INTRODUCTION:

Tourism industry, perhaps the fast pace growing sector in the world commerce, has seen wider revamps in its offerings, from the natural resources to the artificial attractions or attributes. The most predominance for the industry’s vibrance is the accumulating tourists distinct motives and the existence of competitive destinations (Shankar, 2020). Despite the other determinants, information search and sources have been identified as the influencing sources not only in the destination image formation processes (Llodra-Riera, Martinez-Ruiz, Jimenez-Zarco and Izquierdo-Yusta, 2015) but also in facilitating the destination marketers to get closer to wider market.

With the advent of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), the tourism industry has also adopted its presence in the marketspace, nevertheless exists in the marketplace too and have significant impact on the industry’s perspectives (Jacobsen and Munar, 2012). The most critical leverage for the destination marketers is when the salience of the destinations and its attributes serving distinct motives surge among the diverse tourists and prospects in greater volume because, tourists search for information has been performed digitally. Also, Tourism being considered the most information comprehensive arena (Sheldon, 1997), it has indicated the destination marketers and other thereof to confront the challenges arising due to the tourists and internet interactions and formulate the marketing communication strategies accordingly (Xiang, Wang, O’Leary, and Fesenmaier, 2015).

The primary purpose of tourists in search of information is to decide efficiently on the destinations to be chosen to tour and hence, they rely on multiple channels (Ho, Lin, and Chen, 2012). Also, tourists tend to pursue the information search process for diminishing the ambiguity in their decision-making processes (Xiang, P. Magnini and R. Fesenmaier, 2014). Internet has altered the activities of tourism industry, perhaps tourists behavior and become the most predominant source for tourists to gather information about the destinations that they are planning to tour and even before their planning processes (Schmallegger and Carson, 2008 and Pan MaClaurin and Crotts, 2007). Also, studies have witnessed that information sources have significant impact on tourists intentions to travel (Dey and Sarma, 2010).

Some of the electronic sources that facilitate tourists on various perspectives are Social Media (Chan and Guillet, 2011; Tussyadiah, Park, R. Fesenmaier, 2011 and Escobar-Rodríguez, Grávalos- Gastaminza, & Pérez-Calañas, 2016) – Face Book, Twitter, Instagram, Search Engines (Buhalis, 2003) – Google, Yahoo, Information Providers, or contents sources (Wee-Kheng Tan and Tong-He Chen, 2012) - Wikipedia, Online Travel Communities, Forums and Channels (Welbourne and Grant, 2015 and Zielstra & Hochmair, 2013) - Flickr, You Tube, Trip Advisor, Travel Blogs (Pan, MacLaurin, and Crotts, 2007 and Pühringer and Taylor, 2008), Destination Marketers/Boards Websites (Papathanassis and Knolle, 2011), Travel Agencies or Marketers – Make my trip etc.

These electronic sources are bestowed with colossal information on various attributes of the destinations and even have the most powerful reviews from the visitors or other tourists who share their experiences – that intends as the electronic word of mouth or content generated by the users (e WOM) (Gupta and Kim, 2004 and Munar and Jacobsen, 2014). This user generated contents, perhaps turns to e WOM, have significant impact on tourists choice process and even in their travel behavior and intensions. Either the enormous information available online also conceive bias in the tourists ideology and impact their intended search (Pan and Fesenmaier, 2000).

Information about the destinations exists in varied patterns such as about the accommodations available in the destinations, history or cultural aspects of the destinations, local landscapes, tourists spots and attractions, facilities, and amenities available in the destination, accessing modes, and so on. However, it is important for the marketers to understand as to what information dimensions are being searched by tourists in the electronic sources and thus, this study has been executed based on such indication. Information pertaining to the destinations should be of high quality because it has significance in tourists perception–perceived image of the destinations (Kim, Lee, Shin and Yang, 2017). Also, the trust being created in tourists perception about the destinations’ information play a vital role. For example, a research by Ana María Munar and Jens Kr. Steen Jacobsen (2013) found that tourists trust the information available on the websites operated by the tourism organizations than the other sources. Thus, this study primarily intends to understand what information aspects tourists search in the electronic sources and list the most common types or rank those, and secondarily, to understand whether there are differences in the information search dimensions based on tourists gender, age, and occupation.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:

The type of research adopted here was descriptive in nature. The sample had been framed inculcating the tourists who use electronic sources to seek information about the destinations. A defined questionnaire containing the necessary statements and questions was floated to 226 tourists (sample size) through google forms using convenient sampling method. The questionnaire contained the questions on tourists demographic characteristics such as gender, age, education, occupation, income and marital status, other travel related questions such as travel frequency, national or international tour, preferred electronic sources and statements on the dimensions of information (measured on Likert 5 – point scaling). Since this study focused on the dimensions of information and selected tourists personal factors (gender, age, and occupation), other factors were not listed. SPSS software was used and tools such as Simple Percentage Analysis, Mean Calculation, and MANOVA were used for analyzing. The reliability of the statements measuring the information dimensions was consistent, that was 0.81. MS Excel was used for creating Pareto Chart.

