destinationsare
motivated by need for relaxation and rest through recreation. Their needs and
behaviorschangeas the individualseeks destinations that provide novelty where
travel experienceis usually at a higher emotional level (Cohen, 2004). In
addition, individuals who travel to pursuenovelexperiences tend to choose
destination that provide them with an opportunity to experience variouslifestylesand
culture. To satisfy this set of aspirations of travelers,destinationsneedto provide
authentic tourism productsand services
n tourism research, theconceptof travel motivationcan bedivided into two factors, which indicate
that peopletravel because they are pushed and pulled to do so by‘‘some forces’’(Dann,
1977, 1981).A review of the literature on travel motivation revealthatpeople travel because they
are‘‘pushed’’ into making travel decisions by internal and psychological forces, and ‘‘pulled’’
by the external forces such as destination attributes (Crompton, 1979; Dann, 1977; Uysal
& Jurowski, 1994). The push motivations are associatedto the tourists’ desire, whilepull
motivations are relatedwith the attributes of the destination choices (Cha, McCleary & Uysal,
1995; Crompton, 1979; Dann, 1981; Oh, Uysal & Weaver, 1995). Push motivation is
considered as psychological needs that drivean individualto travel, and pull motivation
attracts the individual to a specific destination after push motivation has been initiated.
Push factors are internal to apersonand establish the desire to travel, while pull factors are
external to the person and are aroused due to destination attributes(Mohammad & Som, 2010).In
the currentstudy, the hypothetical model breaks down motivation into two constructs: push
travel motivation, and pulltravel motivationsince most of the travelmotivation studies have
dealt withpush and pull motivation.Travel motivations have also been investigated in the
context ofdecision-makingprocesses, market segmentation, and destination choice. Mansfeld
(1992) studiedthe role of motivation in understanding travel behavior and claimed that once
motivatedto travel, people gathered information on their planned trips.
Mansfeld(1992)skippedthe formation of travelintention in the travel-decision process but
conclusivelyconsentedthat travel motivation is a key stage that triggers travel decision
beforeactual travel.Weaver, Lepisto, and Damonte (1994) identified distinctmarket segments
based on motivation factors in a vacation destination andstated that motivation could
serve as abasis for segmentation. Similarly,Bieger and Laesser (2002) argued that the
clustering of motivations provedto bea valuable measureto segment markets. Their study also
indicated that destinationchoices wererelated
Determinants of motivation

Various researchers have identified factors influencing travel behaviour of tourists such as
variables motivating the tourist to travel, attitude of the tourist, various situational factors
and environmental factors which influence the personal significance of the tourist
(Venkatesh, 2006; Laws, 1995). According to Gartner (as cited by Pike, 2008) motivation
initiate the decision-making process. This occurs when a certain need or want cannot be met at
home. Motivations surface when a tourist wants to satisfy a need or want and this can be
seen as a very important variable in relation to their travel decisions and the outcome of
satisfaction (Chang, 2007; Correia, Oom do Valle & Moço, 2006). According to George (2004)
as well as March and Woodside (2005) travel motivations can be considered as one of the
most important psychological influences of tourist behaviour. Motivations are the inner state of a
person, or certain needs and wants of a person, which forces them to act or behave in a specific
way and thus sustaining human behaviour and energy levels of the human body (Decrop, 2006;
George, 2004). Maslow‟s theory is one of the most frequent used to explain the premise
of motivation. Maslow uses five sets of goals which are also referred to as basic needs:
physiological needs, safety needs, social needs, self-esteem and self-actualisation
(Tikkanen, 2007). Tourists may need to escape, relax, to gain relief of physical-and
mental tension and for typical sunlust reasons. Crompton (as cited by Saayman, 2006)
identified seven socio-psychological factors which motivate a tourist to travel: escape from
an everyday environment, discovery and evaluation of oneself, relaxing or participation in
recreational activities, gaining a certain level of prestige, for the purpose of regression,
strengthening family ties and facilitating their level of social interaction.
2.1 The factors that influence tourist choice/behavior

Many authors studied the factors affecting consumer behavior to a tourist destination such as
Mohammad Badarneh et al (2013) and Yuksel et al (2012). These authors have shared a common
conclusion that the impact factors to determine consumer behavior of selecting a tourist
accommodation or destination are tourism environment, perceived value, subjective standards,
marketing strategies and communication strategies. It‟s important to note that customer
behaviors are also affected by subjective attitude or standards and perceived ideas in behavioral
and perceived theory (Zeithaml, 2008) and other authors have confirmed the same statements in
their studies. Zhang( 2012 ) in his study focusing on factors affecting the return of Chinese
tourists to Thailand accommodation facilities he found out that perceived value is the overall
evaluation of customers on the usefulness of products and services based on their feelings of
what they have received.

