| The purpose of this study was to investigate factors which impact heritage tourists' choice behavior. These include salient factors (e.g. miles traveled, days spent and size of travel group), latent factors (e.g. previous travel experiences), and tourists' sociodemographic characteristics. Salient factors are usually viewed as the attributes that decision makers will use to assess the value of each choice alternative. Latent factors, which are predispositions, may not he directly observed from the decision making process. Among these factors, previous experience is one of the major variables that influences tourists' decision making process.;This study used secondary data from a survey of heritage travelers on the Path of Progress in southwestern Pennsylvania. A total of 1,320 interviews were conducted in this study. Through the content analysis of open-ended questions used in the on-site survey, eight reasons for visiting the destination were obtained.;A series of crosstabulations were employed to examine the differences in the reasons for visiting heritage sites among tourists with different profiles including educational attainment, income level, gender, state of residence and time of visit. Three out of four hypothetical decision models were found significant. These were: (1) Tourist Decision Execution Model, (2) Causal Decision Model by Sociodemographic Variables, and (3) Tourist Trip Planning Model. Critical implications for modeling tourists' choice behavior were derived. Discussion of heritage tourists' behavior is also provided. |
