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Current Issues in Tourism
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The relationship between the 'push' and 'pull' factors of a tourist destination: the role of nationality - an analytical qualitative research approach
Girish Prayaga; Chris Ryanb a Department of Tourism, CERAM Business School, Nice, France b Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management, University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand First published on: 06 April 2010
To cite this Article Prayag, Girish and Ryan, Chris(2011) 'The relationship between the 'push' and 'pull' factors of a tourist
destination: the role of nationality - an analytical qualitative research approach', Current Issues in Tourism, 14: 2, 121 143, First published on: 06 April 2010 (iFirst) To link to this Article: DOI: 10.1080/13683501003623802 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13683501003623802
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Current Issues in Tourism Vol. 14, No. 2, March 2011, 121 143
The relationship between the push and pull factors of a tourist destination: the role of nationality an analytical qualitative research approach
Girish Prayaga and Chris Ryanb
a
Department of Tourism, CERAM Business School, Nice, France; bDepartment of Tourism and Hospitality Management, University of Waikato, Gate 7 Hillcrest Road, Hamilton 3240, New Zealand (Received 18 October 2009; nal version received 12 January 2010)
Downloaded By: [Prayag, Girish] At: 07:45 3 February 2011
Using qualitative research techniques, this paper explores the relationship between the push and pull factors of a destination and the inuence of nationality on these factors. These relationships were explored for a sample of 103 international tourists to Mauritius. The data were analysed by using (a) thematic analysis and (b) an analysis using the text analysis programme, CatPac. The results indicated relationships between specic motives, cognitive and affective images and it was also found that nationality has a strong inuence on these variables. Different motives for visiting Mauritius were found to exist between different national groupings. Implications for use of thematic and content analysis, management of destination, marketing and tourist experiences are provided. Keywords: push factors; pull factors; destination image; place attachment; nationality; thematic analysis; content analysis; CatPac
Introduction The objectives of this paper are three-fold. First, it attempts to understand the underlying push factors that determine international tourists choice of Mauritius as a holiday destination. Second, it identies the pull attributes of the destination using images as surrogates, and identies visitors feelings towards the place. Third, it seeks an enhanced understanding of the relationship between push and pull factors through an initial application of thematic analysis and subsequently a content analysis using the CatPac software, and the intervening role of nationality in shaping this relationship. Consequently, the paper initially outlines the push and pull framework and the role of destination image as a pull attribute that shapes visitors perceptions of place. This is then followed by a discussion of the intervening role of nationality in these relationships. The nature of the research, the place, methods, sample and data collection are then introduced as well as the methods of analysis. Finally, the implications of the ndings are discussed with reference to both Mauritius and the wider literature.
Corresponding author. Email: tmjournal.chris@gmail.com
ISSN 1368-3500 print/ISSN 1747-7603 online # 2011 Taylor & Francis DOI: 10.1080/13683501003623802 http://www.informaworld.com
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G. Prayag and C. Ryan
The push and pull framework Early discussions of motivations related to visitors choice of a holiday destination suggested that these motives can be classied into push and pull factors (Crompton, 1979; Dann, 1977; Epperson, 1983; McIntosh & Goeldner, 1990). The push factors originate from Maslows hierarchy of needs (Mayo & Jarvis, 1981) and have been described as motivational factors or needs that arise due to a state of disequilibrium or tension in the motivational system (Dann, 1977; Iso-Ahola, 1982; Kim, Lee, & Klenosky, 2003). For example, Gray (1970) in the very rst classication of pleasure travellers, dened two varieties of tourists namely, the wanderlust (push) and sunlust (pull). The former emphasises destination cultures, people and landscape while the latter prefers destination amenities. Dann (1977) suggests that motivational factors can be classied as anomie and egoenhancement. Anomie refers to the desire to transcend the feeling of isolation inherent in everyday life and to simply get away from it all while ego-enhancement derived from the need for recognition and is obtained through the status conferred by travel (Fodness, 1994). Crompton (1979) on the other hand, identied seven socio-psychological and two alternate cultural motives guiding visitors choice of a holiday destination and these were, escape from a perceived mundane environment, exploration and evaluation of self, relaxation, prestige, regression, enhancement of kinship relationships, facilitation of social interaction, novelty, and education. Iso-Ahola (1982) conrmed that escape and seeking were two primary motives associated with pleasure travellers. More recently, in the context of national parks, Kim et al. (2003) identied four broad domains of push factors namely, family togetherness and study, appreciating natural resources and health, escaping from everyday routine, and adventure and building friendship. Thus, existing studies suggest common push factors such as escape, novelty, social interaction, and prestige. These tend to explain why tourists choose a place over another, what type of experiences they seek and the type of activities they want (Ryan, 1991). Pull factors on the other hand have been described as those factors inuencing when, where, and how people travel (Mill & Morrison, 1985) and are related to the features, attractions, or attributes of the destination itself (Klenosky, 2002). As suggested in image studies, attributes are many and differ from one destination to another (Gallarza, Saura, & Garcia, 2002; Kozak, 2002). Consequently, pull factors have been a popular subject for research in the tourism literature. Existing studies conrm factors such as social opportunities and attractions, natural and cultural attractions, physical amenities and facilities, and nightlife and ambiance as important for destination choice (Fakeye & Crompton, 1991; Hu & Ritchie, 1993; Kim et al., 2003). Destination choice therefore emanates from tourists assessments of destination attributes and their perceived utility values (Kim et al., 2003). However, Klenosky (2002) suggests that pull factors such as beaches or friendly residents may derive their importance or meaning from very different sources, thereby suggesting that the motives associated with pull factors may be different for each visitor. This issue will be discussed in more depth later. Given the complexity of the motivation construct, it is not surprising that push and pull factors have been researched either as separate (Dann, 1977; Fodness, 1994; Ryan & Glendon, 1998) or related constructs (Baloglu & Uysal, 1996; Crompton, 1979; Kim et al., 2003; Klenosky, 2002; Kozak, 2002). However, analytically and often both logically and temporally, push factors precede pull factors (Dann, 1977, p. 186). Of the studies that consider this inter-relationship, none have utilised an approach in data analysis that involves thematic analysis initially, and thereafter, content analysis using the neural network software, CatPac. This is where this study attempts to contribute to the broader literature by