When an individual decides to visit to a destination, there must be purpose that makes him to do
so. According to Methodological Supplement to World Trade Statistics (1978), there are nine
categories of main purpose for visits. The nine main purposes are holiday/recreation, business,
health, study, missions, meetings/ conferences/ conventions, visiting friend and family, religion
and sports (Mathews, 2008).

Szwarc, (2005) notes that according to the tourism literature and related of travel destination
choice and decision making process, travel motivation involves the concept of push and pull
factors. Many people perceive leisure and holiday periods as a time to escape from the normal
routines of life; to do, to see, to experience something different (Christopher, 1993). Dann (1977)
argued that there are two factors in a decision to travel, which are pull and push factors. The pull
factors are those that affect where you travel include intangible cues of a specific destination that
pull people to realize the needs of particular travel experience (Lam & Hsu, 2005), the push
factors are those that make you want to travel include cognitive process and socio0psychological
motivations that predispose people to travel. As a simple push level, many people just want a
change. They do not want to stay in the same place all the year round and looking to go and see
another place (Morrison, 2002)

Tourists' attractions are an essential ingredient for successful tourism destination development
and they are recognized as the first power, lodestones for pleasure and the real energizer of
tourism in a region. Attractions are design to attract; they are prime motivators for visiting a
destination or a resort (Gunn, 2007)

Consumer behavior functions as a foundation for marketing enterprises. It is a crucial part of

understanding why people tend to choose a certain destination and what sort of factors influences
them (Lee &Wu, 2011). The decision process of buying tourism products or services such as
hotels takes time, because they are mostly intangible and there are many risks involved in the
buying process (Overby, 2007).

The decision to spend non-refundable money on hotel versus purchasing tangible products
involves psychological determinants (Peters & Pikkemaat, 2005). The most important variables
are cultural, demographics and lifestyles among others that are prestige, escape, sexual
opportunity, education, social interaction, family bonding, relaxation, and self-discovery
(O‟Brien,2002) Therefore, in order to understand comprehensively customer behavior in
tourism, various models have been developed to describe and generalize consumer behavior
patterns. The models attempt to show the important role of different elements affecting the
decision making process (Tsiotsou & Goldsmith, 2012 )

Narver, Slater and Tietje (1998) note that customer orientation can result in gaining competitive
advantage, for securing high quality provided service that is unique and hard to imitate.
Customer orientation can also be viewed as one of the ways of obtaining important information
on their preferences, so that recognizing customers‟ needs and wishes will raise the perceived
quality and value of hotel service. However, the problems of contemporary business operations
in all industries, including hospitality, are caused by four factors that cannot be predicted with
significant likelihood – the general state of economy, technological changes, competitor, and,
most of all, customers (Gummesson, 2008).

Tourists change their behavior in choosing a destination from a leisure place to a psychologically
destination. They prefer to visit a place that can make them learn more and their willing to pay
more on the destination. However, the fact is, the visitors will not return to the same destination
after they have come once. As a result, the historical building, heritage, castle need to be re-

evaluated to attract the visitor to come again. A nice environment and atmosphere, good services
are needed to remain a sustainable destination. Travel becomes a way for person to express
inquisitiveness and satisfy curiosity (Pearce, and Robinson, 2007).

The demands of hotel guests and their expectations tend to change dynamically in the modern
hotel industry. When asked to define service, most hotel guests (Mola, Jusoh, 2011) answer
using commonplaces such as “getting what I want, when I want it, with a smile and respect”.
Despite being too generalized, thus worded expectations still send a clear message – services
imply, and customers demand, both tangible and intangible components. The survival of hotels
in the existing competitive environment increasingly depends on the quality of service, with the
only objective to achieve maximum possible satisfaction levels of hotel guests. Hotel guests‟
satisfaction becomes a key indicator of hotel business and an inevitable condition for achieving
competitive advantage and high business performance. Identifying consumers‟ expectations and
monitoring, measuring and managing these in terms of quality and satisfaction provides crucial
information for business decision making.

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2.1 Student travel Market Profile

The Student travel market is a special market with unique profile and characteristics.

