1. UKM Learning and Research Repository
2. PHD Thesis / Tesis PHD
3. Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Fakulti Sains Sosial dan Kemanusiaan

Title:	Desert tourism :typologising of tourists and its relation to activities, preferences and attractions of Kashan, Iran
Authors:	Eshraghi Mahdi (P45401)
Supervisor:	Mohd. Ekhwan Toriman, Professor Dr.
Keywords:	Dissertations, Academic -- Malaysia Desserts area Tourism
Issue Date:	14-Oct-2014
Description:	Deserts are becoming popular tourism destination in the recent years. Its popularity is not only because of the unique geomorphologic natural features, but of the authentic culture as well. However, studies on typologising tourists who travelled to this area remain fragmented, hence, why tourists travel to desert areas, their preferences and travel features hardly explored economically and promoted effectively. Considering the existence of this gap in desert tourism, this thesis examines the tourists' types, characteristics and preferences towards desert tourism in the Kashan area, located along the historical Silk Route in Iran. A survey of 390 respondents was conducted in 2010 to uncover the visitor behaviours. Data analyses were utilized accordingly; a two-step factor-cluster analysis was applied to identify tourist segments in variation to trip activities and motivations. A multiple discriminate analysis distinguished clusters that drive the segment differentiation. This procedure was followed up by a series of a chi-square test (χ 2 ) and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) to understand visitors' characteristics in terms of demographic, travel features and attraction preferences among clusters. As the final stage twofold classification 'heavy' versus 'light' spenders utilized a logistic regression analysis to examine the relationship between tourists and their expenditure pattern. The results reveal that trip activity segmentation criterion enabled tourists to be classified into three clusters: "nature/soft", "novelty/learning", and "challenging/hard". Of all, 'nature' tourists dominated the segment, followed by the "novelty/learning and "challenging/hard". The result of logic regression revealed that 'heavy' spenders were the tourists who seeks 'challenging' desert activities while "light spenders" were the 'nature' and 'learning' seekers. The research is of benefit to planning authorities and tourism marketers in developing tourism in desert areas and desert tourism.,Master
Pages:	233
Call Number:	G156.5.S87 E839 2014
Publisher:	UKM, Bangi
Appears in Collections:	Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities / Fakulti Sains Sosial dan Kemanusiaan

Items in DSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.