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showing how this method of data analysis improves the credibility of ndings derived from qualitative data but also quanties to some extent the ndings, thereby providing an alternative way of measuring the relationship between push and pull factors. Destination images as pull factors It is generally accepted that pull factors are measured via lists of destination attributes that represent place perceptions. As a result, destination image measurement has been the dominant way of assessing pull attributes. Image research shows that image is a multiple as well as a gestalt construct, and both possess static and dynamic elements in their structure (Gallarza et al., 2002; Ryan & Gu, 2007; Tasci & Gartner, 2007; Tasci, Gartner, & Cavusgil, 2007). This structure comprises three components, namely cognitive, affective, and conative (Gartner, 1993; Pike & Ryan, 2004; Tasci & Gartner, 2007). The cognitive component refers to an individuals own knowledge and belief about a destination, affective appraisals refer to the individuals feelings towards a destination, while the conative refers to intended behaviour as a result of the previous components (Beerli & Martin, 2004; Pike & Ryan, 2004). Therefore, evaluations of pull attributes by visitors inevitably comprise internal assessment of these three components as well as holistic impressions of place. Of importance for this study is the relativistic nature of the construct, which indicates that images are subjective, temporally and culturally specic (Morgan & Pritchard, 1998). It is also a highly inter-subjective construct, which implies that images are cultural texts that invite a multitude of readings and interpretations by visitors (Squire, 1998). This view of images as social constructions is an emerging area of research that specically employs qualitative approaches (Espelt & Benito, 2005; Young, 1999). This research strand suggests the idea of the possible simultaneous and comparative existence of situational destination images and visitor self-perceptions, that is, images of a place can be used to inuence potential travellers by relating them to the motives and alternative selves that travellers want to enact at the destination. This approach thereby supports Gallarza et al. (2002) conceptualisation of destination image of any one place being multiple and appealing to different types of tourists. Fullment of these motives and the alignment of these images with the visitors self concept may not only explain choice and repeat visitation (Beerli, Meneses, & Gil, 2007) but also feelings of emotional attachment to a place. Quantitative studies (e.g. Chen & Tsai, 2007; Lin, Morais, Kerstetter, & Hou, 2007; Martin & del Bosque, 2008) have shown further that motives, images, and place attachment are signicant predictors of future behaviour. This notion of place attachment remains comparatively under-explored in the tourism literature (Gu & Ryan, 2008) while its application in the recreation and leisure elds shows that attachment levels may be inuenced by certain motives and destination attractiveness (Hartig, Mang, & Evans, 1991; Hou, Lin, & Morais, 2005). In essence, place attachment refers to a person place bond that evolves from speciable conditions of place and characteristics of people (Shumaker & Taylor, 1983, p. 221). It is the extent to which a tourist values or identies with the destination (Moore & Scott, 2003). Place attachment generally develops among repeat tourists as satisfactory experiences at each visit reinforce tourists feelings about a place that ultimately develops into loyalty (Alexandris, 2006; George & George, 2004). The social relationships developed with people of a place can also generate place attachment (George & George, 2004), although equally it can create loyalty to an activity as much as to a place. Hence, identifying the factors that generate place attachment can improve our understanding of the importance
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of images and motives in any explanation of repeat visitation, thereby enhancing our understanding of the relationship between push and pull factors. Arguably past destination choice and image studies have been predisposed to a positivist paradigm (Decrop, 1999; Echtner & Ritchie, 1991; Jenkins, 1999) that fails to understand tourists emotional attachment to places. The few interpretive studies (Espelt & Benito, 2005; Iwashita, 2003; Young, 1999) that exist suggest that destination image is both a subjective and social construction based on a collective imagination. This interpretation of destination images is based on the grounds that reality is not objective, single, and divisible but socially constructed, multiple, holistic, and contextual (Ozanne & Hudson, 1989). Consequently, destination image is produced and portrayed to create a sense of place by inuencing motivations and preferences of different social groupings about places to visit and to help structure the effect of such visits upon host populations and the fashionability of different places and sites. Indeed, even natural places are physically re-constituted to provide an experience consistent with a pre-conceived gaze as illustrated by Ryan, Hughes, and Chirgwin (2000) in their account of constructed eco-tourism at Fogg Dam in Australias Northern Territory. This idea of tourist destinations as a social construction is not new (Saarinen, 2004), but understanding the cultural context of image creation and how these images are consumed through cultural lters has been described as an area of neglect (Tasci & Gartner, 2007; Young, 1999). Motives, images, and nationality It has been argued that images are the currency of cultures, reecting and thereby reinforcing particular shared meanings, beliefs, and value systems. Therefore, understanding the cultural construction of these images based on tourists characteristics may aid understanding how visitors come to evaluate their holiday experiences. For example, constructs like race and gender shape the way that tourist settings may be created, experienced and interpreted over space and time by visitors (Kinnaird & Hall, 1994; Tasci & Gartner, 2007). In destination image research, nationality tends to be a common variable used in understanding differences in place perceptions (Beerli & Martin, 2004; Ryan & Cave, 2005), and may be used as a proxy representing the different cultures of different places in which visitors reside. It has been described as a strong cultural lter that may determine any personal prioritisation of images affecting destination choice. Nationality seems to inuence the structure of destination image, in particular, affective and cognitive components, and hence pull attributes (Beerli & Martin, 2004; Calatone, di Benedetto, Hakam, & Bojanic, 1989; Chen & Kerstetter, , Gonzalez, & Andreu, 2004). 1999; Gartner, 1993; Kozak, Bigne As far as motivations are concerned, nationality seems to have a similar effect. For example, Kozak (2002) in his assessment of motivations inuencing British and German visitors choice of Mallorca and Turkey as holiday destinations found signicant differences of an attribution of importance to motives between these two cultural groups. Pearce (1991), Jang and Cai (2002) as well as Andreu, Kozak, Avci, and Cifter (2005) have found similar differences in travel motivations, but Beerli and Martin (2004) extended these by demonstrating that nationality particularly inuences motives and affective images. Others such as Tapachai and Waryszak (2000) have documented strong linkages between motives and images. Therefore, it is suggested that motivations and images of a destination can be perceived differently by visitors of different nationalities. In image research, Tapachai and Waryszak (2000) conrm that not only has there been little use of open ended, unstructured, conversational, and textual material used in data collection and analysis but also a knowledge gap remains in terms of understanding the
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meanings of those images and how they relate to motivations. As a result, a qualitative study was designed to capture textual material derived from conversations with international visitors to the island of Mauritius. More about the process of choosing the sample is provided later, but next, a description of the research site is provided. The research site Mauritius, located off the eastern coast of Africa, was chosen as the research site because it is a well-established tourist destination for European holidaymakers and a competitive player in the sub-Saharan African region. It has emerged as one of the best performing tourist destinations over the last 10 years and in the year 2006, a reported 788,276 international tourists visited the place (Ministry of Tourism, Leisure and External Communication, 2007). The island attracts a signicant number of repeat tourists (33% based on ofcial statistics for 2006). France, UK, and neighbouring Reunion Island remain the traditional and main generating markets for the mostly packaged holidays (which are resort based) on offer to these tourists. The place is sold primarily as a sun, sand, and sea (3S) destination but there is growing emphasis by the local authorities to market the place as a honeymoon and/or family-oriented destination. Likewise, non-traditional markets such as India, Eastern Europe, China, and Russia are becoming important source markets. The island is positioned in the luxury segment through its emphasis on four and ve star-rated resort complexes. The strong historical and economic ties with countries such as India, France, and South Africa provide substantial visitor numbers for business and VFR purposes. The demographic prole of tourists indicates that they are older, of a higher income group, are married