e-Review of Tourism Research (eRTR), Vol. 9, No.

5, 2011
http://ertr.tamu.edu

Haywantee Ramkissoon
Monash University

Muzaffer Uysal
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Keith Brown
Cape Breton University

A cross-cultural comparison of tourists’ cultural behavioural intentions

This study attempts to address the deficiency of cross-cultural research in cultural tourism
consumption. Drawing data from tourists visiting selected cultural sites in the island of
Mauritius, it investigates the cross-cultural behavioural intentions (revisit intentions,
willingness to recommend) on a sample of 541 tourists across different nationality groups.
Using multinomial logistic regression, significant differences were observed across the
respondents’ behavioural intentions, perceived authenticity, information search behaviour and
destination image. The empirical results indicated that the significant cultural differences
observed would have a range of implications for destination planners, marketers and
managers. In conclusion, the need for further cross-cultural behaviour research in a cultural
tourism context was advocated.

Key words: cross-cultural, behavioural intentions, cultural tourism, Mauritius

Haywantee Ramkissoon
Tourism Research Unit, Department of Management
Faculty of Business and Economics
Monash University
PO Box 1071
Narre Warren, VIC 3805
Australia
Phone: [61] 3 9904 7252
Email: [email protected]

Muzaffer Uysal
Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management
Pamplin College of Business
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
362, Wallace Hall (0429)
Blacksburg, Virginia 24061
USA
Phone: [001] (540) 231 5515
Email: [email protected]

Keith Brown
Assocaite Professor of Marketing
Cape Breton University
PO Box 5300, 1250 Grand Lake Road, Sydney, NS

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Canada B1P 6L2

Phone: [00111] (902) 563 1861
Email: [email protected]

Dr. Haywantee Ramkissoon is conducting research at the Australia International Tourism

Research Unit, Monash University, Australia. She writes and publishes on a range of issues
in Sustainable Tourism Development. Haywantee teaches on postgraduate tourism programs
at Monash University and is also a lecturer in the School of Sustainable Development and
Tourism at the University of Technology, Mauritius. Her current research focuses on cultural
tourism, place attachment, and pro-environmental behavior.

Muzaffer (Muzzo) Uysal is Professor of Tourism in the Department of Hospitality and

Tourism Management – Pamplin College of Business at Virginia Tech. He has extensive
experience in the travel and tourism field, authoring or co-authoring a significant number of
articles in tourism, book chapters, and four books and four monographs relating to different
aspects of tourism and research. Dr. Uysal is a member of the International Academy for the
Study of Tourism, the Academy of Leisure Sciences, and serves as co-editor of Tourism
Analysis. His research interests center on tourism demand/supply interaction, tourism
marketing, and quality of life research in tourism.

Dr. Brown is currently responsible for Cape Breton University’s External Department and is
the Purdy Crawford Chair in Aboriginal Business Studies. www.cbu.ca/Crawford. As an
Associate Professor of Marketing in the School of Business at CBU, Dr. Brown has taught
Marketing Management, Consumer Behaviour, International Business, International
Marketing, Sales and Sales Management, Advertising and Tourism Marketing. He currently
teaches in the MBA (CED). He has presented and published a wide range of academic
papers and served as a guest speaker and panelist on economic development, Cultural tourism
marketing and Aboriginal Economic Development.

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Introduction
Interest in cross-cultural research has produced a plethora of studies across several disciplines

such as psychology, sociology, geography, political science and marketing amongst others.

While the consumer has been the focus of several tourism and hospitality studies, researchers

have largely ignored the role of cultural and contextual variables in explaining the cultural

behaviour of travellers. Cultural tourism is seen to attract the attention of countless tourists in

the international tourism market (Chang and Liu, 2009; Kim et al., 2007; Ramkissoon and

Uysal, in press). With the diverse market offerings in the increasing number of destinations,

people’s interests in visiting cultural and natural heritage attractions have expanded. The

cultural tourism market remains an important category for many destinations (McKercher,

2004) with some destinations becoming more popular than others (van der Ark and Richards,

2006). The growing contribution of cultural institutions in tourist destinations (Stylianou-

