The four stages of on-site behavior for a long-stay relaxation holiday

Abstract

Previous studies largely treat the on-site travel experience as a single stage of homogenous tourist behavior, despite widespread recognition that tourist behavior is complex and consists of temporal decision processes. In particular, little attention has been given to what changes during the course of the long-stay holiday. The purpose of this exploratory study is to understand changes in tourist behavior, if any, from point of arrival through to the end of a long-stay relaxation holiday. In-depth interviews were conducted with mature-aged international travelers from the United States, Europe, and Australia visiting Phuket, Thailand. The findings illustrate changes that can be characterized, into four distinct stages of on-site behavior, through key activities, uncertainty levels, intercultural interactions, information needs, and sources of information. Important implications for destination marketing organizations are suggested which require innovative strategies to match the changing needs and activities of long-stay tourists at various stages of the holiday.

Keywords

Long-stay holiday mature-aged on-site experience qualitative relaxation tourist behavior

Introduction

For many tourists, the ideal vacation includes ample time for relaxation. International destinations such as Phuket in Thailand, Bali in Indonesia, and the Maldives are magnets for this market (Lonely Planet, 2013), with thousands of tourists annually seeking that idyllic relaxation holiday. This study seeks to understand the behavior of such international tourists with regard to their relaxation vacation in Phuket, Thailand. Furthermore, mature travelers make up an increasingly large percentage of this market worldwide and accounted for approximately 35% of tourists visiting Thailand during 2005–2013 (Department of Tourism, 2016). In this study, mature travelers refer to individuals 45 years or older, following similar studies, such as Mitas et al. (2013). With global travel numbers set to increase substantially in the next decade, tourism industries are particularly interested in mature travelers because they have more money, tend to spend more (Tarlow, 2007), and can often stay longer or come more often than other age segments (Sangpikul, 2008; Jang and Wu, 2006). Indeed, over 40% of mature US residents plan to undertake international travel (Fair, 2013). Consequently, interest in attracting mature travelers for the long-stay holiday is high (Tourism Authority of Thailand, 2010). In this paper, we consider a long-stay vacation to be more than 10 days, following Rundle-Thiele et al. (2010) and use this term interchangeably with an extended stay.

Although substantial research has examined travel motivation (e.g., Rittichainuwat et al., 2008; Jang and Wu, 2006) and the tourist experience (e.g., Sangpikul, 2008), these previous studies have paid little attention to the long-stay segment. Furthermore, the long-stay travel experience has largely been treated as a single stage of homogenous tourist behavior (e.g., Abdul-Aziz et al., 2014). Very few studies (e.g., Choi et al., 2012; Mitas et al., 2013; Zillinger, 2008) have attempted to understand the tourist experience at different times during the same trip. Indeed, there is a paucity of literature relating to the temporal dimension of on-site tourist behavior. While these limited studies have concluded that tourists’ feelings and levels of activity vary with the length of the vacation, their results have arguably fallen short of identifying tourists’ behavioral patterns and explaining why such variation occurs.

In addition, competing ideas about potential tourist behavior change exist. On the one hand, the travel career ladder (TCL; Pearce, 1988) suggests that tourists will have new needs activated by past experiences. That is, such theories as the TCL predict that tourists continue to renew their tourist interests over time and seek constant stimulus. Whereas, other authors suggest that individuals may adapt their behaviors, when they find themselves in unfamiliar surrounds or are outside their comfort zone for an extended stay, to fall into a state of comfort and familiarity (e.g., Brown, 2008b). These ideas are pertinent for the long-stay relaxation holiday, where the main purpose is relaxation. While relaxation may be the dominant motivation for leisure travel, especially for mature travelers (e.g., Jang and Wu, 2006; Sangpikul, 2008), very little research has examined the modes and patterns of relaxation that a tourist may engage in. Surprisingly, few studies have investigated whether travelers do in fact relax when on holiday or are stimulated by new experiences. Furthermore, studies in very long-stay situations suggest that changes in tourist behavior fluctuates and can be nonlinear (Brown, 2008a). Accordingly, the primary purpose of this study is to understand what patterns of mature-aged tourist behavior are evident from point of arrival through to the end of the extended or long-stay relaxation holiday.

Literature review

In the behavioral sciences, understanding how individuals change their behaviors to suit changing circumstances over time is a source of interest for scholars. Furthermore, a handful of scholars in tourism have employed time geography theories to examine daily/weekly patterns of tourist behavior (e.g., Hägerstraand, 1970). Most such studies adopt a spatial–temporal approach to understand tourist routines (e.g., Grinberger et al., 2014; Xiao-Ting and Bi-Hu, 2012). In particular, Cooper’s (1981) paper drew attention to the notion that recreation behavior would likely change over time, in part because of changes to tourists’ levels of uncertainty. Furthermore, time geography is an adept way to explore behaviors for tourists with limited time (Cooper, 1981). In turn, other authors have adopted a behaviorist approach to understand the influence of the temporal dimension on tourist behavior (e.g., Zillinger, 2008).

People move through stages in their own lives, especially with changes in work and family roles. Individuals adapt and grow in the workplace as their experiences build their capacities. As consumers, individuals will adapt and modify their consumption to meet changing needs, based in large part on their past experiences. In tourism, Pearce (1988) presented the TCL to demonstrate how travelers adapt their behaviors to suit changing needs based on past travel experiences. Despite this recognition, there have been limited studies (e.g., Choi et al., 2012; DiPietro et al., 2007; Mitas et al., 2013; Smith et al., 2015; Zillinger, 2008) that explore specific changes in behavior at different points of time within a single vacation. In particular, little is known about how tourist behavior changes during the long-stay holiday. In this paper, a tourist change model reflects the process of how an individual tourist changes some aspect of his/her attitude, needs, expectations, or behaviors during a set period of time. In this depiction, we include longitudinal models that capture different perceptions and attitudes at the start and end points of a period of time. In addition, time series models illustrate how changes occur in a sequential process. In contrast, we distinguish change models from those models that identify how groups of tourists might behave differently to each other at one point in time.