The following hypothesis were framed for testing the impact of selected tourists personal factors on their dimensions of information search.

H1: There is no statistically significant differences in the dimensions of information searched in the electronic sources based on A. Gender, B. Age and C. Occupation

H2: There is statistically significant differences in the dimensions of information searched in the electronic sources based on A. Gender, B. Age and C. Occupation

ANALYSIS AND RESULTS:

Simple Percentage Analysis (SPA)

SPA has been performed to understand the descriptive frequency of distribution of respondents on the dimensions of information search in the electronic sources of information.

Table. 1. Percentage distribution–Dimensions of Information search

Dimensions of Information	SD	D	NAND	A	SA	Total
Dimensions of Information	Percentage
Destinations Attractions/Tourists Spots	7.5	8.8	25.7	30.5	27.4	100.0
Accommodations in the destinations	5.3	6.6	14.2	35.8	38.1	100.0
News/Stories about the destinations	9.3	5.8	17.3	36.3	31.4	100.0
Accessibility modes to the destination	15.0	8.0	11.1	28.3	37.6	100.0
Cost of touring	15.0	5.8	15.5	26.5	37.2	100.0
Night Life/Entertainment features	6.6	2.7	8.0	40.3	42.5	100.0
Weather/Climatic conditions	8.0	8.0	11.5	30.1	42.5	100.0
Local Food/Special restaurants	9.7	26.5	27.4	23.5	12.8	100.0
Supporting Information Centers/Boards	7.1	14.6	27.4	22.1	28.8	100.0
Political Situation in the destination	28.8	15.0	18.1	18.1	19.9	100.0
Safety/Hygiene Parameters	27.4	16.4	20.4	19.9	15.9	100.0
Reviews/Suggestions/Opinions about the previous visitors	11.1	4.9	12.4	21.2	50.4	100.0

(Note: SD – Strongly Disagree, D – Disagree, NAND – Neither Agree nor Disagree, A – Agree, SA – Strongly Agree)

From the above table.1, it has been found that, more than 57% (30.5% agreed and 27.4% strongly agreed) of the respondents have shown agreement that they search for the tourists spots and the attractions about the destination they choose to travel. In case of searching information about the accommodations, more than 70% (35.8% agreed and 38.1% strongly agreed) of the tourists have agreed that they would rely on the e sources to gather information about the accommodation and its types. 36.3% and 31.4% of the respondents have expressed their agreement that they use electronic sources of information for searching news and stories about the destinations. More than 65% of the tourists (28.3% agreed and 37.6% strongly agreed) prefer e sources of information in deriving information about the accessibility modes of the destinations that they choose to tour. In terms of searching about the cost economy of touring to the destinations, more than 60% of the tourists search about it in the e sources; 26.5% and 37.2% agreed and strongly agreed to the statement, respectively. However, in the view of searching about nightlife and entertainment features in the destination, more than 80% of the tourists (40.3% and 42.5% agreed and strongly agreed, respectively) rely on the e sources. 30.1% and 42.5% (about 70% of the respondents) tourists search for information about the weather or climatical conditions of destinations in the electronic sources. Search for local food or special restaurants have gained moderate preference, that is; 26.5% of the tourists have disagreed - they don’t search about the local food in the e sources whereas 27.4% neither agreed nor disagreed to this and 23.5% of the respondents have agreed. However, more than 35% of the respondents search about the local food. More than 50% of the respondents, that is, 22.1% and 28.8%, have expressed their positive behavior in searching information in the e sources about the information centers and boards that facilitate tourists on information whereas 27.4% of the tourists have neutral view. The highest percentage of the respondents, that is 28.8% strongly determined that they don’t search for the political situation prevailing in the destination that they have chosen to tour whereas contrastingly, 19.9% perhaps the second highest percentage of the respondents tend to search about the political situation in the e sources (strongly agreed). Accordingly, search on safety and hygiene has received a moderate response; more than 40% (27.4% strongly disagreed and 16.4% disagreed) don’t search for the information about safety and hygiene in the destinations whereas 35.8% respondents tend to search (19.9% agreed and 15.9% strongly agreed). More than 70% of the tourists (21.2% and 50.4%) search for the reviews, suggestions, or opinions about the previous visitors about the destinations to take stringent decision about choosing the destination to tour.