Lambert, 2011) has called for more research in this field of study. In competing for cultural

tourists, an understanding of the cross-cultural influence of dimensions explaining tourists’

cultural behavioural intentions is a wise area of investigation. Although several studies have

explored the relationship of culture to leisure and consumer behaviour, research investigating

cultural behavioural intentions across different cultures is scant in literature. There has been

very little research if any on how to develop the cultural tourism market by analysing the

specific targeted markets and making the best use of this information to further promote

cultural tourism across these cultures. Efforts to date have been limited in identifying what

specific aspects influence tourists to consume cultural products (Ramkissoon and Uysal, in

press) and what aspects of a destination are more appealing to them. This study investigates

the cross-cultural similarities and differences within dimensions of perceived authenticity,

motivation, information search behaviour, destination image and behavioural intentions

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across five different national groups. General Linear Model (GLM) with repeated measures is

used for the analysis. Some theoretical and practical implications are further discussed.

Cross-cultural study

Culture has been described as one of the most complex words in the English

language, thus making it difficult to define (Williams, 1976). Master and Prideaux (2000)

argued that culture can be viewed from two different perspectives, from an ideological

viewpoint comprising of values, norms, conventions and practices (Rokeach, 1979) and

secondly as a combination of both ideological and material elements such as ways of life

(Assael, 1992; Mowen, 1993). Human societies differ in shape, purposes and meanings and

are expressed in institutions, arts and learning (Williams, 1958). Williams (1958) argued that

culture can also mean a whole way of life; the common meanings, the arts and learning and

the special processes of discovery and creative efforts. The term culture encompasses

peoples’ civilization with its processes of continuity and change and is portrayed in

individuals’ values, beliefs, rituals, artifacts and tools (Were, 1982). Thomlinson (1991)

argued that as there are different meanings of culture, it is better to concentrate on the way

the term culture is actually being used. A similar view is given by van Maanen and Laurent

(1993) who argued that it is important not to focus on the all-embracing definition of what

culture is. Richards (1996) noted that because of the vast meaning of the term ‘culture’, it

also poses a major problem in analysing the consumption of cultural products.

A range of studies in tourism have shown the influence of culture on tourists’

behaviour (e.g. Kim et al; 2002; Sussmann and Rashcovsky, 1997; Pizam and Jeong, 1996,

Yu and Ko, in press). Actions acceptable by some cultures may be repugnant to other cultures

(Pizam and Sussmann, 1995). National culture characteristics such as attitudes, social

behaviours, perceptions, needs, expectations, beliefs, norms, motivations and verbal and non-

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verbal communication patterns of tourists (March, 1997; Rokeach, 1973) have been used to

explain variations in tourists’ behaviour. Leisure researchers have analysed travel vacation

patterns among different nationalities (Kim and Lee, 2000; Sussmann and Rashcovsky,

1997). Noting the significant differences between French and English Canadians in the

number of their vacation trips, and the importance they assigned to accommodation and

destination attributes, Sussmann and Rashcovsky (1997) concluded that tourism is a product

of cultural variables and processes. The analysis of behavioural characteristics of Japanese,

Korean and American tourists on guided tours revealed considerable differences in their trip

length, food preferences, adventure, novelty and familiarity, photography and letter-writing

(Pizam and Jeong, 1996). A recent study by Yu and Ko (in press) revealed significant

differences in perceptions of medical tourism among Chinese, Japanese and Korean tourists

in Korea. Korean tourists placed more emphasis on selection factors followed by the Chinese

tourists, and lastly the Japanese. Kim and Prideaux (2003) noted significant behavioural

differences among four national groups of passengers (Japanese, Korean, Chinese and

Americans) in their expectations of availability of in-flight materials, their food and beverage

requests and duty-free purchases. Lee and Lee (2009) found a clear contrast between

Japanese and Korean travellers in their evaluative image of Guam. Their findings indicated

that the travellers’ perceived destination image exerted a significant influence on their

destination choice as well as preconditioned tourist destination behaviours leading to

attitudinal consequences. Reisinger and Turner (1997) presented the cultural differences

between Indonesian and Australian tourists using Hofstede’s (1980) cultural dimensions of

power-distance, individualism,-collectivism, uncertainty-avoidance, and masculinity-

feminity. Indonesian tourists were found to be oriented towards collectivism (group-oriented)

and had a preference for package tours while the Australians being more inclined towards

individualism (self-oriented) sought independent tours preferring risk-taking activities in

