Factors Affecting Tourists’ Preference for Organised Mass Tours: The South Korean Case

Abstract

Organised mass tourists heavily rely on travel organisations and purchase holiday products that offer various elements including transportation, accommodation, meals, sightseeing activities, and tour guides who speak their language. Organised mass tourists are unlikely to have chance to experience authenticity and freedom at a destination, as they have to follow schedules which have been previously organised for the group by travel professionals. Despite perceived disadvantages, however, organised mass tours remain popular in South Korea with around half of South Korean travellers purchasing various types of mass tourism products. Previous studies have focused more on identifying ‘how’ mass tourists behave differently from independent travellers when travelling overseas. Relatively less attention has been paid to identifying reasons ‘why’ mass tourists behave differently from independent travellers. This study fills this gap by identifying important factors affecting South Korean tourists’ preference for mass tourism. The primary purpose of this research is to identify driving factors that encourage tourists to prefer organised mass tours in the South Korean context. This research employed a mixed method approach by conducting two stages of research sequentially. Qualitative research was carried out during the first stage. A review of previous literature showed a lack of prior research into reasons why mass tourism continues to be preferred in Asian countries including South Korea. To gain a better insight into this topic, qualitative research was carried out through focus group interviews. Three interview sessions were held with experienced South Korean tourists and two sessions were conducted with travel industry experts. Based on the qualitative results and a review of the literature, a series of hypotheses was proposed along with the proposed framework of the study.