Mean Calculation:

The Mean calculation has been used to rank the information search dimensions based on the responses.

Figure. 1 Pareto Chart – Information Search Dimensions

Note: D represents Dimension. D1 -Destinations Attractions/Tourists Spots, D2 - Accommodations in the destinations, D3 - News/Stories about the destinations, D4 - Accessibility modes to the destination, D5 - Cost of touring, D6-Night Life/Entertainment features, D7-Weather/Climatic conditions, D8 - Local Food, D9-Supporting Information Centers/Boards, D10 - Political Situation in the destination, D11-Safety/Hygiene Parameters, D12 - Reviews/Suggestions/Opinions about the previous visitors.

From the Figure. 1, the values shown in the pareto chart points the mean values across each dimensions and the trend line fly from the left to right of the chart through the bars represents the most searched to the least searched information. It has been found that, the dimension 6, that is nightlife and entertainment factures have been the most searched information in the e sources which has the highest mean value of 4.09. The second most searched information is reviews, suggestions, or opinions of previous visitors (D12) as the derived mean value is 3.95. However, Dimension 2 (D2)– Accommodations in the destination has also been placed as the second searched information as the mean value is 3.95. The dimension 7–Weather and Climatical conditions have been ranked three based on its mean value (3.91–the third highest mean value). The mean value of dimension 3, that is search about the news and stories about the destination has been considered as the fourth important information being searched in the electronic sources of information. D4 and D5 have been ranked as the 5^th highest information (mean values of 3.65, respectively) searched in the e sources–information about the accessibility modes and the cost economy of the destination. D1 (Searching about the destinations attractions and tourists spots) has the mean value of 3.62 and hence considered as the 6^th important dimension of information being searched whereas D9 (Information Centers and Boards) has the mean value of 3.51. The dimension 8 – Local Food and Special restaurants has the lowest mean value of 3.03. The least mean values of 2.85 and 2. 81 fall on D10 and D11, respectively. It is critical to note that, the mean values of D6, D12, D2 and D7 fall between the range of 4.09 and 3.91 which are close to each other.

Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA)

MANOVA has been employed to understand the significant differences in information search and respondents gender, age, and occupation. The independent variables have been measured on 5-point Likert scale–independent groups. The independent variables have been found having significant correlation among each other. Thus, MANOVA has been employed for achieving the second objective of this study.

Table. 2–Multivariate Test Results between Tourists Selected Personal factors and Information dimensions.

Dimensions of Information		Gender	Age	Occupation
D1	Destinations Attractions/Tourists Spots	0.079	0.210	0.000*
D2	Accommodations in the destinations	0.007*	0.416	0.005*
D3	News/Stories about the destinations	0.002*	0.679	0.028*
D4	Accessibility modes to the destination	0.253	0.003*	0.001*
D5	Cost of touring	0.388	0.000*	0.000*
D6	Night Life/Entertainment features	0.075	0.083	0.128
D7	Weather/Climatic conditions	0.686	0.258	0.026*
D8	Local Food/Special Restaurants	0.950	0.390	0.016*
D9	Supporting Information Centers/Boards	0.121	0.010*	0.167
D10	Political Situation in the destination	0.007*	0.802	0.060
D11	Safety/Hygiene Parameters	0.427	0.034*	0.005*
D12	Reviews/Suggestions/Opinions about the previous visitors	0.355	0.742	0.018*
*Wilks Lambda F Value*		*2.866*	*3.109*	*3.943*
*Sig P Value*		0.001*	0.000*	0.000*

Note: *P Value is significant at 0.05 Level

From the above table. 2, the following inferences have been found.

The Multivariate results between gender and the information dimensions states that, P Value <0.05 with Wilks Lambda of 2.866 (F Value). However, the follow up ANOVA Results shows that, except D2, D3, and D10, all other dimensions have the sig value more than the threshold, that is p values of D1 = 0.079, D4 = 0.253, D5 = 0.388, D6 = 0.075, D7 = 0.686, D8 = 0.950, D9 = 0.121, D11 = 0.427 and D12 =0.355 > 0.05. Hence, there is no statistically significant differences in dimensions of information search (in terms of D1, D4, D5, D6, D7, D8, D9, D11 and D12) in e sources based on respondents gender. H1A has been accepted.