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contrast to Indonesians. Hofstede (1991) and Matilla (1999) further argued that westerners

being from an individualistic society value hedonic experiences such as enjoyment and fun

more than Asian consumers. Wong and Lau (2001) confirmed that Chinese travellers favour

travelling in groups. Cultural differences were noted in travel agents’ attitudes towards

political instability at selected Mediterranean destinations (Seddighi et al., 2001). The latter

concluded that the significant differences among travel agents from six European countries

had important implications for policy makers and destination marketers. The scholars further

noted that the respondents’ cultural background determined the difference in their perception

across the different types of political instability examined.

Some studies have looked at cultural influences on tourists’ information search

behaviour indicating different significant cultural differences among various national groups

(Gursoy and Chen, 2000; Gursoy and Umbreit, 2004; Ortega and Rodriguez, 2007) and

preferences for external information sources for their decision-making process (Chen, 2000;

Mihalik et al., 1993; Uysal et al., 1990). Tourists visiting national parks in USA revealed that

they had different preferences for external information sources influencing their decision

making process (Uysal et al., 1990). A study conducted by Iverson (1997) showed that

Korean travellers revealed shorter decision time frames than Japanese travellers. March

(1997) further concluded in his analysis of Korean and Japanese travellers’ behaviour that the

former bought more expensive gifts and engaged in more adventurous tourism activities as

compared to the Japanese. Chen (2000) argued that cultural differences existed between

Japanese, Australian and South Korean vacation and business tourists travelling to the USA.

Mihalik et al. (1993) in their study of German and Japanese tourists travelling to USA

concluded that the latter relied mostly on pamphlets, books and travel agents. Another study

by Ortega and Rodriguez (2007) revealed that British, German, American and French tourists

in Spain attributed much importance to information at the destination through films shown in

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their hotel rooms and pamphlets available in the lobby area. While Spanish tourists also

attributed great importance to pamphlets in the hotel area, they were less keen on information

though films in their hotel rooms. Kang and Mastin (2008) employed Hofstede’s cultural

dimensions to investigate cultural differences in international tourism public relations

websites. They argued that this is important to build and maintain relationships with

multicultural audiences. Prior studies have also observed that tourists’ motivation to travel to

destinations is influenced by their cultural background. In essence, Philipp (1994) noted a

racial difference amongst white and black Americans in their quest for novelty at tourists’

destinations. Kozak (2002) argued that literature still lacks empirical studies investigating

how tourists’ motives differ across different groups. An understanding of cultural differences

in tourists’ motivation is necessary in international tourism management (Kim, 1998).

Cross-cultural studies examining perceived service quality (Mattilla, 1999; Winsted,

1997) equally revealed significant variations from consumers of different nationalities. A

more recent study by Levy (2010) examined social interaction of consumers within their

cultural groups. He concluded that Asian consumers benefited better from management

facilitation of social interaction than Westerners. A number of studies have examined cross-

cultural differences in the hospitality context. Baek et al. (2006) in their investigation of

college students’ perception on fast-food restaurant selection argued that Korean students

preferred cosiness while Filipinos preferred a quick service. Koreans’ search for comfort was

attributed to Korea’s economic success as compared to most Asian countries. Koreans

perceive comfort as a reward for their hard work. Furthermore, in a study of hotel consumers’

attitudes and complaining behaviours, Yuksel et al. (2006) found that British, Dutch, Turkish

and Israeli tourists differed significantly in their voice behaviour. British tourists were found

to be more likely to complain and express their dissatisfaction than the Dutch. This was

attributed to the wider use of the English language. The Turkish, coming from a collectivist

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society were reported to be feeling sad once they voice their dissatisfaction as they feel that

they might be causing harm to others. Israelis, in contrast did not exhibit such feelings.