and have children. Hence, this research site provided a sample of diverse tourists with potentially different motives for visitation. Sample design and data collection The qualitative study involved semi-structured interviews as the method of data collection. The use of such interviews relies on the ability of the tourist to articulate and recall the salient dimensions of their encounters and experiences during their visit (McIntosh, 1998). Meaning is attached to actions retrospectively and this process enables us to understand how knowledge is constantly being reframed, reconstructed and reinterpreted (Ryan, 2002). At the root of it is an interest in understanding the experience of other people and the meanings they create from the experience (Jennings, 2001). The process requires an interactive and co-operative relationship between the investigator and the object of investigation (Decrop, 2004). The role of the researcher is therefore to enable the holidaymaker to reconstruct his or her experiences. Data are collected from an insider as opposed to an outsiders perspective (Jennings, 2001). These interviews were conducted at the international airport in Mauritius before the departure of visitors as the venue provided a sampling frame where visitors experiences were complete. This was important in order to capture the essence of the relationship between motivation factors and place perceptions. The interviews lasted on average 30 min and were limited to two broad questions (what made you choose Mauritius for holidays? and how do you feel about the place?), and derived from previous studies (Echtner & Ritchie, 1991; Prebensen, 2007; Ryan, 2000; Ryan & Cave, 2005; Young, 1999). These interviews were tape recorded but written notes were also taken in shorthand form, and eshed out as soon as possible after the interview. In most cases, this process was undertaken on the same day as the interview was completed so that the data were still fresh in the interviewers mind. Interviews were conducted in English and
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French by the rst researcher and with back translation of the notes completed subsequently by an independent academic procient in both languages to verify the validity of the original translation. The sample size was chosen based on the personal construct theory. This theory revolves around how the individual sees reality and constructs his or her social world (Andereck, Bricker, Kerstetter, & Nickerson, 2006). It assumes that tourist experiences are essentially individualistic, but it is possible to capture the complexity and inter-linkages of experiences by discerning consensual realities that embrace these dimensions (Ryan & Cave, 2005). Consequently, in any series of interviews, a researcher will nd repetition of common ideas, and this is particularly true when the questioning comprises a common structure (Ryan & Cave, 2005, p. 145). Questioning ceases when saturation of revealed themes emerges. Therefore, a convenience sample of 103 tourists (20 from UK, 22 from South Africa, 20 from India, 20 from France, and 21 from Germany) was selected given that such a sample would offer a broad range of nationalities. These nationalities were chosen because they represented the main generating markets for Mauritius and represented a combination of traditional and non-traditional markets for the destination, thereby allowing similarities and differences in motives and images to be discerned. Data analysis Of particular importance in qualitative data analysis is establishing credibility of interpretation, and this can be achieved by various forms of data and method triangulation (Jennings, 2001). In this study, two stages of data analysis were undertaken and this process allowed the credibility of ndings to be enhanced and provides potentially an alternative measurement approach for researching relationships between push and pull attributes of a destination. The initial transcripts in French were translated into English and veried for accuracy of the translation. The rst stage of the data analysis involved conventional thematic analysis. Thematic analysis Thematic analysis is a method of identifying, analysing, and reporting patterns (themes) within a data set but there is less agreement on what it is and how to go about doing it (Boyatzis, 1998; Tuckett, 2005). As a result, the six-step procedure suggested by Braun and Clarke (2006) was used as it provided a simple and comprehensive way of undertaking thematic analysis. Hence, the rst step involved the rst author familiarising himself with the data by reading and re-reading the data, and noting down initial ideas. From the outset, it was clear that similarities and differences in both motives and place perceptions existed in this rich data set. The second step involved coding interesting features of the data in a systematic fashion across the entire data set, collating data relevant to each code. For example, different motives, such as the need for relaxation, need for escape and need for socialisation were assigned codes 1, 2, and 3, respectively, throughout the data set. Visitors feelings such as relaxed, happy and excited were coded in a similar manner. The third step involved collating all the different codes into potential themes. For example, similar motivating factors such as escape and stress-free were grouped with their relevant cognitive images that could be identied from the data set to form the initial themes. The fourth step involved checking if the themes work in relation to the coded extracts and the entire data set, generating a thematic map of the analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). This thematic map is described in more details in the ndings section. The fth step involved ongoing analysis to rene the sub-themes of main themes, and the overall story that the data set
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tells, generating clear denitions and names for each theme. The nal step involved reporting the analysis using a selection of vivid and compelling extracts from the transcripts to support the themes derived. Once this process was completed, the second author independently reviewed the coding, derived main and sub themes to verify interpretation. In most cases, they both agreed on the main and sub-themes. Content analysis CatPac The second stage of the analysis was aimed at quantifying to some extent the data set in accordance to the post-positivist approach adopted in this study. Therefore, an articial neural network programme, CatPac, was used for the purpose of content analysis. CatPac permits identication of inter-relationships that determine classication of concepts being used by respondents and permit linkages and prioritisations to be drawn and numeric values of association (distance or proximity) to be identied (Ryan & Cave, 2005, p. 146). This software is suited to both large and small sample sizes, which makes it suitable for textual analysis for the entire sample and the sub-samples based on nationality. The software has only recently been used in the tourism literature to measure perceptions of place (Cave, Ryan, & Panakera, 2003; Govers, Go, & Kumar, 2007a, 2007b; Ryan & Cave, 2005; Stepchenkova & Morrison, 2006, 2008). Almost all these studies suggest that its use not only provides a more detailed assessment of destination image and facilitates statistical comparisons of images by sub-groups based on visitors personal characteristics, but also it is simple and efcient to use (Stepchenkova, Kirilenko, & Morrison, 2009). However, none of these studies have employed the software to understand relationships between pull and push factors. The use of CatPac requires a laborious smoothing out procedure on the textual data prior to analysis (Stepchenkova & Morrison, 2008) as with other computer-assisted content analysis (Stepchenkova et al., 2009). This involves reducing the redundancy of words, creating standards for the tense of verbs, standardised form of nouns, and creating simplied labels and key phrases (Ryan & Cave, 2005). The analysis is thereafter based on a sliding text window chosen by the researcher (default window size 7). The software calculates word proximities based on the number of times respondents use words in each response to a question (Govers et al., 2007a). Three parameters are available for manipulation to get the most meaningful results: Unique Words, Window Size, and Slide Size. The Unique Word parameter sets the number of unique words that the researcher wants in the analysis and it is also the number of words that will appear in the dendogram generated by the software that is based on word locations in the text. The Window Size parameter indicates the number of words that CatPac would read at a time. The Slide Size parameter dictates how many words the window groups as units of analysis while reading the text (Woelfel, 1998). A more detailed review of this process can be seen elsewhere (Govers et al., 2007a, 2007b; Ryan & Cave, 2005; Woelfel, 1998). In this study, both authors independently used CatPac on the data set for each of the question to arrive at a solution that was meaningful by manipulating the parameters in the software. The subsequent outputs generated such as frequency counts of words and dendogram were then compared for each question, and a nal solution was retained on the basis of similarities in output, which indicated consensual realities in visitors perceptions. While the frequency count shows the words most often used by interviewees, the dendogram, which is generated on the basis of a clustering algorithm using the Wards method, shows strong and weak relationships between a set of words. The comparing of the results derived from thematic analysis, CatPac and the independent analysis of each author enhances the credibility of