Behaviorist change models take various forms and three groups of models that have particular interest to this study are highlighted. One group tends to rely upon a specific theory and is often narrow in scope. This group of change models includes social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1991), information processing theory (Atkinson and Shiffrin, 1968), and needs theory (Maslow, 1943). Within tourism there has been little use of models using specific change theory. Exceptions include Hyde (2008) who used aspects of information processing theory and Pearce (1988) who developed the TCL. Based on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, the TCL specifies five different hierarchical stages affecting tourist behavior (Pearce, 1996). The core of the theory is that tourists learn from past travel experiences and new higher order needs arise that require satisfying during subsequent trips. Although the TCL suggested behavioral changes are likely to occur during a person’s lifetime, not a single short trip, the model has valence for the extended stay. In particular, how would higher order needs be satisfied, once lower order needs are met at the long-stay destination?

A second group of change models tend to be more comprehensive and thus involve more factors or theoretical inputs. Classic consumer behavior models (e.g., Moutinho, 1987; Schiffman et al., 2008; Solomon et al., 2010) fall into this category. They tend to depict consumption-related encounters as a linear progression from needs recognition, through information search, evaluation, purchase, and consumption (Solomon et al., 2010). Within tourism-related areas there have been a handful of studies (e.g., Aho, 2001; Clawson, 1963; Choi et al., 2012; Juan and Chen, 2012) using such models and most have taken simple approaches to recognize the following core stages: pretravel, trip period, and posttrip evaluation. For example, Juan and Chen (2012) proposed three distinct stages of cruise behavior comprising preboarding anticipation, the onboard experience, and posttrip recollection phase. Whereas, an earlier model by Clawson (1963) proposed five stages of leisure experiences comprising anticipation, travel to the site, on-site activities, returning, and recollection. A more comprehensive stage model was introduced by Aho (2001) who suggested that there are seven stages in his process model of tourism experiences. He labeled these seven stages as orientation, attachment, visiting, evaluation, storing, reflection, and enrichment. Despite the model having seven stages, only the ‘visiting’ stage relates to the on-site experience.

The common characteristic of these behavioral models is that they treat the on-site tourist experience as one single stage of the overall consumption process. Indeed, this depiction treats the on-site experience as lacking in planning, travel, or recollections. Yet, the process of the on-site stage involves absorbing local experiences (Aho, 2001) and responding. An extended stay may comprise multiple experiences during the on-site stage. While this compressed approach of treating the trip as one single homogenous stage may suffice for short break stays, it is inadequate for long stays (Juan et al., 2012). Also, tourists may not prefer the same activities they do on a short vacation (Herington et al., 2013). Indeed, Aho (2001) argues that the temporal dimension is a critical factor in forming experiences and these ‘may ripen over a longer time’ (p. 35). This idea is supported by Jeng and Fesenmaier (2002) who suggested that travel is complex, consists of many factors, and is a temporally based, dynamic and a multistage contingent process.

We further note that tourists continue making decisions at different points of time during the course of the trip (DiPietro et al., 2007). Tourists need to decide what activities, if any, to engage in, where to eat and drink, and how much money they have to spend. Some work have investigated what different groups of travelers do on a trip or what the same travelers do on different trips (e.g., Chen and Shoemaker, 2014; Kim and Prideaux, 2005; McKercher, 2002; McKercher, 2001; Shoemaker, 2000). While Kim and Prideaux (2005) examined the differences of travel motivation among tourists from five nations (i.e., America, Australia, Japan, China, and Hong Kong) on a single trip, Chen and Shoemaker (2014) conducted a longitudinal study comparing American residents aged over 55 in 1986, 1996, and 2006. Across these studies, there was a common theme that substantial differences occurred across groups, including travel motivation and information sources among Westerners and Asian tourists. For instance, Americans and Australians visited historical and cultural attractions and stayed at a destination longer than Asians who enjoyed food and shopping aspects. However, these studies focused on one stage of their trip. Only a few studies explored what the same tourists did at different stages of a single trip and how they felt and thought about their tourist experience at different points in the vacation (e.g., Choi et al., 2012; DiPietro et al., 2007; Mitas et al., 2013; Smith et al., 2015). For instance, one small group of authors investigated changes in information processing at different stages of the travel planning process (i.e., Choi et al., 2012; DiPietro et al., 2007). Specifically, both studies investigated the types of travel information needs and sources of information that travelers seek at different stages of the trip from prior to departure through to the end of the trip at destination. As expected, most transport and lodging decisions were made prior to arrival; whereas dining, entertainment, and recreation were the major types of information needs while at destination.