Significant cultural variations were found amongst South-Korean, Japanese, Chinese, and

American passengers’ complaints under irregular airline conditions (Kim and Lee, 2009). US

and Japanese passengers were more likely to respond privately while the Chinese were less

keen on doing so. These results were attributed to the individualistic society of Americans

where customer satisfaction is highly valued. The South-Koreans and Japanese did not seem

to be willing to take legal action as a complaint behaviour. Kim and Lee’s findings were also

consistent with Huang et al (1996) showing that US consumers are more likely to complain to

a third party. The differences between those from collective and individualistic cultures were

further expanded by Hsieh and Lin (2010). Taiwanese Bed and Breakfast operators, being in

a collective environment perceived fewer difficulties in maintaining their work-life balance

as compared to the US operators who are oriented towards individualism.

A brief review of the above studies highlight the range of differences found across

different national cultures. While there has been a plethora of studies in both the tourism and

hospitality contexts, the literature has indicated a clear absence of studies investigating cross-

cultural differences of cultural behavioural intentions of tourists. Given the centrality and

importance of cultural tourism consumption, investigating salient dimensions of cultural

behavioural intentions such as perceived authenticity, motivation, information search

behaviour and destination image (Ramkissoon and Uysal, in press) across different cultures is

important. From this perspective, any attempt to understand the cross-cultural influence of

these constructs will bring further contribution to the tourism knowledge base. Furthermore,

to date, the authors are not aware of any cross-cultural studies on perceived authenticity.

Perceived authenticity remains an important theme in cultural tourism studies (Ramkissoon

and Uysal, in press; Kolar and Zabkar, 2010; Chhabra, 2008). While this concept has been

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considered by some researchers (Grayson and Martinec, 2004, Poria et al, 2003) as an

antecedent of tourist behaviour, it still requires further investigation (Wang, 1999). It is

expected that the cross-cultural analysis of this construct across different nationalities will

contribute to the existing reservoir of knowledge on authenticity.

Methodology

This study was set within the context of Mauritius, an island with a land area of

around 1860 km2, situated in the Western Indian Ocean off the South East Coast of Africa. A

pre-test of the measurement indicators adopted from the literature was deemed necessary to

ensure validity. The behavioural intentions measurement scale was a slightly modified

version of items adopted from Chen and Tsai (2007), González et al. (2007) and Lam and

Hsu (2006). The perceived authenticity 11-item measurement scale was developed from

studies (Chabbra, 2008; Cohen, 1988; McIntosh and Prentice, 1999) and slightly modified to

fit the context of the study. Motivational items borrowed from Chang et al. (2006) and Yoon

and Uysal (2005) constituted the 23-item scale for this construct. The 10-item information

search behaviour scale measured on a 5-point Likert was adopted from Cai et al. (2004),

Gursoy (2001) and Gursoy and Chen (2000). Destination image items were borrowed from

Baloglu and Mangaloglu (2001) and Chi and Qu (2000) and the 15-item measurement scale

was measured on 5-point Likert scale. The questionnaire was first circulated to a pool of

tourism researchers for content validity. Their feedback was noted and incorporated in the

revised version of the questionnaire. A pilot study was further conducted with a sample of

115 tourists at one of the most popular cultural heritage sites of the island, Le Gorges

National Park. This sample size met the ratio criteria for the scales measured by maintaining

a ratio of at least five responses for every one variable measured. This resulted in the final

version of the questionnaire survey design which was further translated into two more

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languages (French and German) besides English. The translation was effected by professional

translators fluent in both English and the targeted language. Back translation was further

employed (Brislin, 1976) to reduce translation bias (Van de Vijver and Hambleton, 1996).

The schedule was designed for self-completion with the researchers assisting the respondents

where necessary. Tourists were approached on a next-to-pass basis, and when a person

refused to participate, the next person was approached. Exit locations were considered

impractical for the survey since tourists were often seen to be in a hurry. The fieldwork was

undertaken in the months of January, February and March 2009 across 10 selected cultural

sites of the island involving all weathers. Data was collected from 560 respondents visiting

10 selected cultural and heritage sites of the island. Nineteen questionnaires were eliminated

as the data was being coded since they were incomplete resulting in 541 coded questionnaires

used for data analysis.

