Gap Year Tourists’ Motivation and Travel Pattern in Thailand
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Abstract
Tourist motivation and preferences are important components in studying a tourists’ behaviors fordesigning and developing tourism products andproducing an effective marketing campaign. Thisresearch aims to examine demographic characteristics,main motivations and the travel patterns of a gapyear tourist in Thailand. Questionnaires weredistributed at major tourist attractions, budget accommodations and transportation hubs in Bangkok, Phuket, Chiang Mai and Koh Samui. The 405 effective questionnaires were analyzed for this study. The findings have shown that the majority of gap year tourists were from English speaking countries and of western European origins, aged between 21-25years old and taking the gap year on employmentbreak. The main motivations were to learn andexperience another culture, to learn and experienceanother country, and to find thrill and adventure. These gap year tourists preferred backpacking in Thailand for around 2-4 weeks, and travelled to other countries. The most popular destination for respondents was Bangkok. In addition, the important tourism product were the hostels, street food, public transportation and plane flights.
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