With the Wilks Lambda Value (F = 3.109) and the Sign Value (P < 0.05; 0.000), the multivariate results show the significance difference between the dimensions of information search and respondents age categories. However, the individual analysis of variance values shows that the sig value (P) of D1 = 0.210, D2 = 0.416, D3 = 0.679, D6 = 0.083, D7 = 0.258, D8 = 0.390, D10 = 0.802, D12 = 0.742 > 0.05. The hypothesis – There is no statistically significant difference between the dimensions of information search based on respondents age categories have been accepted (H1B). However, the p values of D4, D5, D9 and D11 such as 0.003, 0.000, 0.010 and 0.034 respectively are less than 0.05. Hence, H1B is accepted the cases of D4, D5, D9 and D11.

The MANOVA test results between occupation and dimensions of information search states that the Wilks Lambda value = 3.943 with the P Value of 0.000 < 0.05. The individual ANOVA values show that D1 = 0.000, D2 = 0.005, D3 = 0.028, D4 = 0.001, D5 = 0.000, D7 = 0.026, D8 = 0.016, D11 = 0.005 and D12 = 0.018 < 0.05. Hence, H2C is accepted in these cases. There is statistically significant difference in dimensions of information search in e sources based on respondents occupation.

DISCUSSION:

This study primarily intended to understand the dimensions of information being searched by tourists in the electronic sources such as social media, search engines, e magazines, travel blogs, Video streaming and other digital sources etc. From Simple Percentage Analysis, the information dimensions such as Destinations Attractions/ Tourists Spots, Accommodations in the destinations, News/Stories about the destinations, Accessibility modes to the destination, Cost of touring, Night Life/Entertainment features, Weather/Climatic conditions and reviews/Suggestions/ Opinions about the previous visitors have been widely searched by the tourists in the e sources. Accordingly, through the pareto chart derived from the mean calculation, nightlife and entertainment features have been ranked as the most searched information in the e sources (limited to the sample of 226). However, based on the other mean values that fall between 3.9 and 3.5, it shows that tourists tend to search on wider perspectives of the destinations in the electronic sources. In terms of understanding the impact of dimensions of information search and tourists selected personal factors such as gender, age, and occupation, despite few dimensions, the majority of information searches are common between tourists of distinct age and gender. However, with reference to tourists occupation, the differences in the information search has been seen across distinct occupation profile. Despite of all the differences in information search, tourists of distinct gender, age and occupation use or prefer electronic sources to search information about the nightlife and entertainment features of the destinations they chose to tour.

Marketing research, perhaps either at academic or organizational perspectives, would have significant impact on the industry’s growth. This research constitutes on tourism and hospitality industry but the findings and suggestions drawn from this study facilitate destination marketers in formulating lucrative marketing strategies that would increase the tourists inflow in the destination, boosting up the destinations’ local economies and increasing the grubstake on the sustainability and growth of the destinations. To draw the inference clearly, this study suggests the marketers to understand the increasing tourists interaction with digital sources. Tourists interact with the electronic sources at three stages viz; before touring – search for the information about the destinations, during their stay-Social Media by updating status, and post touring–sharing their experience in tourists blogs, social media or even writing to the destinations websites or boards. This research study has focused on the first aspect of their interaction. However, all the three phases of interactions are interrelated. For eg; A Tourists post on his/her travel experience in a blog turns as the primary information for a potential prospect. Hence, though complex, it is critical for the marketers to manage the most favorable and credible information about the destinations in the online sources. Either this paves an opportunity for the marketers to elevate the salience about the destinations and position it as unique brand image and brand personality in the global tourism market.

CONCLUSION:

This research study has been aimed at understanding the dimensions of information being searched by tourists in the electronic sources or digital sources. The findings and suggestions are limited to the sample size fixed for the analysis. However, the same pattern of study conducted in other regions or with larger sample may produce varied results. This also paves a scope for further research on the other aspects of information available online and tourists perception and behavior towards it. Also, further studies can be conducted on understanding how image formation process is being impacted by the tourists interaction towards the e sources of information.

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Received on 30.09.2020 Modified on 22.10.2020

Asian Journal of Management. 2021; 12(1):41-46.

DOI: 10.5958/2321-5763.2021.00007.X