Data analysis, results and discussion

Demographic profile of respondents

The results indicated that out of the 541 surveyed respondents, 270 (49.9%) came

from France, 148 (27.4%) from the United Kingdom, 73 (13.5%) from Germany and 50

(9.2%) from India. The surveyed respondents comprised of 219 (40.5%) males and 322

(59.5%) females with most visitors (32.6%) tending to be from 30-39, followed by 20-29

(28.3%) and 40-49 (19.7%). Forty-seven respondents (10.4%) ranged between 50 and 59 and

54 respondents (8.7%) were 60 and above. Only 7 respondents (1.3%) were aged 19 or

younger. The social profile of respondents revealed that they were essentially white-collar

workers or had essentially been so for those who were already in retirement with 38.4% being

professionals (doctors, lawyers, teachers etc.), 15.7% in technical professions, 14.2% in

clerical and administrative positions, 12.6% as directors or managers and 6.3% working as

service and sales personnel. Skilled manual workers constituted of only 3.2% of the total

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sample. The remaining were students (2.9%), housewife/man (6.2%) and unemployed (.5%)

people.

Factor analysis was employed in an exploratory attempt to derive a meaningful

pattern from the measured constructs. An exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with varimax

rotation was conducted on each domain of tourists’ cultural behavioural intentions. The EFA

revealed one factor for “Behavioural Intention” reporting 59.18% of the variance and two

factors for “perceived authenticity” accounting for 58.27% of the variance. The three

delineated factors for “information search behaviour” accounted for 54.52% of the variance.

Destination image explained 62.82% of the variance with four factors. The Cronbach alpha,

designed to check the internal consistency of the items within each construct indicated

satisfactory reliabilities of 0.60 and above (Hair et al., 1998). The findings are reported in

Table 1.

Table 1: Exploratory Factor Analysis with Varimax Rotation

Construct Factor Explained Cronbach’s

Loadings Variance Alpha
(%)
Perceived Authenticity 58.27%
Community Interaction 0.61 42.43% .815
Represent local ways of life .850
Represent the local community .845
Real not manufactured .801
Allows for interaction with local .703
community
Souvenirs made by local hands .566

Sense of History 0.76 15.84% .782

Have a documented history .765
Verified by historians .740
Represent a scenic landscape .716
Represent the past .661

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Construct Factor Explained Cronbach’s

Loadings Variance Alpha
(%)
Be a reproduction of the original .633

Motivation 31.88%
Pleasure Seeking 0.67 23.29% .689
To enjoy the nice tropical climate .833
To enjoy scenic landscape .807
I have had good recommendation .604
To enjoy good hospitality of people .593

Novelty Seeking 0.56 8.59% .669

To seek a different experience .896
To experience culture .672
To escape my routine environment .658

Information Search Behavior 54.52%

Destination Specific 0.62 31.64% .786
I get information from tourist leaflets .830
I get information from brochures .813
I get information from destination specific .801
sources
I get information from airlines .468

Personal and Governmental 0.66 11.86% .619

I get information from travel consultants .853
I get information from National Tourist .640
Offices
I get information from Friends and .548
Relatives

Media 0.76 11.02% .593

I get information from the internet .824
I get information from magazines, articles .640
and newspaper
I get information from TV, radio .548

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Construct Factor Explained Cronbach’s

Loadings Variance Alpha
(%)
Destination Imagery 62.82%
Facilities and Services 0.60 30.83% .715
Easy accessibility .783
Safety and security .742
Good value for money .639
Rich and varied gastronomy .587

Climate 0.53 12.01% .698

Exotic destination .809
Famous destination .780
Pleasant weather 727

Culture 0.64 11.10% .827

Cultural attractiveness .874
Interesting cultural activities .870

Diversity 0.45 8.88% .650

Learn about local customs .734
Great variety of flora and fauna .719
Different cultures at one destination .641
Spectacular scenic landscape .542

Behavioural Intentions 59.18% .754

If I can, I have the intention of coming 0.49
back to this cultural destination
I want to visit this cultural destination 0.68
I would give good references of this 0.86
cultural destination to others
I would encourage my family and friends 0.66
to come

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Multinomial logistic regression

One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to identify the mean

differences between the four national groups followed by Duncan’s multiple range to

examine where the differences occur when they were significant. Post-hoc comparisons using

Tukey HSD was conducted for this purpose. Multinomial logistic regression was further

employed to assess the influence of perceived authenticity, motivation, information search

behaviour and destination image on the four national groups of French, British, German, and