The tourist profile can be viewed under two major categories namely social-

economic and behavioural characteristics (Wall and Mathieson, 2006).

2.1.1 Social- Economic Characteristics of Young Traveller

Age, education, income, occupation, lifecycle and previous experiences influence

attitudes, perceptions and motivations affect travel decisions. The extent to which

one participates in tourism is greatly influenced by age (Page and Connell, 2009).

This can be proved by the way tour operators segment their holiday products based

on age. For example those aged 16-24 may not engage in expensive activities

because of limited income but are fond of activities full of fun and are more likely to

engage in spectacular activities.

Different stages in the lifecycle are characterized by different interests, activities and

opinions and these translate to different holiday requirements at each stage.

Household with children tend to have limited choice of activity, travel date, duration

depending on
the abilities and tolerance of the children. Children are an important determining factor of

parental satisfaction and often play a role in the decision making process (Page and

Connell, 2009). On the other hand young travellers who are single have more free time,

have few external commitments and may have no limited choice of activities (Carr, 2000,

2003; Sellars, 1998).

Demand presented by young people has certain common features that differentiate from

other types of tourism demands (Conrady and Buck, 2010). One of the common features

of the Student travel is the high mobility. Income represents the material basis of any act

of consumption, including tourism consumption which depends on the income of the

youth. Tourism expenditures made by young people are in direct relation with their

income. Since youth travellers have low incomes, majority of the young people are

saving to finance their trips they have planned (Chadee and Cutler, 1996). This implies

that young people are planning journeys and making savings in advance and they are also

taking jobs for a short period of time in order raise money to travel.

Student travel budgets depends on the region and chosen destination (UNWTO,

2010).Young travellers from North America have relatively higher budgets due to

relatively high cost of transport. Young people travelling to destination like Australia,

New Zealand South Africa , Central and south America have the largest budgets for their

trips as big part of their income are allotted to airplane tickets to remote destinations.

There is also interesting difference between groups. Those with higher income are more

interested in relaxing and avoiding hustles. Those with low income are more interested in

helping local people and making contribution to the places the visit (Richards, 2007).
Weaver and Lawton (2006) also note that young people particularly those on lower

income visiting friends and relatives can be inexpensive alternative to a normal holiday.

Contemporary tourism has witnessed the empowerment of women and the rise of lone

female traveler. Page and Connell, (2009) argue that women‟s travel is often associated

with high mystical destinations or voluntary environmental work with tracing routes

(such as backpacker routes) or just getting away from career. In addition women Student

travel is evident in the European youth market (UNWTO, 2002). Men and women tend to

be viewed differently in terms of being travelers; for instance men who travel alone might

be considered as seeking adventurous activities, expeditions or sex tourism (Page and

Connell, 2009). Walking, trekking and cultural events are more popular among female

while male‟s choices of activities tend to be more focused on sports and adrenaline

experiences (Richards and Wilson, 2003).

Most of young travellers are students and tend to be highly educated (Richards, 2007).

The level of education of an individual tends to influence certain holiday attractions,

facilities and activities (Odunga, 2005). Education itself can also serve as a primary

reason for travel (Lord, 2002). Education, occupation and income tend to be highly

interrelated in terms of travel behavior (Weaver and Opperman, 2000). This is because

education influences occupation which finally determines income level. The high

educated individuals are more inquisitive, selective and more likely to choose a tourist

product that is experiential rather than purely hedonic.

Travel style is closely related to travel experience. Young travellers with highest levels of

travel experience are more likely to refer themselves as backpackers while those with

least experience tend to call themselves tourists (Richard and Wilson, 2005). There is

strong relationship between travel experience and type of destinations that young people

visit (Richards, 2007). Relatively inexperienced travellers are much more likely to visit

major cities whereas those that have greater travel experience tend to go to other regions

more often.

2.1.2 Travel Awareness and Information Search

Due to intangible nature of tourism products, a critical aspect of travellers‟ awareness is

sufficient information about the products and services they will purchase (Gursory and

Mcclearly, 2004). Potential tourists may be motivated to travel but unless they are

informed of what opportunities are available, they may be unaware of the means of

meeting their requirements (Wall and Mathieson, 2006). Thus information search is a

significant factor influencing tourism behaviour such as selecting destinations, spending

money, visiting duration and experiencing attractions (Gursory and Chen, 2000; Gursory

and Mccleary, 2004).

