Numerous satisfaction studies have been conducted in both tourism and marketing which have examined various aspects of travelers and/or consumers. Quality of life satisfaction studies look beyond the types of satisfaction experiences that endure for only a short time to those that "spill over" into individuals' life domains thus enhancing their overall life satisfaction. Many research studies in the discipline of marketing have revealed that the overall quality of life of consumers may be affected by the marketing efforts of organizations for all of the marketing mix elements. Although it logically follows that the marketing endeavors of tourism organizations would likely have the same impact on their consumers (i.e., travelers), little research has been done to date to determine the validity of this premise. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of leisure tourism on the traveler's quality of life. A model and measurement instrument which help to explain the role of satisfaction with leisure tourism services and experiences in satisfaction with leisure life and overall life were designed for use in this study. The model was based on the hierarchy of life satisfaction model and speculated that overall life satisfaction is derived from satisfaction with the major life domains (e.g., leisure life). Lasting satisfaction or dissatisfaction experienced within the leisure life domain spills up vertically to the most superordinate domain (life in general), thus affecting the overall life satisfaction or dissatisfaction of the traveler. Both the model and the measurement instrument were validated, refined, and extended in this study. A survey of 815 consumers of travel/tourism services who reside in Southwest Virginia was conducted. Structural Equation Modeling (i.e., LISREL) analysis was performed to test the goodness of fit of the model. The results indicated a good model fit. That is, no revisions to the hypothesized model were needed, thus confirming the belief leisure travel does contribute to travelers' overall quality of life satisfaction. Additional analyses were conducted to test the moderating effects of personality type, length of stay, and type of trip on select relationships in the model. Differences of effects for some of the relationships in the model were identified for length of stay and type of trip, but not for the traveler's personality type. Among the key findings of this work are the establishment of those factors which contribute to the overall life satisfaction of travelers, the validation of a measurement instrument which could be used periodically by industry experts to gauge the "health" of the industry in its contribution to the overall life satisfaction of tourism consumers, and the revelation that the length of stay moderates several of the relationships in the model, thus suggesting differences in the way the various identified components influence the overall life satisfaction of short-term versus long-term visitors. / Ph. D.

In the field of travel and tourism, scholars with interest in consumer behavior studies have explored different variables and linked them with the individual's behavior. Variables such as destination image, environmental awareness, service perception, preferences, and motivations for travel are commonly used to understand and predict destination selections and travel behavior. There is also enough evidence to suggest that healthy-living is positively associated with travel behavior. If any, little empirical research has been done to explore and examine the relationship between healthy-living and travel behavior. The guidelines to healthy-living have not been introduced in the literature of travel and tourism. This study is intended to shed some light on this issue and contribute to knowledge in this area. The objective of this study was twofold: (1) to develop a healthy-living attitudinal construct, and (2) examine the relationship between healthy-living behavioral and attitudinal constructs and selected travel behavior variables. Pearson's correlation coefficient analysis was undertaken to test the relationship between healthy-living and travel behavior variables. In addition, using ANOVA, the study examined if there were differences between healthy-living (behavioral and attitudinal) and socio-demographic variables; and by using Tukey's multiple comparison test, significant differences between the different groups were revealed. Finally, multiple regression analysis was undertaken with the objective to find the degree with which healthy-living alone influences travel behavior while socio-demographic variables are constant or controlled for. The overall findings of the study revealed that there seems to be a relationship between a healthy-living lifestyle and the individual travel behavior. However, the direction and strength of this relationship shows variations with respect to different dimensions of the healthy-living construct and selected travel behavior questions. The perceived importance of the interaction between healthy-living behavior and travel also implies that certain habits and practices of individuals may correspond to certain benefits and expectations that are both valued and obtained from travel experiences and at the destination site. Such information combined with demographic information may be of great help in understanding better the behavior of travelers to destinations. This research contributes to lifestyle studies in tourism and sheds further light on the complex nature of travel behavior. / Ph. D.

Travel has been one of the sectors most severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Countries have taken urgent and aggressive action to contain the spread of the virus by implementing measures such as travel bans, border closures, and lockdowns. This thesis theorizes the relationship between self-making, ethics, and travel at a time when movement has become restricted and morally questionable. It traces important ethical tensions generated by the pandemic and grounds them in different conceptualizations of uncertainty, risk, responsibility, and mobility. Through the examination of the historical and global forces that led to the globalization of movement, capital, bodies, and viruses, this work explores the new parameters of travel as produced by the pandemic and its ensuing restrictions. It argues that COVID-19 blurs the distinctions between local and global infrastructures, bodies, and forms of knowledge, rendering them increasingly difficult to maintain. By examining the unfolding of the global crisis and its effects on the practice of travel, this thesis unravels new and innovative patterns of consumption and envisions alternative futures for the tourism industry.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Past studies are focused on measuring competitiveness factors that are significant to a destination, while lesser focus is provided to capturing specific tourists’ attractiveness factors. The purpose of this study was to explore Millennials’ perception of destination attractiveness (DA) and their propensity to visit a destination. The objectives of this research include 1) To explore the perceptions of the millennial tourist when deciding on visiting a destination, 2) To determine which destination attractiveness factors are significant to the millennial tourist, 3) To identify Millennials propensity to visit a destination and 4) To explore other preferences that affect propensity to visit a destination. To accomplish the purpose and objectives, millennial college students and recent graduates from multiple universities in the USA were surveyed. A total of 103 Millennials participated in the study. Descriptive statistics and multivariate analysis were used to analyze the data. The results of this study will contribute to the existing knowledge in the areas of Millennials’ propensity to visit a destination and their perception of destination attractiveness.

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Thesis (M.S.)--Boston University. A travel guide and time capsule of Boston in 1952: "When a visitor comes to Boston he is handed an armful of pamphlets, maps and advertisements from which he can garner little about modern Boston. This book has included the information from all available publications and then gone much further and gives the whole and: true story and picture of Boston in 1952."

This report presents a top-down methodology to forecast annual international flight operations at sixty-six U.S. airports, whose combined operations accounted for 99.8% of the total international passenger flight operations in National Airspace System (NAS) in 2004. The forecast of international flight operations at each airport is derived from the combination of passenger flight operations at the airport to ten World Regions. The regions include: Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, Mexico, Canada, Caribbean and Central America, Middle East, Oceania and U.S. International. In the forecast, a "top-down" methodology is applied in three steps. In the fist step, individual linear regression models are developed to forecast the total annual international passenger enplanements from the U.S. to each of nine World Regions. The resulting regression models are statistically valid and have parameters that are credible in terms of signs and magnitude. In the second step, the forecasted passenger enplanements are distributed among international airports in the U.S. using individual airport market share factors. The airport market share analysis conducted in this step concludes that the airline business is the critical factor explaining the changes associated with airport market share. In the third and final step, the international passenger enplanements at each airport are converted to flight operations required for transporting the passengers. In this process, average load factor and average seats per aircraft are used. The model has been integrated into the Transportation Systems Analysis Model (TSAM), a comprehensive intercity transportation planning tool. Through a simple graphic user interface implemented in the TSAM model, the user can test different future scenarios by defining a series of scaling factors for GDP, load factor and average seats per aircraft. The default values for the latter two variables are predefined in the model using 2004 historical data derived from Department of Transportation T100 international segment data. / Master of Science