Indian tourists. This technique was deemed appropriate since it allows simultaneous

modeling of the influence of the predictor variables on a dependent variable with more than

two groups (Peterson, 2007). The model was significant at .01 significance level with the

goodness-of-fit measures giving a good indication of its usefulness. The full model with 12

independent variables (behavioural intention, community interaction, sense of history,

pleasure seeking, novelty seeking, destination specific, personal and governmental, media,

facilities and services, climate, culture, diversity) was statistically significant, X 2 (36, N=541)

= 121.69 (P = 0.00) explaining 37.6% (Cox and Snell R Square) and 41.6% (Nagelkerke) of

the total variance. Results indicated that while both the motivational factors ‘pleasure

seeking’ and ‘novelty seeking’ were not statistically significant, the remaining 10

independent variables made a statistically significant contribution to the model.

British consumers reported the highest mean scores in the cultural behavioural

intentions domain than those of the other three groups. In the perceived authenticity domain,

French tourists reported the highest mean score for ‘community interaction’, and the British

for ‘sense of history’. The latter, interestingly had the lowest mean score for ‘community

interaction’ and Germans showed the lowest mean score for ‘sense of history’. In reference to

the motivation construct, both ‘pleasure seeking’ and ‘novelty seeking’ were not significant.

The information search behaviour domain attracted significant differences across the groups.

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The highest mean score for ‘destination specific’ was reported by Indian tourists, while the

French showed the lowest mean score. British showed the highest tendency for ‘personal and

governmental’, and Indians for ‘media’. The lowest mean for ‘personal and governmental’

was scored by Germans while the French exhibited the lowest tendency for ‘media’.

Interestingly, Indians showed the highest mean score both for ‘facilities and services’ and

‘climate’ while British had the lowest mean score for both these factors in the destination

image domain. Germans reported the highest mean score for ‘culture’ for which Indians had

the lowest tendency. The French showed the highest mean score for ‘diversity’ while British

tourists exhibited the least tendency for this factor. These findings confirmed that significant

differences existed across the four groups of respondents confirming previous research (e.g.

Kim et al., 2002; Kim and Prideaux, 2003). The mean scores are reported in Table 2.

An investigation of determinants of cultural behavioural intentions has been scant in

the literature (Ramkissoon and Uysal, in press), and to the authors’ knowledge, no study has

yet investigated these determinants of behaviours to a particular nationality. The findings of

the present study revealed that tourists from the different cultural backgrounds and

nationalities significantly differed in their exhibited cultural behavioural intentions. This

study reinforced March’s (1997) findings that culture can be used to explain differences in

tourist behaviour.

Table 2: One-Way Analysis of Variance between behavioural determinants of cultural

tourists by their cultural backgrounds (N=541)

Behavioural Four Different Cultural Groups Within- P Value

Characteristics subject
one-way
ANOVA
F-value

French British German Indian

Behavioural 4.43 4.25 4.17 4.33 3.25* 0.00
Intentions

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Perceived
Authenticity
Community 4.14 3.72 3.82 3.98 6.18** 0.00
Interaction
Sense of History 3.78 3.83 3.53 3.79 2.94* 0.00

Motivation
Pleasure Seeking 5.49 5.54 5.10 5.28 1.71(NS) 0.00
Novelty Seeking 5.29 5.25 5.05 5.73 1.85(NS) 0.00

Information Search
Behavior
Destination Specific 3.26 3.69 3.37 3.88 4.84** 0.00
Personal and 3.53 3.65 2.99 3.44 2.71* 0.00
Governmental
Media 3.41 3.86 3.73 4.22 8.60** 0.00

Destination Image
Facilities and 4.20 4.06 4.08 4.23 3.19* 0.00
Services
Climate 4.01 3.94 3.95 4.48 3.97* 0.00
Culture 4.11 4.03 4.23 3.85 3.08* 0.00
Diversity 4.34 4.11 4.19 4.26 2.90* 0.00

Note: Significance indicated by **P<0.01; *p<0.05; NS = Not Significant

Table 3: Multinomial Regression Analysis of behavioural determinants of cultural

tourists as a function of their cultural backgrounds (N=541)

Country Variable Wald test

β Wald Exp (β)