Awareness of destinations, facilities and services depend upon the availability and

credibility of its source. Information on tourist product is transmitted to potential tourists

through formal and informal sources (Wall and Mathieson, 2006). Formal sources

include magazines, travel brochures, advertisement on radio and televisions and travel

agents. Informal sources on the other hand include comments obtained from relatives,
friends or other travellers. As Sikaraya et al., (2001) points out the destination image is

conjured up from the travel information and influences subsequent travel decisions.

Regarding the intensity of searching information, most young tourist use a wide range of

information sources (Carr, 2003; Minciu and Moisa, 2009). From the previous studies

done on Student travel (Carr, 2003; Richards and Wilson, 2003; Richards, 2007) show

that the main source of information in planning the trip among the youth are the internet,

previous visits, friends and relatives, travel agents and guidebooks. A study done by Bai

et al., (2004) reveals majority of students, a sub- group of Student travel prefer on line

travel agencies when making trip plans. The study revealed that college students are

significantly involved in the internet as information channel and efforts towards

searching online information are substantially higher than those of other age groups.

Internet and guide books are used by the overall but are used far more by slightly older

(over 26) travellers, more experienced and those calling themselves backpackers (Carr,

2003; Richards and Wilson, 2003; Richards, 2007). The most trusted sources of

information among the less experienced youth travellers are informal sources such as

previous visits, friends and relatives and travel agents for information (Carr, 2003).

2.1.3 Length of Stay

In tourism the average length of stay is generally a few days (3-4) and regarding the

evaluation of time, there is reduction of stay due to phenomenon of splitting vacations.

Keeping up with the general trend of the tourism market young people have started to

travel more frequently and shortened the period of stay. Recent study (UNWTO, 2010)
shows the average stay of Student travel is 53 days, a value that is much higher than the

average value recorded in 2008 which was 9.3 days.

The length of stay varies from a few days (6) to few months (180 days). The longest

period of stay belonging to tourist who visit south Asia and the pacific, North America

and the Indian sub-continent, while the regions with the shortest stay are in Eastern

Europe, North Africa, Southern Europe, Central and South Africa. The length of stay also

varies in accordance with youth‟s country of origin. Young tourist from Africa took the

longest trips (68days) and tourists from Latin America took the shortest trips (47 days)

(UNWTO, 2008).

Young people who travel for a longer period of time visits several countries during the

trip or are motivated to practice certain types of Student travel that require a longer stay

of time in one location (e.g. learning a foreign language, volunteer action) which suggests

that young people travel longer than other categories of tourists.

2.1.4 Student travel Groups

The Youth Tourism Consortium of Canada (2004) identifies two broad categories of

Student travel market segment which include the youth group travellers and the

independent youth travellers. Independent youth travellers travel alone or in small

informal groups. There is no homogeneity since there are differences in spending patterns

and travel needs according to nationalities and age groups. Youth group travellers are in

groups of six or more and are sub- divided into two sub- groups namely, school-based

youth group travelers whose travel is organized mostly by schools and non- school based
youth group travellers whose travel is organized by organized groups (e.g. sports team,

religious groups, family groups etc.).

Youth group travellers are mostly dependent on adult decisions while their trips are more

educational orientated. On the other hand, independent youth travellers are more

autonomous, they organize their trips by themselves while they seek new experiences.

Palmer (2004) on the other hand identifies three segments of young tourists namely,

primarily group travel, group or individual travel and primarily individual travel. He

argues that young people at primary and secondary school age use group travel which is

safer and educationally orientated, fast paced and structured, while young people in

colleges use individual travel which is price sensitive, unstructured and mostly

entertainment orientated.

Another Student travel segment is gap year travel which is often taken by young visitors

just after school and before they join university (Blackburn et al., 2005). They argue that

the main reason for the gap year is to improve the educational skills of the young people

and to make them more independent, adoptable and flexible.

2.2 Travel Decision Process

Most studies of tourists‟ travel choice address tourist destination choice as the key

element in the travel decision making process (Coshall, 2000; Ryan and Page, 2000).

Several models have been developed on tourist destination choices. Destination choice

model by Hill (2000) suggests destination choice emerges from funneling process that

consists of four main destination sets. Firstly there is awareness set which include all
travel locations which people might consider as potential destinations before any decision

process about their trip has been initiated. Secondly, for some destinations, the potential

traveller might have little information to consider and such destination would form the

inert set. Thirdly, there is the inept set which consists of destinations that would be

rejected as destination one would consider visiting. Finally the evoked set which includes

all the travel destinations which potential traveller might consider being reasonable

alternative in selecting a specific destination.