We now turn to a third group of behavioral change models that have investigated changes in feelings and behavior over extended periods of time. In particular, this group of studies has examined how individuals adapt to new, and often unfamiliar, environments. This large group of studies has addressed the issue of how students, education tourists, or seasonal migrants adapt to a host culture that is different to their home culture (e.g., Berry et al., 2006; Innes, 2008; Lee and Cox, 2007; Pedersen et al., 2011). Adaptation is generally referred to as a process of attitudinal or behavioral change in response to new stimuli (Klein, 1977). The overarching construction of these studies is that when individuals are confronted with unfamiliar environments they face various challenges, have numerous options to consider, progress through various stages of comfort/discomfort to reach end states that may be desired or not desired. In particular, what these models illustrate to us is that linear constructions of progress through various stages of adaptation may not exist. Classic ‘U’ and ‘W’ curve models (Brown, 2008a) suggest an initial period of excitement, novelty, and stress followed by a downturn in feelings, often referred to as ‘culture shock’, resulting from feeling disoriented in a strange environment. These initial stages are argued to be followed by a degree of adaptation leading to assimilation within the host culture. More specifically, these studies indicate that feelings related to uncertainty and anxiety are important (Pedersen et al., 2011), together with the ‘tourists’ capacity to utilize appropriate information (DiPietro et al., 2007). Again, we believe extended vacations in unfamiliar settings provide similar circumstances as those described by Brown (2008a).

In tourism, there are just a handful of studies that have attempted to investigate whether the on-site experience can be decomposed into distinct stages that can be characterized by such factors as, levels of anxiety, feelings, and activity preferences (Mitas et al., 2013; Zillinger, 2008). At the time of writing, we could find two such studies. These limited studies have decomposed postarrival tourist behavior into discrete patterns, with a focus on tourists’ feelings (Mitas et al., 2013) and the level of actual tourist behavior (Zillinger, 2008). For example, tourist diaries tracking daily emotional changes during a vacation revealed that the fluctuation of emotions correlated with the length of vacation. In particular, travelers felt good at the start of a trip but felt best during the middle of the trip. At the end of a trip, this pleasant emotion had declined (Mitas et al., 2013). A similar pattern emerged in a study of German tourists’ behavior in Sweden, ‘the level of activity increased during the first four days, and then stayed stable until the last two days, when it decreased again’ (Zillinger 2008, 151). Furthermore, the author found a lack of externally imposed routines allowed travelers to take more control of their daily activities. While Zillinger found no variation in type of tourist activities, such as attractions, shopping, sightseeing, or nature, as a function of holiday duration, her findings suggest that the level of some activities may vary as a function of time. Thus, for long-stay travelers, how long they were engaged in certain activities remains unclear. More importantly, what these studies demonstrate is that fluctuations in feelings and behaviors exist in the on-site experience and that such variance may not be linear. Accordingly, the relationship between the goal to relax, while at the same time receiving external stimulation from the tourist environment, is one of particular interest.

Indeed, relaxation is arguably the most cited reason for undertaking leisure travel (Jang and Wu, 2006; Prayag, 2012; Sangpikul, 2008), where tourists mostly do nothing or very little on their holiday (Jang and Wu, 2006; Prayag, 2012). Moreover, studies into mature-aged travel have identified relaxation as a major motivation for the vacation (Jonsson and Devonish, 2008; Rundle-Thiele et al., 2010; Prayag, 2012), especially for revisiting tourists (Prayag, 2012). The term relax is defined by the Cambridge online dictionary as ‘to become less active, be calmer and be happy’. The term relaxation could also refer to a mental state (Crompton, 1979) or a physical state (Correia et al., 2007; Sangpikul, 2008) or may be a combination of physical and emotional or psychological aspects (Jonsson and Devonish, 2008). Accordingly, we treat a relaxation holiday as one that enhances mental and physical well-being arising from a reduced level of activity and an increased level of calmness.

In summary, we note the limited research into changes in tourist behavior on vacation. In the on-site tourist consumption situation, this model of behavior is reinvented everyday as new needs occur and have to be satisfied. This renewal is exacerbated in the long-stay situation, where the tourist experience may encompass multiple consumption experiences. However, the literature is mostly silent on this issue. Yet how does this aspect of environmental stimulation fit with the notion of seeking an end state of relaxation. Accordingly, we propose to explore how long-stay travelers adjust to a new environment, in the context of seeking a relaxing holiday. Two research questions are stated to guide the direction of this investigation:

What stages of tourist behavior, if any, are evident and how are such stages characterized?

How do tourists reach a state of relaxation during their extended stay and what does that look like?

Method

Thailand is one of the most popular tourist destinations for leisure in the world (Lonely Planet, 2013; Tourism Authority of Thailand, 2013). Phuket, in Thailand, was selected as the data collection site. With 8 million tourists annually (Department of Tourism, 2016), Phuket is ranked among the top 15 destinations worldwide in terms of international tourist arrivals (Euromonitor International, 2015). In particular, Phuket is a preferred destination for western tourists, especially for long-haul travelers from Europe and Oceania, and consequently a major component of the inbound tourist market. In the first quarter of 2014, the number of tourist arrivals from these two regions was 1 million (Department of Tourism, 2016) and accounted for half the tourists visiting Phuket in this period. These statistics are supported by Lonely Planet’s (2013) rating that Phuket is rated a top 10 destination for relaxation. According to Lonely Planet, the ideal destinations for relaxation are famous beaches, such as the Maldives and Phuket. Relaxing beaches are well known for their ‘unhurried “island time” sensibility’ (Lonely Planet, 2013).

We relied on semistructured face-to-face in-depth interviews to facilitate the process of building an objective and holistic view of the phenomenon of interest and to elicit understanding of on-site tourist behavior. The semistructured interview included structured questions drawn from the literature but also allowed the interviewer to pursue interesting directions. The interview guide, which contained questions in English, was prepared and pilot tested with six PhD students and University staff.