1 INTERCEPT 1.781 .202

Behavioural .261 .207 1.298

Intention

Community .638 2.108 1.893

Interaction

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Sense of .189 .161 1.208

History

Pleasure .938 8.053* 2.555

Seeking

Novelty -.766 5.692* .465

Seeking

Destination -.362 .872 .696

Specific

Personal and .489 1.897 1.631

Governmental

Media -1.591 11.722** .204

Facilities and -.115 .054 .891

Services

Climate -1.972 8.435** .139

Culture .747 4.032* 2.111

Diversity 1.481 6.123* 4.398

2 INTERCEPT 7.553 3.718*

Behavioural -.352 .370 .703

Intention

Community -.402 .837 .669

Interaction

Sense of .687 1.939 1.988

History

Pleasure .952 7.377* 2.591

Seeking

Novelty -.652 3.945* .521

Seeking

Destination -.070 .030 .932

Specific

Personal and .154 .186 1.167

Governmental

Media -.820 2.976+ .440

Facilities and -.394 .591 .674

Services

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Climate -1.966 8.220** .140

Culture .833 4.863* 2.301

Diversity .514 .718 1.672

3 INTERCEPT 9.359 4.345*

Behavioural -1.000 2.301 .368

Intention

Community .093 .037 1.097

Interaction

Sense of .351 .430 1.421

History

Pleasure .532 2.023+ 1.703

Seeking

Novelty -.857 5.628* .425

Seeking

Destination -.092 .043 .912

Specific

Personal and -.583 2.066 .558

Governmental

Media -.499 .883 .607

Facilities and -.258 .198 .772

Services

Climate -1.953 7.326 .142

Culture 1.235 7.323* 3.439

Diversity .927 1.783* 2.527

a. The reference category is:4

Note: Significance indicated by **P<0.01; *p<0.05; + p<0.10

The multinomial regression results in Table 3 report the independent variables which

were significant across the models. Only 6 of the variables were statistically significant

across the between groups comparisons. ‘Pleasure seeking’ and ‘novelty seeking’ were

statistically significant across the French, British and German groups as compared to the

Indians. In essence, this means that French, British and German tourists preferred ‘pleasure

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seeking’ and ‘novelty seeking’ compared to Indian tourists. As far as the information search

behaviour factors were concerned, only ‘media’ was statistically significant across the French

and British groups. Hence, both these groups had a preference for the internet, magazines and

newspapers and TV and radio. In reference to the destination image construct, ‘facilities and

services’ was statistically significant across the French group. Both ‘climate’ and ‘culture’

were both statistically significant across the French, British and German groups as compared

to the Indians while ‘diversity’ was only statistically significant amongst the French tourists.

Implications and conclusions

The objective of this study was to investigate the cross-cultural similarities and

differences in cultural behavioural intentions of tourists across four national groups. A factor

analysis was first conducted to identify the main dimensions of tourists’ cultural behavioural

intentions resulting in a five factor solution defined as “behavioural intentions”, “perceived

authenticity”, “motivation”, “information search behavior”, and “destination image”. The

empirical findings have led to important managerial perspectives. Observation of the

similarities and differences in the cultural behavioural intentions of tourists across the various

national groupings has suggested valuable information to destination marketers which may be

incorporated into their marketing strategies. More efforts need to be expended in developing

a more appealing cultural product to the targeted markets. Destination marketers can link the

key behavioural constructs of perceived authenticity, motivation, information search

behaviour and destination image to stimulate interest in the cultural tourism product of their

destinations.

The cross-cultural noted differences on perceived authenticity confirmed the

centrality of the concept for both French and British consumers. French tourists showed a

highest preference for ‘community interaction’. It would be worthwhile for destination

marketers to develop cultural tourism products reflecting the representation of local ways of

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life of the community for the French market. Tourists in the island, are not very exposed to

the locals’ patterns of living and activities. It would be beneficial to organize activities which

allow more interaction between tourists and the local community. For example, they can

assist in handicrafts, pottery making and other hand-made souvenirs produced by the local

people. It was further interesting to note that the strong tendency exhibited by British

consumers for ‘sense of history’ concurs with items highly ranked in Chhabra (2008) , Hall

(2007) and Ramkissoon and Uysal (in press). There is a need to develop more cultural

tourism products allowing the British consumers to dig into history. With the strong interest

shown for scenic landscapes, destination marketers need to develop these attractions which

can arguably offer a different experience to the consumers of nature and culture. This would

help attract potential tourists from the British market segment. In essence, the findings

indicate that destination marketers should concentrate on these cross-cultural differences in

perception of authenticity to reinforce their attractiveness to the targeted markets and enhance

their competitiveness on the global market. They should ensure that the significant

dimensions of perceived authenticity are displayed while marketing the cultural attributes in

the identified significant information sources used by French and British consumers.