A positive image of destination supports tourist decision making process and is

responsible for destination awareness (Sonmez and Sikaraya, 2002). Motivations,

attitudes, needs and values of tourists are also of crucial importance in contributing to

decision making process (Wall and Mathieson, 2006). Motivation is the fundamental

reason for particular travelling behaviour and play vital role in understanding the decision

making process of tourists, as well as assessing the subsequent satisfaction of tourist‟s

expectations (Page, 2009; Snepenger et al., 2006; Wall and Mathieson, 2006; Connell

and Page, 2009).

Researchers have used the theory of motivation to explain tourist behaviour and

destination choice. Some have used the social-psychological motives (push factors) to

explain traveller‟s needs (Chon, 1989; Fodness, 1994) while others used specific

destination attractions (pull factors) to explain motives created by the destination (Dann,

1981). Tourists are pushed by their own motivations towards destinations where they

expect their needs to be satisfied. Pull factors on the other hand are those attributes that
attract tourists to a specific destination once the decision to travel has been reached

(Pearce, 2005).

Youth travellers differ in their travel motivation from other market segments (Matzler

and Siller, 2003). Previous studies done (Heung and Leong, 2006; Richard and Wilson,

2003; 2004, 2005; Richards, 2007) indicate that the main motivation in Student travel

tends to be exploring other cultures, increasing one‟s knowledge and experiencing

everyday life, adventure, interacting with local people, outstanding scenery, sports and

relaxation.

Participation in nightlife is also seen as a key holiday priority for young travellers and a

major factor in their choice of destination (Bellis, 2003; Weaver and Lawton, 2006). A

study done by Xu et al., (2009) reveals that young people enjoy beach holidays and

placed importance on having fun and relaxing. Young travellers (under 26) place more

emphasis on social contact and excitement while slightly older travellers are seeking

more individualized experiences and are less in search of extreme experiences.

2.3 Tourist Products Preferred by the Youth

Tourism products have a complex content and may be defined as a set of material goods

and services meant to satisfy the general and specific needs of tourists (Patrche et al.,

2000). A product is an overall experience gained by a tourist and consists of three levels;

the core products, tangible product augmented product. The core products are those

identified by a visitor as a motivation for visiting. Tangible products are a concrete aspect

purchase by a visitor, while the augmented product is additional service received by a

visitor (Kotler, 2006). This research therefore sought to identify the recreational

activities, accommodation and transport modes preferred by young travellers.

2.3.1 Recreational Activities

Generally, in terms of tourism demand two categories of demands for vacation formula

have been witnessed (Snak, Baron and Neacsu, 2001). The classic demand from tourists

who choose traditional vacations and new type of demands for active vacations. Travel

motivations get young people involved in a wide range of activities during their stay

which underlines the desire to seek various experiences (Richards and Wilson, 2004).

Other type of activities carried by young people include visiting non-touristic

destinations, relaxing on the beach, participating in various events and festivals, learning

foreign language, visiting friends and relatives, practicing sports, adventurous and

volunteering.

There is also close relationship between motivation and experience of young travellers.

According to previous studies (Richards and Wilson, 2003) young people who took over

10 trips were more active than those who took less than three trips. There are several

significant differences in the activities undertaken by males and females (Reseinger and

Mavondo, 2004; Richards and Wilson, 2003, 2007). Young women prefer to walk or

travel in the vicinity of the tourist destination, to participate at cultural events, spend time

in cafes and restaurants and to go shopping. Males on the other hand are more likely to

either watch sport or participate in adrenaline sport activities, reflecting differences

between leisure preferences of males and females. There are also differences between

younger and slightly older young travellers. Younger travellers are more likely to visit
night clubs, while those over 26 years are significantly more likely to participate in

wildlife or nature observations.

2.3.2 Accommodation

Accommodation services are the essential component of the tourism product, given the

fact that, by definition, tourism implies a person staying for a certain period of time far

from home (Richards and Welk, 2009). The extent of Student travel and the specific

facilities designed to meet its needs vary greatly between countries (Cooper et al., 2008).