Potential informants were English speaking, aged over 45 years and undertaking a leisure vacation in Phuket for more than 10 days. In addition, potential informants who were still in their first week of their stay were excluded. Since many tourists were travelling with partners, we also conducted joint interviews when appropriate. Thus, interview sessions encompassed both individuals and couples, following the approach adopted by Onyx and Leonard (2005) who included informant couples in their examination. Such joint interviews enable individuals to stimulate ideas within their parties and recall experiences that they might not have realized or remembered on their own (Morgan et al., 2013).

Accordingly, a convenience sampling approach was utilized to recruit potential informants. The interviews were conducted at various times of the day from the morning to the evening between July and October 2013. All interviewees were recruited at popular beaches in Phuket including Patong Beach and Karon Beach and in local Phuket areas. Interview sessions typically took 30–45 minutes and this time frame allowed for sufficient in-depth probing across a range of travel experiences.

All interviews were audio-recorded. After each interview, the recording file was transcribed and some initial interviews were examined before proceeding to further interviews. Brief summaries were also prepared when possible. This allowed the researcher to reflect on initial insights to guide the latter stages of data collection. In total, 31 interviews were conducted, comprising both individual and pairs of informants. Data saturation was thought to have been reached by the 25^th interview, but a further six interviews were conducted to ensure that no new themes emerged.

Transcripts were interpreted systematically through a three-step thematic analysis, with the assistance of the qualitative data analysis software package NVivo, to identify, categorize, and abstract patterns. In this coding process, concrete surface texts were open-coded in the first step, grouped into meaningful structural categories in the second step, and finally organized into major themes within the framework shown in Figure 1, which depicts the relationships among emergent themes. The analysis was performed by the first author. However, a subset of the transcripts and codes generated from these transcripts was cross checked by the two coauthors and two research assistants to reduce potential bias. In addition, in subsequent iterations of analysis the research team reviewed and revised the entire codebook generated in the initial round of analysis.

Figure 1.

The four-stage model of relaxation

Findings

The interviews consisted of 20 interviews of individuals and 11 interviews of couples. Thus in total, the views of 42 persons were obtained on-site in Phuket, Thailand for this study. Six interviews were with first-time tourists and 36 informants had made a previous visit to Phuket. Eight interviews were with individuals travelling alone, two interviews were with informants travelling with a group of friends and the remainders were couples. For first-time visitors the duration of stay was 10–14 days, whereas for revisiting tourists the stay in Phuket extended to between two and eight weeks. Respondents were aged from 45 to 72 years and 11 respondents were retired. All respondents were leisure travelers with relaxation as the primary motive for travel. Table 1 summarizes the profiles of the informants.

Table 1.

Informant profile.

No.	Type of informant	Age (by decade)	Gender	Nationality	Current occupation	Frequency of visits	Length of stay (weeks)
1	I	50s	M	Swedish	IT programmer	6^th	3
2	I	50s	F	British	Secretary	1^st	1.5
3	I	50s	M	Australian	Retired	5^th	2
4	I	50s	M	Australian	Pilot	3^rd	2
5	C	50s	M and F	Australian	Store supervisor	10^th	1.5
6	C	60s	M and F	Australian	Business owner	10^th	4
7	C	50s	M and F	Italian	Retired	3^rd	3
8	I	70s	M	American	Retired	5^th	8
9	C	60s	M and F	Australian	Retired	1^st	1.5
10	C	60s	M and F	Australian	Retired	3^rd	2
11	I	40s	M	Macedonian	Business owner	3^rd	2
12	I	50s	M	Australian	English tutor	2^nd	1.5
13	I	50s	F	South African	English teacher	2^nd	4
14	I	50s	F	New Zealander	Real estate investor	1^st	2
15	C	60s	M and F	Polish	N/A	6^th	3
16	C	60s	M and F	New Zealander	Business owner	2^nd	3
17	I	50s	F	American	Teacher	2^nd	4
18	I	50s	M	South African	IT salesman	5^th	3
19	I	50s	M	British	Business owner	1^st	2
20	I	50s	M	British	Business owner	3^rd	3
21	C	50s	M and F	Australian	N/A	1^st	2
22	I	50s	M	Australian	Salesman	1^st	2
23	I	60s	F	New Zealander	Retired	5^th	4
24	C	50s	M and F	Danish	Business owner	2^nd	2
25	I	60s	F	American	Retired	4^th	4
26	I	50s	M	Australian	N/A	4^th	4
27	I	60s	F	Australian	Project officer	2^nd	3
28	C	50s	M and F	British	N/A	4^th	2
29	C	60s	M and F	Australian	Retired	6^th	4
30	I	60s	F	Scottish	Retired	14^th	4
31	I	50s	M	American	IT security officer	3^rd	6

Note: I = individual; C = couple; M = male; F = female; N/A = working but no further information about the occupation.

Overall, this study found behavioral changes that could be ascribed to different stages of the travel experience. After many iterations of analysis, a four-stage model evolved, depicting the core relaxation activities and associated behaviors for each of the four stages. While each stage comprises dominant core aspects, each stage also includes some activities nominally attributed to the other stages. In stage 1, travelers experience a settling in period, which is followed by stage 2, a relatively active period of formal tourist-related activities. In stage 3, most travelers have cut down on the volume of activities and moved into a more easy-going, relaxed state. In the final stage, the long-stay traveler follows a well-established routine of relaxed behavior. This four-stage depiction appear to make theoretical sense and suggests a range of implications for managers (see Figure 1).