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interpretation through rst, conrming relationships between themes identied in the rst stage of data analysis and second, showing motives and images that are most often associated with the destination. Research ndings Sample prole The demographic and tripographic characteristics of the sample were as follows. The interviews polled respondents with a mean age of 40.3 years old. More males (56.3%) were interviewed than females (43.7%). The nationalities of respondents were as described above but the overwhelming majority of interviewees were of Caucasian ethnicity (70.3%) with the remainder being either of Asian (26.2%) or Black (2.9%) ethnicity. These international tourists stayed on average 11.1 days in Mauritius and 96 could speak English uently. The other languages spoken included French, German, Hindi, and Afrikaans. Of the sample, 30.1% were repeat tourists. As a rst step in reporting the ndings, the main and sub themes derived from thematic analysis are presented. Themes for push factors The rst question being aimed at uncovering motives and images that led to the choice of Mauritius as a holiday destination, showed a preponderance of cognitive images as the main push factors. The results revealed four dominant themes in the data: 3S Appeal of the place, the familiar place, people of the place, and the romantic place. Each of these major themes had associated sub-themes related to traditional conceptualisations of motivating factors in the literature, as described below. Theme one the 3S appeal of the place Many tourists mentioned sun, sand, and sea (3S) as being an important motivator in their choice of Mauritius as a holiday destination. In particular, sunny weather, warm temperatures, quality of the beaches, and water-based activities seem to be major pull factors across the sample. The destinations quiet and tranquil atmosphere also contributed to destination choice, which reinforces the exotic appeal of the island. However, underlying these pull factors was a major push factor, the destination as a place of escape for European tourists in particular, as shown by the following quotes:
. . .the destination offers a warmer climate than Europe and [I] wanted to escape the winter there. (German tourist) . . .we like sunny destinations, we wanted guaranteed sunshine in the tropics, some warmth for our Easter holidays. (British tourist) We wanted a break from the busy city, we live in Mumbai, we wanted to come somewhere quiet. (Indian tourist) . . .I just wanted to go somewhere exotic, and it was. (British tourist)
Theme two the familiar place The data also revealed that the island seems to attract many repeat tourists, who return for various reasons such as visiting family and friends, quality of hotels, friendliness of
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people, and re-enactment of previous enjoyable experiences. While these reect a combination of push and pull factors inuencing choice, it was evident that those choosing Mauritius for visiting friends and relatives (VFR) were motivated by the need for social interaction and kinship. This motive also seems prominent due to historical and cultural ties of the island with countries such as France, UK, and India. Friends and relatives tend to offer accommodation, advice on places to visit and restaurants, and give advice on personal safety at the destination. The VFR motive seems more prominent among French tourists in the sample. The following quotes illustrate this theme in the data.
. . .to spend time with relatives here and our daughter wanted to come here as well. (French tourist) We have direct ights to here, so its an easy place to get to, also my brother is married to a Mauritian, so we came to see how the place was. (French tourist)
. . .we are here on holidays with the family/relatives who invited us to stay a few weeks in Mauritius. (French tourist)
Also, motives for visiting Mauritius seem to be based on language and cultural similarities with other countries such as France and India, which enable fullment of need for social interaction. Therefore, it seems that some tourists are not looking necessarily for novelty of the experience but also a degree of familiarity that enables an experience to be enjoyed. The sample being older in age could explain this occurrence, but also underlying this familiarity aspect with the destination is a strong sense of place. Repeat visitors seem to attach importance and derive pleasure from the destination experience, which therefore indicates some level of place attachment. For these repeat tourists in particular, previous trips related to motives such as attending local festivals, business trips, and incentive travel seem to have inuenced their current holiday trip. These ndings also indicate the well established economic ties of the island with France, India and South Africa. The following quotes provide support for this theme:
. . .we have been coming here for the last 5 years, we know very well the Mauritians. . .we have no problem communicating and relating to them. We come because we know the destination. (French tourist) . . .we came here to see the Tamil New Year celebrations, we heard about it from friends and relatives in SA, so we wanted to come see it for ourselves. (South African tourist) I am here on an incentive travel package for the organisation I work for. I came here 15 years ago, it was nice to see how the place and people have evolved. . .it is like reconnecting to the place. (French tourist)
Related to this theme is that current tourists decision to visit Mauritius seem to be related to previous tourists acting as ambassadors for the country. For example, rst time tourists mentioned that they chose Mauritius because of recommendations from others. This is illustrated in the following quotes:
. . .recommendations from friends. Its our rst time here, we have never been to this destination before. We have been to Caribbean islands before but never to Indian Ocean islands. . ..(British tourist)
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. . .we have heard about it so much and we saw a lot of it in movies, we always wanted to come here, so me and my husband came. (Indian tourist)
Theme three people of the place The data also suggest that friendliness and hospitality of people act as signicant pull factors for both rst time and repeat tourists, which is indicative of the need for esteem from others. Two sub-themes can be identied for this motive. The rst was interactions with hotel employees. Tourists across nationalities mentioned that the smile, willingness to help, and warmth of welcome of hotel employees and/or of the general population, accentuated by ease of communication with and understanding by locals, led to the choice of the island. Also, the advice and accommodation provided by family and friends tend to reinforce these perceptions of friendliness. The following quotes illustrate this sub-theme:
. . .the kindness of Mauritians, conviviality, everything related to generosity of people, simplicity of the people. . .its really the people before everything else. (French tourist) . . ..the hospitality of people, the welcome, the safety that the place offers. (German tourist) . . ..the people are friendly and efcient. . ..staff at the hotel. . .polite and courteous all the time. (British tourist)
The second sub-theme was related to the family-oriented product of the destination. The destination specically attracts families with children as it is perceived as a safe haven with plenty of activities for children to do. There are also opportunities for parents to spend time alone given that hotels are equipped with kids clubs operated by professional staff who take care of the children as shown in the quote below. These add to the appeal of the destination and a perception that the local people are friendly and ready to help.