Young people tend to utilize accommodation at the low cost end of the market (Cooper et

al., 2008; Richards and Wilson, 2003; Richard, 2007) such as visiting friends and

relatives, budget hotels, youth hotels such as those run by the Youth Hostel Association

(YHA), Young Men‟s Christian Association (YMCA) and Young Women‟s Christian

Association (YWCA), and their local equivalent such as home stays as well as campsites.

The comparative analysis of two studies conducted by International Student Travel

Confederation (ISTC) and UNWTO in 2002 and 2007 shows that the preferences of

young people to types of accommodation units change over time. In 2002 visiting friends

or relatives was most popular accommodation unit whereas in 2007 hostels were the main

accommodation unit (UNWTO, 2008).

The traveling style of young people tends to have a big impact over the choice of

accommodation. The backpackers turn to hostels, particularly the independent hostels in

a greater extent than other categories of young people. Those who see themselves as

tourists prefer to stay at hotels rather than hostels (Richards and Wilson, 2003; Richards
and Wilson, 2005; Richards, 2007). In terms of age, young people over 26 years old

prefer lodging in hotels, which underlines that they are willing to spend increasingly

more for accommodation services as they grow older.

The choice of accommodation is also related to travel motivation (UNWTO, 2008).

Those staying in backpacker hostels are more likely to be more motivated by the search

of thrills and excitement, adventure and socializing with fellow travelers. Hotels are most

likely to be used by those who seek rest, relaxation or a calm atmosphere and those who

stay at friends or relatives prefer to emphasize their social motivation (Richards and

Wilson, 2003; Richards, 2007).

2.3.3 Preferred Methods of Travel by Young People

The existence of an adequate transport infrastructure and the access to various

destinations is one of the most important preconditions of Student travel (Snak, Baraton,

and Neacsu, 2001). Transportation is an essential element of tourist product in three

ways: as a means to reach the destination, as necessary means of movement at the

destination and as an actual tourism attraction or activity (Cooper et al., 2008). It is

inevitably involved in tourism by providing the essential link between tourism origin and

destination areas and facilitating the movement of travelers with diversified purposes

(Page, 2009).

In order to reach the chosen destination, most tourists turn to air travel (52%) and the rest

use services of terrestrial transport such as roads (38%), railways (3%) and sea travels

(6%) (UNWTO, 2009). The movement of young people often requires the combined use
of several mode of transport depending on the distance, the characteristics of the chosen

itineraries, the condition of the communication channels, the intensity and seasonality of

the tourist flow, the competitiveness of the prices charged for various modes of transport,

the rapidity and convenience of the travel (Minciu and Moisa, 2009).

Previous surveys conducted by UNWTO/WYSE reveal that the main modes of

transportation by young people are buses, car, train followed by air and other means of

transportation (Richard and Wilson, 2003 and Richards, 2007). Those calling themselves

tourists are more likely to use tour buses to reach their destination, while the backpackers

tend to use the rail and coach networks more than travellers and tourists. Young travellers

less than 26 years old prefer to travel by train, bus or with their own car or to hitch bike,

while tourists over 26 years old like to travel by plane. Young people who choose air

travel and car travel usually have high incomes and more tourist experience, while the

train and the bus are used by the youth with lower incomes.

The main transport modes within destinations are walking, buses and local train, as well

as rented vehicles or hitch biking. Young people under 26 years old prefer to use their

own car, use bicycles or to walk while the youth over 26 years prefer to rent a car or use

domestic air travel (Richards and Wilson, 2003 and Richards, 2007). There are also

young people who use more exotic modes of transport such as freight boats, Kayaks,

Camels, donkeys or elephants (Minciu and Moisa, 2009).

2.4 Travel Constraints

Hung and Petrick (2010) define travel constraints as barriers that inhibit peoples‟ travel

activities. Several models and theories have been developed on travel constraints that

inhibit individual‟s travel intentions (Ajazen, 2001; Ryan and Page, 2000). Travel

constraint model by Crawford et al., (1991) explains that an individual‟s desire to

participate in travel is inhibited by three constraints dimensions namely; intrapersonal,

interpersonal and structural constraints. Intrapersonal constrains are defined as individual

psychological conditions such as health, fear and safety, lack of interest, self- skill which

interact with preferences towards a specific activity. Interpersonal constraints occur as a

result of lack of having family, friends and acquaintances with whom to participate in

tourism activities. Interpersonal constraints are more likely to be affected by stages of

family lifecycle e.g. age, marital status and presence of children as they interact with

individual preferences and participation in tourism activities. This supports findings from

prior research conducted by Nickerson and Jurowski (2000) pertaining to the effect

family lifecycle has upon family vacation destination selection. Finally structural

constraints represent those factors intervening between preference for and participation in

tourism activities and include financial barriers, unavailability of time, inconvenient

accessibility and unavailability of opportunities.