Stage 1: Settling in—not relaxed

On arrival at the destination, all tourists, regardless of frequency of visits, spent some time adjusting to their new location and sorting themselves out. The time for settling in was usually a day or so, with repeat visitors taking a shorter time to adjust. Overall, adjustment fell into three areas. The first related to physical well-being and focused on rest and recovery from the journey. This aspect is almost a given, as all travelers took a long-haul flight of some 8–14 plus hours to the destination. Furthermore, transit to and from airports added a considerable time and stress burden on many travelers. This aspect was especially apparent for travelers taking the longer flights and/or older travelers. The second area of orientation was a temporal zone adjustment. The informants often were from a different time zone to that of Phuket. Accordingly, this aspect was more noticeable among travelers from the US and less so from Australian and New Zealanders. The following example illustrates both aspects:

The first day, I usually arrived at past midnight … so there’s nothing for me to do. I just get adjusted to the time zone. It usually takes me two to three days to get adjusted. For me it’s like I have to adjust first to get used to the different time. So the first thing is just getting settled into my room and everything. I’m ok with that and then I just rest. (Interview 31)

The third area of adjustment related to place, or spatial orientation, as tourists needed to get their bearings geographically. That is, after transferring to their accommodation they had to determine what was located nearby and what was further away. Often tourists would make an exploratory venture around their hotel to get a sense of bearing to see what was in their local vicinity and when open for business, as the following quotation shows:

We just checked into our hotel and we just walked around the area where we were staying, just to get a feel for the place.

(Interview 2)

Stage 1 reflects the traveler’s lowest level of familiarity with the destination that is compounded with a different cultural setting. That is, Western travelers adjusting to a Western destination and speaking English likely face a far easier transition than a Westerner to a culturally different destination. This lack of knowledge about the destination is reflected in a high level of uncertainty for the traveler and suggests a high level of dependency on others for information. Informants adopted a range of approaches to deal with this uncertainty. Over half of the respondents had not undertaken any specific information search of the local area before departure. For those travelers that had undertaken some pre-planning, this mainly involved key tourist sites. This makes sense as much of the local information is only available on-site. In addition, some travelers were very comfortable with having a high degree of flexibility in their planning arrangements, as one informant stated: ‘We were very open to anything before we left. That’s why I didn’t do any research about what we were going to do’ (Interview 2). Thus, most tourists traveled with vague plans and acquired essential information after arrival, ‘We had a list of things to do. So we just got advice from here about which one we should do, something that is really fun for our age’ (Interview 9). All informants, especially first-time visitors, also stated that information they acquired on arrival included day tours from travel agents and printed media provided in their accommodation. For instance, ‘We normally grab the brochures to see if there are any the interesting attractions [and] then get some more information from the guidebook which is really useful’ (Interview 21).

In contrast to first-time visitors, revisiting tourists were familiar with the destination and had a lower level of uncertainty regarding the destination and their options. Accordingly, a number of revisiting informants indicated that they settled in quickly. For example, some of them could rent private transport easily, ‘When I get to the airport and rent a car and go to my hotel, yes… check in then in the morning I ride and go get something to eat’ (Interview 1). Thus, travelers were familiar with the options available to them and made their decisions quickly. Despite this familiarity with the destination, it was apparent that frequent travelers still got themselves ‘sorted out’ on arrival. Even the most frequent travelers would have an expectation that some aspects at the destination had changed. This expectation would be compounded if there was fast growth at the destination. That is new buildings, restaurants, attractions, and services would have arisen since a previous visit. A further aspect of settling in for the frequent traveler would be in stocking up. Repeat visitors often mentioned that they got themselves ready for the whole vacation once on-site, as one informant stated, ‘Our first day, we went shopping, then had a rest and went to a restaurant for dinner’ (Interview 6). The findings indicate that progression within the stage will vary according to individual traveler characteristics. The confident experienced travelers progress through to the later stages more quickly than travelers who are less experienced or less confident in their travel knowledge.

Stage 2: Transitioning—pre-relaxed

Once the tourists settled into the Phuket environment, first-time visitors especially engaged in classic ‘must see’ tourist activities and extensive gathering of travel information from mostly formal sources. The following example illustrates the touristic nature of activities for a first-time visitor, ‘We’ve been to a couple of shows. We’ve been to the Fantasia, the Simon Cabaret. We are about to go to PhiPhi Island’ (Interview 14). This stage appears to be where such activities are at the highest level. Engagement with touristic activities was also observed among repeat visitors, but to a lesser degree. Indeed, the more they had visited Phuket the less interest they had, as one informant suggested, ‘We’ve been here many times, so not many attractions attract us, [we] just relax here’ (Interview 28). However, repeat visitors still liked to visit tourist attractions in the early stage of their stay, ‘[In the] first few days, my wife normally likes to visit famous tourist attractions like Patong, Siam Niramit’ (Interview 26). This example demonstrates the temporal nature of being a tourist and moving on to a different role after ticking off the must-do activities.

The specific information tourists searched for involved lists of attractions, location, travel distance, and maps. Accordingly, travel agents and guide books played a key role in stage 2, as the following quotation indicates: ‘We just followed what travel agents recommended’ (Interview 24). However, both first-time and repeat tourists were reluctant to gather travel guides from hotel staff, as they believed that these sources tended to be higher priced than others. Some informants experienced the issue for themselves, whereas a number of the informants were warned by others. For example, ‘My husband doesn’t want to ask the hotel desk because some of our friends had bad experiences with them. They always sell more expensive packages’ (Interview 21). Thus, during stage 2, where uncertainty is still present and they felt dependent on others for advice, travelers started to supplement formal information sources with informal sources. Clearly, during this stage travelers start to feel more comfortable and get to know locals. For example, ‘Generally talk [to locals], sometimes I ask them about things I should do, where I should go’ (Interview 1). Part of this knowledge gathering simply involved observation. Just noticing where locals eat and shop was a common practice for informants. In this stage of getting to know locals through visiting restaurants and cafes, tourists sought out ‘low-involvement’ information. Restaurants and weather forecasts were popular search topics during this stage of the trip and provided easy conversation points for uncertain tourists, ‘We also need information about restaurants, weather forecasts …’ (Interview 28). Tourists in this stage usually followed such suggestion to lower risk in terms of time or money. The following quotations reflect this aspect. The first illustrates how travelers simply observed what the locals were doing, while the second reflects a personal relationship with a local.