. . .the hotel with the kids club, we went to Seychelles last year, so this year we tried Mauritius. me and my wife like Indian Ocean islands, . . .spend some time alone. . .kids taken care of. (British tourist)
Theme four the romantic place Mauritius is sold and positioned as a destination for weddings and honeymoons. This facet of the destination as a romantic place was evident in the data. The island offers good travel packages and the 3S make it an ideal location for honeymooners and/or the organisation of weddings. Its exoticness and exclusive appeal tend to be favoured by Indian and South African tourists as they seem to be the main honeymooners in Mauritius. This aspect of the destination seems to full the need for kinship. This theme is illustrated in the following quotes:
Its the paradise island like what they sell in South Africa. . .we came here on our honeymoon, its the ideal honeymoon spot so they say. (South African tourist) . . .we came here on our honeymoon trip, we wanted to come because we have seen so much of Mauritius in Bollywood movies, its a favourite location for lm shoots, our parents have been here before too, so came to see for ourselves. (Indian tourist) . . .honeymoon trip,. . . the reputation of the island as a quality destination. We wanted somewhere exotic, where not many people go to. (Indian tourist)
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Content analysis of destination choice factors The credibility of these themes was further enhanced by entering the original transcript for the rst question into CatPac, to identify relationships between words based on proximity. The smoothing process described earlier was carried out and this process of textual familiarisation aids in the interpretation of the nal results. These manipulations are necessary given that, like any software package, the programme does not produce answers but rather produces frameworks set by responses as evaluated by the researcher. Manipulation of the parameters is therefore justied given that language itself is exible and is a verbal organisation of symbols to convey meanings. However, like similar packages the software helps impose a discipline on the researcher, which in this case was reinforced by the authors conducting separate analyses and then comparing the results. The derived results from the above manipulation of text and parameters showed ve major clusters of concepts or related words in the dendogram. The rst showed a strong relationship between words such as wanted, place, holidays, family, people, weather, Mauritius, friends, and beach. These words suggest that international tourists choice was related to motives of 3S, people of the place, and visiting family and friends. These ndings show similarities with some of the themes and sub-themes derived earlier. Cluster two comprised two words, nice and hotel, which indicated that the quality and variety of hotels inuenced destination choice. Cluster three consisted of four related words, choose, trip, coming, and years. A close examination of these words and revisiting the original transcripts revealed the idea of repeat visitation, that is, international tourists chose their trip out of habit because they had been coming there for years. Interestingly, these tourists seem to come back either for the physical attributes of the place as well as the social relationships they have formed with local people, indicating some level of place attachment. Cluster four was made of four words, always, heard, lot, and honeymoon, which indicated that Mauritius was chosen as a honeymoon destination because tourists had always heard a lot about the destination. This is also indicative of the inuence of word of mouth on tourists decision process. Cluster ve showed a weaker relationship among two words, destination and island which conrm Mauritius being chosen for its physical attributes. These ndings conrm and reinforce the earlier derived themes of Mauritius chosen as a holiday destination for four major reasons: (1) its 3S product, (2) repeat visitation, (3) friendly people, (4) honeymoon. The inter-relationship between these variables can be illustrated in a thematic map (Figure 1). For example, 3S appeal of the place combined with romantic appeal of the place can generate repeat visitation. The same applies to other motives. However, place attachment as expected, seems to develop among repeat tourists due to fullment of various motives. Cognitive images of Mauritius Further analysis using CatPac revealed that motives and images have a symbiotic relationship, that is, asking respondents about motives automatically conjures images as well, which is indicative of the relationship between push and pull factors as suggested in both qualitative and quantitative studies (Kim et al., 2003; Klenosky, 2002). The data revealed 10 dominant cognitive images of Mauritius as shown in Figure 2. Each of these cognitive images has a number of specic sub-dimensions to them. For example, if interviewees mentioned beaches, they were asked what they liked specically about them and their responses were white, sandy, clean, and not crowded. A few interviewees mentioned they liked everything, that is, the entire destination experience as shown in Figure 2, indicative of holistic impressions of the place. These cognitive images are
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Figure 1.
Thematic map of inter-relationships among themes for push factors.
broadly similar to multi-attribute models suggested in the literature (Beerli & Martin, 2004; Echtner & Ritchie, 1991; Gallarza et al., 2002) albeit with differences with respect to placespecic dimensions.
Negative images of Mauritius While most tourists reported positive perceptions, some reported negative ones and these can be grouped in ve broad categories using content analysis from CatPac namely: infrastructure, hotel facilities, cleanliness and hygiene of public places, weather, and people as shown in the Figure 3. Infrastructure seems to be the most problematic aspect of the destination, with perceptions of poor quality and narrow roads, trafc jam especially in the city, and poor road signage for access to places of interest. The airport is perceived as crowded given that tourists have to queue up for approximately 20 30 min to check in. While for many airports this may not seem excessive, it is suggested that here it features in tourist reports because it is contrary to much of their other experiences in Mauritius. In terms of hotel facilities, some tourists perceived them as being expensive and crowded. A perceived lack of cleanliness and hygiene is another factor that led to negative experiences, specically with regard to cleanliness in local markets and hygiene of bathroom facilities on public beaches. The erratic uctuations of the weather (rain and strong winds), which is an uncontrollable factor, was another source of discontentment. With regards to interactions with people, some tourists disliked the pushy attitude of beach hawkers, which they thought was rude, and the fact that they charged higher prices to tourists compared with locals. Both beach hawkers and taxi owners were perceived as being dishonest in their dealings and negotiations with international tourists. These ndings indicate the co-existence of both positive and negative perceptions of place as suggested by others (Prebensen, 2007; Ryan & Cave, 2005).