Decision to go on a holiday is an outcome of personal motivation and the selection of a

destination is set against a series of constraints of which individuals are aware (Page and

Connell, 2009). Nadirova and Jackson (2000) have identified five broad constraints

domains that limit participation in tourist activities namely; isolation (e.g. lack of safety,
lack of transportation), Knowledge (e.g. lack of information), skills (e.g disabilities,

discomfort in social settings), costs (e.g administration fees) and commitments (e.g lack

of time). The choice of final holiday is limited because some holidays are too expensive,

are not suited to time available, are too far or may involve activities beyond ones

capabilities (Page and Connell, 2009).

Goeldner and Ritchie (2006) have categorized barriers to travel in six broad categories.

Firstly is cost where the consumers operate within monetary constraints and travel must

compete with other allocation of funds. Secondly, time makes many people not leave

their businesses, jobs, studies, or profession for vacation purposes. A research conducted

by Nyaupane and Andereck (2008) found that insufficient money and time was the most

likely travel constraints. Thirdly, health limitation such as poor health and physical

limitation keep many persons at home. Fourthly family stage can limit young people to

travel. Young people with young children often do not travel because of family

obligations and inconvenience in travelling with children. Nickerson and Jurowski

(2000) emphasize the influences of children on travel patterns and provide a perspective

on planning and development with a view to increase child satisfaction at the destination.

Lack of interest can also limit youth travel. This is contributed by lack of awareness of

travel destinations that would bring pleasurable satisfaction. Jackson (2000) further

suggests that lack of interest could be the primary constraint distinguishing those who

like to participate in a new or additional activity. Finally fear and safety can limit youth

travel. Things unknown are often feared and in travel much is often not familiar to would
 be traveller. Wars, unrest and negative publicity about an area will create doubt and

fear in the mind of the prospective traveller.

A recent study done by WYSE (2011) however shows Student travel market is

resilient and therefore tends to be less volatile than other tourism markets. The recent

economic crisis has underlined that that the young travellers are relatively intrepid

and unlikely to be deterred from travelling by economic problems, political unrest or

epidemics. Based on the literature reviewed this study sought to investigate the

travel constraints inhibiting Student travel among the youth travellers in Nairobi.

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2.4 Relationship between motivation to travel and choice destination of university

students
It is important to understand and have adequate knowledge about the motivations
influencing the travel behavior of tourists, for they have a direct impact on the
decisions tourists make (George, 2004). Various researchers have analyzed travel
motivations in order to conclude a better understanding of travel behavior
(Crompton, 1977; Huang & Xiao, 2000; Lee, Lee & Wicks, 2004; Law, Cheung &
Lo, 2004; Correia, Oom do Valle & Moco, 2007; Saayman, Slabbert & van der Merwe,
2009). Travel behavior and travel motivation are therefore considered as important fields
in tourism research literature (Huang & Xiao, 2000; Lam & Hsu, 2006). The prediction
of travel behavior and knowledge of travel motivation play an important role in tourism
marketing, in order to create demand and assist tourists in decision-making (March &
 Woodside, 2006; Decrop, 2006; Mazanec et al., 2001; Holloway, 2004). Thus by
having adequate knowledge and understanding of tourist behavior, strategies and
policies can be developed and implemented to increase the demand for tourism (March &
Woodside, 2005; Law et al., 2004:361; Papatheodorou, 2006). It was clear that
research has been conducted on travel motives; however it clearly discovered that
very little research, if any, has been done on travel motives of tourists to resorts.
Two similar studies were found which was conducted on travel motivations, but neither
of them was conducted in South Africa. The two studies found, were Correia, Oom do
Valle and Moço (2007) who conducted research on the travel motivations of tourists to
exotic places and Chang (2007) who did an analysis of travel motivations of
package tour travellers. Chang (2007) indicated that the motives for package tour
travellers are: relaxation and pleasure, social relationships, socio-economic factors and
socio-psychological needs. On the other hand, Correia et al. (2007) identified the travel
motivations to exotic destinations: knowledge, leisure, socialization, facilities, core
attractions and landscape features. These two studies do not exhibit much correlation
except for socialization and leisure factors. A reason for this could be that different
types of tourists who travel to different destinations have different travel
motivations which emphasizes the importance of this research study. The objective of
this study is to explore the travel behavior of visitors to a South African resort by
analyzing travel motivations and comparing it with other similar studies.