You can follow locals to buy some cheap but good stuff in the local market. (Interview 10)

[we] would follow Tim [a local friend]’s recommendation.… You stay like local, you will never get annoyed by tourists. (Interview 25)

Thus, in stage 2 travelers relied on formal guides for important travel information but also accepted local informal information on safe topics. Once they felt more comfortable with locals, they relied more on their advice. Repeat visitors were more likely to have confidence in obtaining local advice.

Stage 3: Simple relaxation

A number of distinct changes occur as tourists move into stage 3. The third stage is exemplified by relaxation. Indeed, all informants indicated that they had achieved their goal of relaxation. For example, ‘I did all of the things [in the first week] then this week [the second week] I want to relax’ (Interview 19). This finding is consistent with previous studies (Jang and Wu, 2006; Prayag, 2012; Sangpikul, 2008). However, this state of relaxation manifested in a particular manner. For example, ‘I just want to relax and do nothing on holiday’ (Interview 20). ‘We didn’t do a lot but we did do more relaxing things’ (Interview 2). Both first-time and repeat visitors stated that they were often content with simple and very basic activities. Respondents talked about how they simply enjoyed wandering through night markets, taking photos, and walking and were less interested in the major attractions. For example:

It’s [walking] the best way to see, to view people, to feel the tropical atmosphere of Thailand and Asian countries…When you walk, you see specific places in Phuket town.

(Interview 15)

Associated with this feeling of contentment with simple activities was the expression ‘going with the flow’ which tourists frequently used when describing their long-stay experiences. This expression related to how tourists appreciated the lack of externally imposed schedules on their holiday. Accordingly, they stopped seeking out formal information relating to key tourist activities and cut down the intensity of activities: ‘Lots of sitting around by the pool, reading. Mostly, we just try not to do too much. We just relax as much as we can’ (Interview 21).

Many of the activities respondents reported engaging in at this stage were inexpensive and contributed to the affordability of their long-stay holiday. While previous research (Ono, 2010) recognizes a time/cost trade-off for retirees staying at a destination for six months or longer, the findings here suggests that long-stay travelers who come for shorter periods also appear to co-create an affordable holiday. For instance, activities that were often unaffordable in a home country could now be pursued more cheaply at the destination. Furthermore, travelers who were time-poor at home could now pursue favored activities. These simple, pleasing activities tended to be sustainable and repeatable, such as just going for a walk along the beach. The following examples highlight these issues:

[I am] having massages, I really love it. I’ve had massages twice a day. That’s my relaxed time.

(Interview 3)

I just hang around the pool and read lot of books and especially if I can get books online.

(Interview 8)

In this simple relaxed state, informants had more time for local socialization, either with other tourists from the hotel, other tourists in Phuket area or with locals. For instance,

I have a favorite masseuse and she can speak English…. very few of them can speak good English but we still have some sort of conversation.

(Interview 3)

Another respondent shared his experience of interacting with locals while filling in his holiday time with nothing in particular, ‘I come here every day [the coffee shop], read books, talk to locals. They speak pretty good English but I just speak slower and use easy English. I just kill time’ (Interview 19). Furthermore, those who stayed longer in the destination were likely to meet and make friends in the local community. For instance, ‘We met Tikki who owns the Aussie bar, we played games, we had fun there’ (Interview 14).

During this stage, regardless of the frequency of visits, informants became more independent. They became more familiar with the destination, had less uncertainty about their personal travel needs, and started to take control of their travel behavior. Tourists, especially the first-time travelers, shifted from dependence on formal sources, such as travel agents as primary source of information, and locals often become the primary source of travel information. Furthermore, the nature of the information needed changed. In stages 1 and 2, tourists sought survival information and tourist attraction information, respectively. However, in stage 3, they sought information related more to personal interests, particularly local events and weather. For example, ‘Some unexpected festivals like local events, they don’t show you on the website but you can find them when you are here’ (Interview 25). Another tourist said ‘I need to know what the weather is like every day. Especially my husband and Rob would check the weather forecast every day because they’re playing golf’ (Interview 25).

Stage 4: Routinized relaxation

The fourth and final stage is exemplified by the creation of a daily routine, which appears to develop from two sources. Tourists, especially those traveling with companions, often brought their home-country routines to Phuket and simply carried on as usual in a different setting. Other travelers adopted new behaviors specific to the destination, such as sporting or beach activities, and pursued activities they could not do at home or not do on a regular basis. In both cases the routines became habituated, as the following example indicates:

My wife enjoys relaxing by the pool, sunbathing. We can do it every day.

(Interview 10)

At 4 pm every day, we go for a walk …, we do this together every evening and then have dinner together. The men will watch TV and talk and drink. The women will prepare things for tomorrow’s dinner. Phuket is my favorite destination. I feel like I am at home here and I can do what I would do at home here.

(Interview 25)

Here I have time to read, I’m a bookworm. I bought lots of books every month but I don’t have time to read. So this is my time to enjoy my hobby. I also take a photo which I don’t do at home.

