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Inadequate return questions: return when? Sometime?

Ching‐Tang Wang (Associate Professor in the Department of Sport Management, National Taiwan College of Physical Education, Puzi City, Taiwan)
Tzung‐Cheng Huan (Dean of the College of Management, National Chiayi University, Chiayi City, Taiwan)
Tang‐Chung Kan (Head of the Department of Travel Management, National Kaohsiung Hospitality College, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan)

International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research

ISSN: 1750-6182

Article publication date: 23 March 2012

448

Abstract

Purpose

This paper has two main aims: to show responses like yes or very likely for inbound visitors returning to a destination can lead to misleading and unreliable information; and to clarify the kind of information that should be collected.

Design/methodology/approach

Responses from Taiwan's inbound visitors relating to returning are examined to see what can be learned. Modeling is used to extract meaningful quantitative information from data.

Findings

Modeling shows that survey responses about return are inconsistent. Although 95 percent of non‐visiting‐friends‐and‐relations (VFR) leisure visitors indicate returning, this is not consistent with a retention rate of 90 percent. A retention rate of 33 percent is consistent with the observation that 70 percent of person‐visits are first‐visits. However, 33 percent retention is not consistent with over 95 percent of visitors returning. Conventional questions are yielding highly unreliable information and, therefore, data collection should be changed.

Originality/value

Relations between vague questions and return trips have been established. This research provides new evidence of the need for return data to include information allowing estimation of volume and timing of return.

Keywords

Citation

Wang, C., Huan, T. and Kan, T. (2012), "Inadequate return questions: return when? Sometime?", International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, Vol. 6 No. 1, pp. 44-53. https://doi.org/10.1108/17506181211206243

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2012, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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