Identification of decision parameters influencing destination choices of Indian domestic tourists

Travel behaviour analysis requires an understanding of the preferences of travellers, especially in case of leisure travel, which is characterised by heterogeneity and multiplicity of destinations. Factors associated with destination, travel and traveller's psychology influence the destination choice further. This paper identifies the latent constructs influencing destination choices of domestic tourists, categorised by their associative value of destination and income groups. The results indicate that aspects associated with “safety and comfort“, and “pre-decision“ influence the destination preferences of travellers at all destination types. Social restrictions and destination attributes are found to be value-specific. The level of importance associated with these factors are found to be distinctly different from one another. The income groups considered are also found to have distinct differences in their destination preferences. Economics and comfort related aspects, pre-decision as well destination-specific attributes are found to vary significantly across the income groups. Based on the results, the study emphasises the need for segmentation of tourists with respect to destination values and income levels for better tourism management strategies.