(Interview 19)

Many informants revealed a preference for staying in serviced apartments, which facilitated their daily routines, including cooking and washing. For example, ‘We like to have self-contained places, make sure there is a little kitchen that you can cook in and have your own food. There could also be a washing machine as well’ (Interview 2). While others developed dining and laundry routines outside their accommodation, this aspect of having a serviced apartment with more home like facilities provided a more realistic ‘home away from home’. Thus, routines were easily established. Having these routines allowed tourists almost complete control over their activities, alleviating uncertainty about travel behavior or needs. They became independent of formal sources of travel information and drew from informal channels, such as local contacts and their own experiences.

In the earlier stage 3, travelers started to become immersed in the local context, a condition that took two divergent forms. One group of tourists remained in a home-country comfort zone, while the second group became wedded to the local Thai culture, especially forming relationships. For example, ‘We are family [with the local family], my husband calls him his brother. We are welcomed here’ (Interview 30). In particular, repeat tourists tended to gather travel information from their local friends, including expatriates. For example, one informant stated that ‘Meng [her local taxi driver] is my personal information while we are here’ (Interview 30). Another participant also stated that, ‘She [her local friend] helped me a lot so this time I can ask her what I want to know, she suggests what to do and don’t to me’ (Interview 13). This group appeared to become acculturated and often referred to themselves as ‘local guests’. In contrast, many tourists preferred to stay in a ‘home country bubble’, seeking out places and people which were more familiar and comforting. In both cases, patterns of behavior established in stage 3 became regimented and repeated daily. Indeed, respondents indicated that if they stayed longer, this routine of behavior would continue, as the following example shows: ‘If I had a month holiday, I wouldn’t do anything, just keep doing what I’m doing, just stay in the hotel, shopping, nothing more as I am old’ (Interview 11).

Discussion and implications

The findings in this exploratory study shed further light on the on-site tourist experience. The study extends previous research that treats the on-site tourist experience as a single stage with invariant traveler behavior (e.g., Sangpikul, 2008; Rittichainuwat et al., 2008). Furthermore, the small group of prior studies that has investigated multiple stages of the tourist experience has only emphasized a narrow aspect of the on-site experience (e.g., Mitas et al., 2013; Zillinger, 2008). Our study takes a more holistic approach and illustrates how tourists progress through various stages of their long-stay relaxation vacation. Each stage could be characterized according to key activities, the degree of uncertainty or risk felt, the amount of intercultural interaction, and the need for information and its sources. In terms of activity intensity, our findings are consistent with prior work (Zillinger 2008) and echo the finding of emotional changes through the stages of a trip (Mitas et al. 2013). From our study, we can infer that a heightened sense of uncertainty at the start of a trip would evoke a different emotional response from that at stage 3, where tourists are in a calmer, more relaxed state with reduced activity. Prior researchers have found that in the last phase of a trip tourists are in emotional decline (Mitas et al. 2013), which could be attributed to aspects such as fatigue or boredom, depending on the nature of the holiday. In our study, we labeled stage 4 as routinized relaxation, and suggest that habituation to activities in this stage could result in boredom for some tourists. Thus, a primary conclusion of this study is that the on-site tourist experience should not be treated as independent of time. The single-stage approach in previous research does not unlock the richness in tourist consumption of holidays of 10 days or longer.

Our findings provide the first evidence that relaxation on a long-stay holiday is a multi-faceted concept. First, relaxation is not a given. For a period after arrival at a destination, a tourist feels most uncomfortable and un-relaxed. Some tourists may never unwind and consequently could have a very uncomfortable stay. Furthermore, tourists do not transition to a fully relaxed state and maintain a purely ‘tourist’ character. Rather than sustaining their search for novelty activities, long-stay tourists shift to a relaxed schedule that often resembles their home routines, possibly as a result of the trade-off between time and cost (Abdul-Aziz et al., 2014; Ono, 2008; Ono, 2010; Wong and Musa, 2014). The findings also indicate that the shift to this end state is completed in stages, where the relaxation characteristics of the previous stage are superseded but not removed. That is, the changes in relaxation patterns are cumulative. The ‘routinized’ end state of relaxation comprises three elements of the latter three stages: (1) reducing the intensity of activities, which was also observed in prior research (Zillinger 2008); (2) rearranging priorities and shifting to simpler activities; and (3) regimenting established routines into daily habits. Figure 2 depicts this cumulative process toward the relaxed end state for the long-stay tourist, illustrating that at each relaxation stage a particular relaxation attribute is fulfilled, leading to the final stage where all three attributes are fulfilled concurrently.

Figure 2.

The 3Rs leading to a full state of relaxation.

The findings also indicate that progression through the four stages will vary according to individual traveler characteristics. We would expect confident experienced travelers to progress through the first two stages more quickly than travelers who are less experienced or less confident in their travel knowledge. Likewise, travelers that are predisposed to novelty seeking or adventure will be less likely to achieve a routinized relaxed end state. In addition, we would expect repeat visitors to transition to a routinized end state far more quickly than first-time visitors. Indeed, the interviews clearly illustrated the differences between repeat and first-time travelers in transitioning through the four stages.

Theoretical implications

Theoretically, this study presents a solid empirical effort for a greater understanding of tourist on-site behaviors, contributing to the literature in a number of ways. First, the study adds to the limited research on the different phases of the travel experience, which tends to be differentiated broadly into the pretravel, trip duration, and posttrip phases without acknowledging the dynamics within each of the phases. For instance, previous investigations of tourist activities (e.g., Herington et al., 2013) although able to identify activities tourists like to participate in while on holiday, fail to provide information on the timing and intensity/frequency of participation. Our study is the first to de-construct the on-site experience into its individual phases to better capture the complexity and dynamics of tourist behavior at the destination. With four distinctive stages, each associated with a unique set of characteristics, our model demonstrates the process through which a tourist transitions physically, psychologically, and behaviorally at the destination. The construction of this staged on-site model is strong evidence against the traditional single-stage treatment of on-site experience in the literature.

