Traveler motivations and narrative-driven auto tour itineraries

Traveler motivation studies are rooted in work by Dann (1977) focused on “push” factors that Fodness (1994) said “…are internal factors that pre-dispose individuals to travel.” Crompton (1979) and Pearce and... [ view full abstract ]

Traveler motivation studies are rooted in work by Dann (1977) focused on “push” factors that Fodness (1994) said “…are internal factors that pre-dispose individuals to travel.” Crompton (1979) and Pearce and Caltabiano (1983), based their studies on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Need. Further research focused on systematic segmentation of travel purpose as a proxy for motivation (Middleton 1990). Fodness (1994) developed a psychographic scale specific to tourist motivations based on a “functional approach” to motivations (Katz 1960; Smith, Bruner and White 1956), where motivation is a function of attitudes toward actions or objects that satisfy an internal need. In this study a motivational model has been developed and tested specific to visitation at sites associated with an historical narrative. A survey was administered at sites along the Lewis & Clark National Historic Auto Tour Route (LCNATR) where attitudes were examined in three areas of the visitor experience: a priori “heritage values” (Mathers, Darvill & Little, 2005); “narrative learning” (Zull 2010); and “salience of knowledge” represented by the historical narrative. These three latent concepts were analyzed in reference to a latent dependent variable, “relationship to place” (Cross, 2001), and a dependent variable “intent to travel” to the next site along the LCNATR. Examined individually, the three predictor variables demonstrated a strong and significant relationship with both dependent variables. When viewed as a full model; however, it was found that “salience of knowledge” fully mediates the relationship between the predictors “relationship to place,” “heritage value dimensions,” and “narrative learning” and the dependent variable, “intent to travel.” The findings indicate that individuals who score highly in both general attitudes toward historical sites (heritage value) and also evaluation of the experience, can be predicted to hold the narrative associated with the site at a higher level of importance. Those that view the narrative with higher importance will also demonstrate greater intent to travel to the next site along the route. This study demonstrates that the quality of visitor experience, particularly those associated with preservation and experiential learning, exerts a strong influence on visitors’ intent to travel to the next site associated with an historical narrative.