Affective images of Mauritius The ndings derived from question two led to the identication of affective images of Mauritius. Thematic analysis revealed a variety of emotions that can be grouped in three
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Figure 2.
Positive images of Mauritius.
broad themes namely: Mauritius as a place of retreat, a rejuvenating place, and a place to revisit. A place of retreat The crux of this theme was the destination being able to generate feelings of escape, stress-free lifestyle, relaxation, and comfort. In essence, the place providing a pleasurable experience to visitors. This theme is illustrated in the quotes below.
It is a nice, very nice, place. Its relaxing compared to busy London. Its tranquil, no fast pace, people are laid back, they seem [the locals] to enjoy this kind of lifestyle. (British visitor) Its a beautiful place, with the view of Le Morne, mountains, sea, we came here to relax. Its an ideal setting, away from everything else, I mean the hectic life in Mumbai. It is a quiet time away from work responsibilities, spending time with wife and children, but it is not a cheap destination, not everyone can afford to come here. (Indian visitor)
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Figure 3.
Negative images of Mauritius.
Underlying this theme is the fact that many of these visitors relate the feelings associated with the destination with their escape motive, as illustrated above, thereby indicating a relationship between push factors and pull attributes. Quantitative studies such as Martin and del Bosque (2008) have shown a positive relationship between motives and affective images. A rejuvenating place This theme is associated with Mauritius generating feelings of peacefulness, beauty, and well being, as shown in the quotes below. The essence of this theme is that Mauritius is able to rejuvenate visitors and make them feel better about themselves. Underlying this theme is the need to feel valued as a person and as a family.
I feel that Mauritius is peaceful, quiet, not crowded. Its a leisurely lifestyle in a beautiful surrounding, the clear blue sky, the good weather makes you feel good about yourself. (Indian visitor) It is a very good feeling, we felt welcomed for each visit, a feeling of plenitude, when you travel around in the villages, the people acknowledge your presence, they smile at you, they make head signs to you, and you dont see that in other countries. This is why we come here each year, for the people. (French visitor) Its beautiful, a real paradise, its even a lovers paradise, you have time to look after your couple, I mean spend time with my husband. You dont often have time to do something special as a couple when you work. We have been able to do just that here but we have been busy during our stay with activities and sightseeing. (South African visitor)
A place to revisit A common theme evident in the data was that positive feelings for the place were closely associated with positive revisit intentions. Asking participants about one, led to responses for the other as shown in the quotes below:
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We would like to come back again sometimes, its an easy, laid back place, very relaxed atmosphere. (German visitor) It is a beautiful island, will denitely come back. Its a warm feeling that we had throughout our stay. (South African visitor) I m denitely coming back, we all loved it, save some more money and I will be back to see more and do more. It is so relaxing, makes me feel happy. (French visitor)
It seems that as visitors needs are fullled, affective images contribute to positive revisit intentions. Despite establishing a positive relationship between cognitive, affective and future behaviour, quantitative studies (Chen & Tsai, 2007; Lin et al., 2007) have not always linked this relationship to the push factors driving destination choice. Repeating the triangulation approach and the smoothing process described earlier, CatPac was used to conrm some of these ndings. The dendogram generated for question two, indicated eight different clusters of words. For example, cluster one indicated a strong relationship among six words, good, place, pleasant, great, nice, and experience. Looking at the original transcripts, these words suggested that the destination evokes feelings of being a good and/or pleasant place and offering a great and/or nice experience. Cluster two showed a strong relationship between three words like, come, and back, indicating the conative component of destination image and supporting the theme of Mauritius as a place to revisit. Cluster three indicated a relationship between two words, hotel and beautiful indicating the aesthetic appeal of the hotels in Mauritius, cluster four comprised of the words beach and sea indicative of the 3S appeal of the island. Cluster ve indicated a relationship among words such as people and relaxed, indicating the destination as a place for relaxation and cluster six indicated a relationship between words such as think, different, lovely, and denitely, indicating that visitors thought the island was different and denitely lovely. Cluster seven indicated a relationship among words such as happy, holiday, and destination, indicating the place was able to evoke feelings of happiness among tourists. Cluster eight showed a relationship between ve words namely, specic, feel, really, nothing, and island, which is indicative of the fact that some interviewees could not recall any specic feelings about the island. While showing some similarities in the results derived from thematic analysis and CatPac, some differences emerged. For example, there are some specic cognitive images associated with the destination from the results of CatPac, indicating that cognitive and affective images are linked in the visitors mind. Also, some participants are unable to recall affective images associated with the destination, which either indicates the destination experience was not differentiated enough or the interview environment was not conducive to recall of such experiences. It seems to the researchers that the relationship between motives and images cannot be adequately captured through the use of CatPac only even while it complements the results of thematic analysis.