Second, the model’s delineation of the on-site experience into a process of change contributes to the exploration of how underlying theoretical frameworks inform tourist change models. First, we note the absence of recent and relevant theoretical frameworks. The Tourism Career Ladder suggests that tourist needs are hierarchical, with relaxation as a base. Destination experiences change tourist needs for future travel. Overall, we found tourists who primarily seek a relaxation holiday are comfortable to stay at this basic level. Furthermore, past experience reinforces this relaxation phase into routinized behavior, whether for repeat visitors or longer stay tourists. However, we did find that tourists, especially first-timers, are stimulated when they first arrive at a destination. Initial stimulation immediately on arrival likely arises from a requirement to satisfy basic survival needs. Once settled at the destination tourists will seek out novel, stimulating things to do in the early part of the trip. Subsequent to this period of stimulation they fall into a natural state of comfort. Thus, for longer stay tourists the TCL may not be applicable. We note that Ryan concluded in 1998 that the TCL may be optimistic in its view that holidaymakers will demonstrate advanced psychological needs on the basis of prior experience, whereas, the findings in this study reflects individuals’ natural tendency to find comfortable routines and a reluctance to shift once routines are established. For the long-stay tourist this recognition is important for managers of tourism organizations.

Third, we contribute to a better comprehension of one of the most-cited tourism motivations—relaxation. This study offers insights into how this motivation is fulfilled at the destination, as well as factors characterizing the long-stay relaxed state. Of note is that relaxation is not a given, even for a trip designed for this purpose. Rather, it depends on successful progression through an initial unrelaxed settling in and a pre-relaxed transitional phase.

Fourth, the study extends knowledge about the mature and long-stay travel segments, which have been under-represented in prior literature. The implications this study derives from the mature long-stay travel segment are nevertheless applicable to tourist on-site behavior in general. That is, the tourist experience is likely to be a staged experience, with tourists adjusting their behavior as they move through the different phases of their stay, although individuals may move at their own pace.

Management implications

The findings in this study illustrate that destination marketing organizations (DMOs) cannot treat arriving tourists in the same manner as others who have been in the destination for a longer period of time. While DMOs may consider different cohorts’ interests and attempt to meet their needs (Varasteh et al., 2015), DMOs cannot ignore the possibility that tourist needs and behaviors will change as a function of time. In this study, the findings reveal that the implied assumption that a holiday maker will arrive and assume the same pattern of activities throughout the duration of the trip is false, as people tend to evolve into a pattern of doing the same thing every day over time. Other patterns of behavioral change were evident leading to the routinized relaxation state, especially in the case of first and second-time travelers. The study identifies four discrete stages of tourist behavior, and DMOs and hotels need to be mindful of tourist needs during each stage. Overall, DMOs and hotel check-in procedures can discern key traveler information on arrival. It is not difficult to determine whether the trip is the tourist’s first, second or third trip. Tour operators can also find out how long the tourist is staying.

During the first stage, DMOs and hoteliers need to adopt a tourist-centric approach with uncertainty reduction as a high priority. Especially, for the first-time visitor, this is a time of confusion and uncertainty about options. In the second stage, when travelers are likely to be in an exploratory, information-seeking mode they are open to suggestions to try new things. This is the ‘window of opportunity’ for DMOs and operators. Visitors are keen at this point to explore the tourist attractions. Furthermore, tourists have not fully scheduled activities and are more flexible in their planning. Accordingly, they are more likely to notice, and act on, the most credible and attractive marketing messages. In the third stage, even though tourists may reduce their activities and become far more selective, they may still venture out for a ‘big’ event or tourist experience. However, the incentive to attract the visitor must be larger. The fourth stage is the most difficult for DMOs and operators, as tourists have organized their daily routines to suit their personal interests. In this stage, it is not easy to persuade tourists to stop doing things they enjoy and try something new. However, DMOs and hotels can use some of the characteristics evident in this group to leverage tourists into desired activities. For instance, in this stage, tourists have often found ‘new best friends’ at the destination, and group activities involving the tourists and friends are more likely to be considered in a favorable light. Interview participants indicated a preference for self-contained apartment living. This is a good opportunity for existing serviced apartments, together with the Phuket property sector as a whole, to offer such facilities for this particular type of tourist. According to the mature-aged tourists in this study, facilities in the service apartment should offer sufficient basic amenities that can make themselves feel like they are living at home. These basic facilities should include kitchen, laundry machine and free internet service.

Limitations to this exploratory study include issues with sample selection and timing of data collection. A convenience sample was obtained for this study. While informants were recruited from different areas of Phuket, the sample may not be representative of visitors to the island. In addition, traveler profiles may vary between off-season and peak season. Consequently, further research can include a wider profile of informants to understand more behaviors relevant to a staged model of relaxation for the mature long-stay travel segment. Future studies could also extend the model to different cohorts, such as younger travelers. In addition, the applicability of the model to types of destinations other than beach destinations could be investigated. Furthermore, as international and domestic travelers vary in terms of familiarity with the destination, a comparison of the on-site phases of the two groups is worthy of investigation. In regards to other behavioral norms, a further study may compare behavioral differences between relaxing holiday takers and adventure vacationers. Overall, the study illustrates that substantial scope exists for further exploration of the role of time in extended vacations.

Footnotes

Declaration of conflicting interests

The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Funding

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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