2.5 conclusion

Extant literature reveals that numerous studies on Student travel market have been

undertaken in developed countries. However few studies have been done in

developing countries and particularly inUganda relating to Student travel market. It

is also worth noting that social-economic and cultural differences amongst people in

various countries can cause significant variations in consumer behavior. However,

 there also exists limited literature on Student travel market as regards to their travel

motivation, preferred tourism products, sources of information and travel constraints

in Uganda. This study aimed at addressing the aforementioned knowledge gaps as it

seeks to explore the potential of Student travel as a market segment for tourism in

Uganda. Student travel market has a bright future and can contribute to tourism

industry in Uganda

CHAPTER THEER
METHODOLOGY
3.0 INTRODUCATION

This chapter describes the research design, sampling size and sampling procedure and data
source, and finally it will describe how data was collected, analyzed in an attempt to answer the
research questions as well as limitations encountered by the researcher while understanding the
study.

3.1 research design

The study adopted a survey design; the design used to get information from the respondents. The
survey was be useful in gathering data at a particular point in time with the intension of
describing the nature of existing conditions or identifying standards which was compared in
determining the relationship that exist between students.

3.2 population study

The targeted population was 40 representatives with a composition of male and female. These
were students of Makerere university business school in Nakawa. The students were chosen from
different Causes of leisure and hospitality management, tourism business and different
departments.

3.3 sampling strategies and sample size

3.3.1 Sampling strategies

The researchers were simple random and purposive sampling. This technique was used to collet
focused information for that matter.(Yoko and Onen, 2005), simple random sampling was
recommendable because it ensured that each member of the target population has an equal and
independent chance of being in the sample.

3.3.2 Sample size

The sample size for this research was 40 considering the standard sampling tables of krejcie and
Morgan (1970). The researcher used judgmental sampling because it was very important to
identify reliable sources of information.

3.4 data collection sources

The researchers will use both primary and secondary sources of data to data from various
categories of respondents and documentation respectively.

3.4.1 Secondary sources

Secondary data collection was conducted by collecting information from a diverse source of
documents or electronically stored information. This helped to provide already existing data to
facilitate the study.

3.4.2 Primary sources

Primary data collection uses surveys, experiments or direct observations. Primary data was
collected using questionnaires where all the issues on the questionnaire and distribute them over
to the respondents on a one to one basis and ensure that all the questionnaires are fully filled to
give clear information to enhance quality data for the research.

3.5 sampling design

Simple random techniques was applied in selection of the few employees, this will be done
because the entire population of the university to be studied was large and research needed to be
finished in a reasonable period of time. This based on the duties, expertise and experience of
staff in order to avoid the collection of biased data.

3.6 Data collection methods

Data collection is an important aspect of any type of research study. Quantitative data collection
methods relied on random sampling and structured data collection instruments that fit diverse
experiences into predetermined response categories. They produce results that are easy to
summarize, compare and generalize various methods were used to collect the data like surveys
method which is concerned with describing, recording, analyzing and interpreting conditions that
earlier existed. Researchers do not manipulate the variable or arrange for events to happen. They
are just concerned with condition that exist. And the last method which was used is documents
and records which cosist of examining existing data in the form of databases, meeting minutes,
reports, attendance, logs, financial records, newsletters. This can be an inexpensive way to gather
information, but may be an incomplete data source.

3.7 data collection instruments

The researchers was the instruments given below to gather information relevant to the study.
Various methods were used like structured/self-administered questionnaire (SAQ) the researcher
was structured self-administered questionnaires covering all the variables in the study. In the
questionnaires, a five point linkert scale was used to ease data processing and analysis. The scale
was marked 1-5 where 1 represented strongly disagrees and 5 strongly disagree. Therefore,
responses can be analyzed with quantitative methods by assigning numerical values to linkert
type of scales. The data instrument is vital because the results are generally earlier than
qualitative techniques to analyze. Questionnaires will be the main instrument of the study and
was particularly being distributed to the different categories respondents of makerere university
business school.

3.8 data quality control

3.8.1 Reliability

The reliability of the questionnaires was improved through pretesting of pilot samples from the
field which enabled the rephrasing of some questions. Additionally, reliability of the

References