The inuence of nationality While thematic analysis did not reveal substantial differences in motives and images by nationality, content analysis using CatPac revealed otherwise. Due to the complex nature of the results generated by CatPac, only a synthesis of these is provided below. For example, the ndings indicated the French market was motivated by six factors in their choice of Mauritius as a holiday destination. Namely: (i) French tourists chose or come because they learn about the people and the place from others, indicating
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fullment of need for learning and word-of-mouth as important drivers of destination choice; (ii) Immediate or direct family reasons indicating a motive for VFR, thereby suggesting the need for social interaction; (iii) Tourists like Mauritians and know about this holiday destination, indicating familiarity with the place as an important choice factor; (iv) Their choice also results from incentive travel packages offered by French companies to their employees, indicating business travel; (v) The sun and beach indicating the 3S appeal of the place, which is based on fullment of a need for escape and relaxation; (vi) Finally the statement, everything really indicates holistic impressions as being of importance in choice decisions. For the German market, CatPac revealed the existence of ve factors, these being: (i) Previous visits which led to them always wanted to come back, and the volcanic eruption in the neighbouring Reunion Island provided them with such an opportunity, indicating previous positive experiences and special events as inuencing destination choice; (ii) Reputation of the place and its hospitality; (iii) The destination offers Mauritian friends, that is, they made friends with the local population on previous visits, which provided an incentive for them to come back, thereby indicating the need for social interaction and kinship; (iv) They had visited the destination years ago and liked it, so their current visit was to renew that experience, indicating satisfaction with previous visit as an inuencer of destination choice; (v) The holiday was taken because the visitor was getting married, indicating the importance of special events. As for the British market, content analysis revealed again ve major push factors, (i) Mauritius offers good scenery and weather and because visitors have family and friends, thereby indicating the inuence of cognitive images and push factors such as need for social interaction; (ii) The fact that it is an Indian ocean island, which is different from other places they had visited. This indicates location and novelty of the experience as inuential factors in destination choice; (iii) It is a nice place, thereby indicating emotive perceptions of place; (iv) Visitors who always come for the people, again referring to VFR, and the importance of repeat visitation to the island; and nally (v) because they wanted or liked something different for Easter holidays, thereby indicating a special event and the need for novelty. Likewise, South African visitors seem to choose Mauritius for six reasons. These are: (i) Visitors either come for their honeymoon or conference in the rst place and thereafter they wanted to come back again with family, thereby indicating previous positive experiences as drivers of current choice; (ii) They come because of business (company travel) and combine it with holidays; (iii) Mauritius is chosen because it is a destination close to South Africa, indicating proximity as an important consideration in the choice process; (iv) Business travel before and they heard about the destination from travel agents, reecting the inuence of previous visits and travel intermediaries; (v) Visitors chose the destination because it is advertised and because they have friends in Mauritius, indicating the need for social interaction; (vi) Visitors can also choose Mauritius because their partner or wife wanted the trip, indicating the inuence of signicant others on the decision process. The Indian market also seems to be motivated by six factors in their choice of Mauritius. (i) Indians like Mauritius as a honeymoon destination and wanted to be surprised by the hotel, indicating that special events can be of importance in the choice process; (ii) These visitors seem to have family or children from India that work in Mauritius, justifying their choice; (iii) Some of these visitors are on their rst trip because they have friends or made friends in Mauritius and will come back, indicating need for social interaction and kinship as well as positive revisit intentions; (iv) Some visitors
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come because they have heard of Mauritius somewhere but they cannot remember where, indicating top-of-mind awareness of the place; (v) Others come because the destination offers an exotic culture; (vi) The last reason seems to be that some of these visitors are on a trip with parents. A comparison of the results of content analysis for each market based on nationality revealed that: (i) Sun, sand, and sea, which is associated with the need for relaxation and escape are not necessarily the main motivators for choice. This motive seems to be more important for French tourists than others; (ii) The need for social interaction and kinship as evidenced by the purpose of visit being VFR seems to be of importance across all nationalities; (iii) Familiarity, as indicated by previous visits is particularly an important motivator for German, South African, French, and British tourists; (iv) Honeymoon or wedding trips and other special events are important push factors for Germans, South Africans and Indians; (v) Previous business trips or incentive travel tours or proximity of the destination seem to be a signicant motivator for South African and French tourists only; (vi) Pull factors are important motivators across all nationalities but not necessarily the same attributes are considered important; (vii) Relationships between specic motives, pull factors and future behavioural intentions can be identied for German and Indian visitors. Therefore, nationality seems to be a determining variable for destination choice through push factors. As for cognitive images, content analysis by CatPac showed similar perceptions irrespective of nationality. For example, the sample of German tourists showed the existence of ve clusters of words. Cluster one showed a relationship among eight words namely: beach, sea, people, nice, like, food, hotel, and climate, which suggested that Germans found the beach, sea, and people to be nice, while liking the food, hotel and climate. Cluster two was made of ve words namely: ight, good, package, destination, and Germany, indicating that Mauritius offered a good holiday package, including ights for these visitors, while cluster three indicated that Germans liked the water sports activities, and cluster four showed that they liked the sun and warm weather. Cluster ve indicated that Germans perceive the place to be friendly and busy. Similar associations of words were found for other nationalities with a preponderance of images of white sand, warm sea, sunny weather, nice hotel, friendly people and good food. However, the strength of the relationships as indicated by the words linking to each other in the dendograms showed some differences across nationalities. For example, Indians seemed to place more importance on hotel amenities, facilities and service. Germans were more concerned about the types of travel packages offered and ights than any other tourists. British tourists placed more emphasis on available tourist trips within the island and service while French tourists assigned more importance to 3S than any other nationality. These results enable common cognitive images to be identied as well as nationality-based differences in image perceptions that sometimes may not be evident from thematic analysis only. In terms of affective images, a comparison of the different dendograms generated for each nationality showed that all ve nationalities displayed strong intentions to revisit. Except for Indians, all other nationalities mentioned local people as being an important facet of their feelings for the destination. Germans placed more importance on the safety of the destination compared with the other four nationalities. South African and British tourists placed more importance on feeling relaxed on their holidays as compared with others. South African and French tourists seemed to favour destinations that convey feelings of being different from their home country, indicating a relationship between the affective component and the need for novelty. Some of the French tourists mentioned they felt nothing in particular about the destination experience perhaps because it was not very
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different from their own country. Likewise, only some Indian tourists felt that the destination was crowded and were more critical of local cuisine compared with other nationalities. In essence, the results of CatPac showed relationships between words that depicted affective, cognitive and conative components of image. However, it was ineffective at showing relationships between push and the affective component of pull factors, where thematic analysis proved more useful. Discussion, implications, and conclusion Although the relationship between motives and images has been explored using quantitative approaches including modelling, this study aimed at examining this relationship in greater depth using a post-positivist approach that enabled the triangulation of data analysed from a dual perspective of thematic and content analysis. The ndings have some theoretical and managerial implications. In terms of theoretical implications, the ndings reveal that a qualitative approach uncovers complex relationships between motives and images that are best captured using a combination of thematic and content analysis. As suggested by others (Govers et al., 2007a, 2007b; Stepchenkova et al., 2009; Stepchenkova & Morrison, 2006, 2008), CatPac is suited for destination image research but when combined with thematic analysis, it enriches data analysis by showing specically which push factors are embedded in image themes, and enhances the credibility of thematic analysis by conrming themes or dimensions and relationships and inter-relationships among variables such as push factors, images, place attachment, and future behaviour. CatPac is particularly suited for the identication of positive and negative images of a destination and differences by tourists characteristics such as nationality. The results establish that Mauritius has predominantly a sun, sand and sea image that feeds on motives for relaxation and pleasure. Other motivators inuencing tourists choice seem to be the need for social interaction and kinship and the need for familiarity specically associated with repeaters. These motivators correspond to those depicted in studies of Crompton (1979), Mill and Morrison (1985), Pearce (1991), Iso-Ahola (1982), Ryan (2002), and Kozak (2002). However, unlike previous studies the ndings of this study extend the understanding of these motives by linking them with specic image themes, thereby conrming that motives of destination choice are often embedded in image attractiveness of a place. This is akin to Tapachai and Waryszaks (2000) benecial images that are linked to specic consumption values of tourists. Content analysis using CatPac is better at capturing cognitive and holistic images of a place as well as unique features and auras that support the work of Echtner and Ritchie (1991, 1993) and Jenkins (1999). Thematic analysis also allows holistic images to be discerned effectively but CatPac is better at revealing image themes and how they are linked with each other, thus enhancing the credibility of these holistic images (Stepchenkova & Morrison, 2006). The qualitative methodology also reveals relationships similar to those derived from quantitative studies with reference to the existence of a hierarchical relationship between cognitive, affective, and conative components of image. That is, the cognitive component seems to be an antecedent of the affective and the latter is a more powerful antecedent to the conative component as suggested by Gallarza et al. (2002), Pike and Ryan (2004), and Ryan and Cave (2005). Also, as expected, respondents nd it easier to recall cognitive images and the attributes discerned are similar to previous lists of items found in the literature (e.g. Baloglu & McCleary, 1999; Echtner & Ritchie, 1993; Gallarza et al., 2002) albeit place-specic attributes such as those related to sun, sand and sea destinations specically emerge.