Furthermore, the managerial implications would lead to further facilitate the understanding of

tourists as encoders of cultural tourism experiences based on their nationality and this would

help in understanding their future behavioural intentions and hence develop appropriate

marketing strategies for the targeted markets.

In reference to information sources, tourists’ search behaviour across the groups has

important implications for destination marketers. In essence, much effort should be invested

to attract tourists by focussing on their most commonly used information sources. To better

target the Indian segment exhibiting a strong tendency for ‘destination specific’, destination

marketers need to work closely and establish good relationships with airlines and destination

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specific sources such as government travel offices since they distribute free tourism

brochures and leaflets to tourists. Brochures should be attractive containing specific

information about the cultural and natural attractions at the destination. Additionally,

destination marketers need to work with media representatives to ensure that positive images

of the destination’s cultural attributes are broadcasted on TV and radio since this was seen to

be important sources of information consulted by Indian travellers. Journalists from India can

be invited to the cultural destinations to gain a better coverage on TV and radio. Findings

additionally suggested that the internet can further increase business for the Indian market

since Indians are likely to use the internet more than the other tourists. It would be

worthwhile to post attractive, up-to-date and competitive offers on the websites. The British

indicated a strong tendency for ‘personal and governmental’. They are likely to get

information from travel consultants, national tourist offices, and friends and relatives.

Destination marketers need to focus on travel agencies to further penetrate into the market

and achieve actual demand from potential British travellers. They also need to establish good

relationships with national tourist offices. The latter may help to increase the number of

British tourists by providing additional information on cultural attractions at the destination.

Furthermore, it seems that British travellers tend to listen to friends and relatives for

information. Increased attention therefore should be given to customer satisfaction to

encourage positive word-of-mouth of the cultural destination. Customer satisfaction can be

assessed by survey feedback from departing tourists and areas requiring improvements

should be worked upon. These findings corroborate with other information search behaviour

research (e.g. Chen and Gursoy, 2000; Gursoy and Chen, 2000; Money and Crotts, 2003;

Ramkissoon and Nunkoo, 2008) concluding that travellers from different nationalities do

utilize different information sources with varying frequency. These findings are critical for

the cultural tourism product development.

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The similarities and differences of destination image perceived across the different

national groups have shed more light in this area demanding significant research emphasis.

Destination marketers can link the information about the different destination images to

develop their positioning strategies. Also, it is important that they communicate a specific

message which appeals to the targeted audience in its most effective way. The Indian

segment expressed a high tendency for ‘facilities and services’ and ‘climate’. Destination

marketers should attempt to improve or build the image of the destination in terms of

accessibility, safety and security and providing good value for money, and enriched

gastronomy to Indian tourists. Germans had the highest tendency for ‘culture’ indicating that

destination marketers need to promote the cultural attractiveness of their destinations in the

information sources utilized by this market segment. The French had a strong tendency for

‘diversity’. Promoting different cultures and local customs, and having a scenic image of the

destination with great variety of flora and fauna will stimulate the interests of French

travellers for the cultural tourism product. These results are consistent with previous

destination image studies (e.g. Lee and Lee, 2009; Fakeye and Crompton, 1991; Kim and

Morrison, 2005).

While this study revealed significant differences in intentions across the four groups

of French, British, German and Indian tourists, some limitations may lie in not assessing

cultural diversity within the respective groups. There could be cultural differences among the

tourists coming from France for example, those living in big cities as compared to suburbs.

Similarly, Indians coming from different states could exhibit significant cultural differences.

It might also be worthwhile to have a thorough examination of why those differences in

determinants of tourists’ cultural behaviour exist. Another limitation is that this study did not

attempt to analyse differences between first-time and repeat travellers. Future researchers

may address these finer differences and enhance the current findings.

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