The student market is a large and growing segment of the tourism industry that
contributes approximately one billion rand annually to the tourism economy
Unfortunately, despite the apparent profitability of this market, students are still
disregarded by the South African tourism industry This may be explained by the
perception and ignorance by the industry and that little is known about the
characteristics, travel motivations and behaviour of this market
The literature review revealed that students have specific characteristics which
influence their travel behaviour such as money, time, social factors, personal
characteristics, motives, special interests and especially cultural or ethnic backgrounds.
Thus it is clear that although the student market seems homogeneous, heterogeneous
differences do exist In order to capitalise on this market and to comprehensively
understand student behaviour, information is needed about the activities which the
students pursue, with whom and where these activities are pursued and even more
importantly , how the students make the decision to purchase the product to go on
holiday
Thus the main purpose of this study was to determine the travel behaviour of students
at the NWU, Potchefstroom Campus. This was achieved firstly by analysing motivation
(Chapter 2) and conceptualising travel behaviour (Chapter 3) by means of extensive
literature reviews. Motivation is understood as the underlying forces that arouse and
direct the behaviours in which students engage, in order to realise certain benefits
Behaviour can be viewed as a process of internal psychological factors (e.g. needs,
wants and goals) which generate tension to some extent Different students have
different needs; their purchase decision may be influenced by individual preference and
social circumstances at the least The aim of conducting a literature review concerning
the total concept of travel behaviour was to analyse the process of travel behaviour and
effecting factors including travel motives, in order to understand and how best to attract
the student market.
In order to determine the travel behaviour of students at the NWU, Potchefstroom
Campus, a survey was conducted between the 5th and 14th of October 2010 The survey
was conducted by means of distributing a Questionnaire among third -year students
during contact sessions in each of the different Faculties. From the data obtained from
the questionnaire; a profile of the third-year students could be compiled and through
factor analyses, the travel behaviour of the students could be determined. ANOVAs and
Chi-square tests were used to determine whether the student travel behaviour in the
different faculties differed from each other as well as to what extent These analyses
were conducted in Chapter 4.
Evidently convenience was considered as the most important factor with regard to the
travelling characteristics of the students, Relaxation and Having fun as the most
important factors influencing the travel motivation of students and Finance was the most
important factor influencing the travel behaviour of the third-year students at the NWU,
Potchefstroom_ Overall it was clear that the students in each faculty differed in their
travel characteristics, activities influencing the holiday experience, motives to go on
holiday and factors influencing the choice of destination as well as holiday preferences
The Faculty of Theology stood out as the faculty which differed the most with regard to
the afore-mentioned, whereas the Faculty of Health Sciences indicated the least
differences
This research therefore revealed that the third-year student market at the NWU,
Potchefstroom Campus cannot be seen as a homogenous market since there are
definite heterogeneous differences with regard to their travel behaviour. This market is
also very complex since the Faculty to which the student belongs, contributes to these
heterogeneous differences Knowledge of the travel behaviour of students can aid in
segmentation of the student market in order to refine the marketing strategies of the
destination as well as the development of target specific marketing messages. / Thesis (M.Com. (Tourism))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nwu/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/4426 |
| Date | January 2010 |
| Creators | Heyns, Cornelius Muller |
| Publisher | North-West University |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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