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The ndings conrm that destination image evolves with tourists level of familiarity with the destination (Gallarza et al., 2002; Ryan & Cave, 2005) and that familiarity with a place generates positive images as suggested by others (e.g. Baloglu, 2001; Beerli & Martin, 2004; Prentice, 2004). This allows for a more complex image of a place to be developed (Ryan & Cave, 2005) among repeat tourists. These complex images, when related to tourists push factors, seem to indicate a latent dimension of place attachment. As argued by others (George & George, 2004; Hou et al., 2005; Trauer & Ryan, 2005) repeat tourists tend to develop attachment to specic activities, areas, people, and destinations, as is the case in this study. Hence, the approach used to analyse the data in this study seems to bring forth linkages between a destinations salient attributes (pull factors), holistic images, push factors, and place attachment for repeaters. It also seems that nationality has a signicant inuence on the way visitors interpret the destination environment with respect to cognitive and affective components, and also push factors. These differences in perceptions lend support to the work of Hirscham and Holbrook (1982), Calatone et al. (1989), Chen and Kerstetter (1999), Kozak et al. (2004) and Ryan and Cave (2005) in establishing nationality as a signicant proxy for measuring cultural differences. Indeed, nationality seems to have a stronger inuence on affective images as suggested by Gartner (1993) and Beerli and Martin (2004). Hence, attaining a universal structure in destination image perception may be difcult given that each destination has a unique social and natural environment (Gallarza et al., 2002; Pearce, 1991) and each tourist has their own perceptual lters such as age and nationality through which landscapes of places and emotions are understood. In addition, tourists of different nationalities seem to attach differing levels of importance to push factors as suggested by others (Andreu et al., 2005; Jang & Cai, 2002; Kozak, 2002; Martin & del Bosque, 2008). Also, it seems that nationality may determine the extent of cultural similarity between a destination and the tourists home country, thereby inuencing destination choice for those seeking familiar experiences. For those seeking novelty of experiences, like German and South African tourists, the destination itself can be the object of difference or experience, but certainly these perceptions are linked to tourists own nationality. Hence, nationality can be used as an effective market segmentation variable and for understanding tourists push factors and preferences in terms of destination attributes. The ndings also offer some insights into visitors experiences of place. The cognitive and affective responses identied suggest that the tourist is not merely a passive participant in the experience but can be an active seeker of knowledge about and understanding of the destination and relationships within that place. This is evidenced by the different motives inuencing choice, the activities undertaken at the destination and culturally specic notions of what is extraordinary and therefore worth visiting. This conrms Urrys (2002) proposition that the tourist gaze is structured. The images of Mauritius among these tourists seem to represent certain ways of seeing reality and conform to traditional understanding of images. The tourist gaze seems to be mainly directed towards positive aspects of the destination while negative aspects seem to be silenced or the visitor engages in a process of cognitive dissonance where positive experiences outweigh negative ones. Hence, an island such as Mauritius becomes a locus of selected meanings constructed through a collection of signs, that is, images (Hollinshead, 1999). These images also reect and reinforce certain relationship in societies, for example, the motives of social interaction that informs the VFR market. Also, the destination experience may not always be simply visual but one that engages all the senses as suggested by Ryan (2002) given that place attachment is formed for potential and actual repeat visitors. Therefore, inherent in the ndings is a level of complexity of the tourist experience that can be identied using the
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methodology employed with respect to relationships and inter-relationships between motives, images, attachment, and personal characteristics of visitors. In conclusion, this research has provided two signicant contributions to the broader tourism literature: rst, it establishes relationships between push factors, pull factors, and holistic images of place by using an alternative approach of triangulation of method of data analysis; second, it conrms the usefulness of nationality as a proxy for the measurement of cultural differences among tourists. There are, however, limitations relating to this research. First, the obtained sample may not be representative of all tourists to Mauritius, given that only ve nationalities were considered in the sampling process. However, this did not inuence the richness of the reported experiences or the relationships identied. These could potentially be tested using a quantitative methodology. Second, some participants may have been unable or unwilling to articulate motives they really seek from holiday experiences due to their inability to reect intensely on their experiences. However, in most cases visitors were able to recall the motives inuencing their choice of the destination. Third, even though a post-positivist approach was adopted, it still remains true that the broad questions were determined by the researcher, who thus acts as the agenda setter. Thus, the mode of questioning selected does not establish the degrees of importance to the respondent as to the nature of their motives and perceptions of place. Future research can also focus on establishing these relationships for competing island destinations in the Indian Ocean or comparative studies with other island destinations such as the Balearic, Pacic, and Caribbean islands. References
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Thematic map of inter-relationships among themes for push factors.

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Positive images of Mauritius.

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Negative images of Mauritius.

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