Outline of the Survey
AHP Analysis of Visitors’ Preferences for Rural Travel Site
Comparative Survey between Ireland and Japan
Shinpei Shimoura
(Chiba University, Japan)
Background of the Survey
In case of visitors’ travel planning to rural area,
 How do visitors select their rural travel site?
 What kind of factors are more essential for visitors on decision making stage to
select rural travel site?
 And, are there differences of relative weights among these factors?
Purpose
p
of the Surveyy
Analyzing visitors’ relative weights of factors in choosing rural
travel site
Budgets?
School of Geography & Archaeology and CISC Seminar
National University of Ireland, Galway
Comparative analysis of relative weights between Ireland and Japan
Spectacular landscape?
September 16th, 2010
Questionnaire survey for urban residents in Ireland and Japan
Food?
Hospitality?
Shinpei Shimoura, Chiba University, Japan
School of Geography & Archaeology and CISC Seminar, September 16th, 2010
1
2
Background of the Survey
Background of the Survey
 From a viewpoint of a rural development policy, discussions over
rural multi-functionalities as tourism resources would be
essential points.
4
Classification
Enjoying in agricultural park
%
83.1
Purchasing fresh products/ meals
Enjoying rural scenery
Study of rural style cooking by taking classes/ lectures
Enjoying rural traditional festivals, culture and arts
Short period farming experiences
Staying
y g farm inn
Farm work in allotments
Long period farming experiences
Move to rural area
Move to rural area for child's education
77 8
77.8
61.8
31.1
27.6
16.4
7.8
5.8
4.8
2.7
2.7
Source: The Organization for Urban-Rural Interchange Revitalization (2003)
Note: Respondents are 921 domestic visitors
Shinpei Shimoura, Chiba University, Japan
School of Geography & Archaeology and CISC Seminar, September 16th, 2010
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Background of the Survey
Visitors’ Demands on Rural Travel (Japan)
Viewpoint 1:
How do visitors evaluate “Multi-functionalities” in rural area as
g to select rural travel site?
factors on their decision making
Shinpei Shimoura, Chiba University, Japan
School of Geography & Archaeology and CISC Seminar, September 16th, 2010
Shinpei Shimoura, Chiba University, Japan
School of Geography & Archaeology and CISC Seminar, September 16th, 2010
Most Important Points in Choosing Ireland as a
Travel Destination
Classification
Beautiful Scenery
Natural, unspoilt environment
Good range of natural attractions
Attractive cities/towns
Opportunity to meet/mix with local people
A variety of high quality food
Opportunities for outdoor activities
%
79
70
66
57
49
46
30
Source: Fáilte Ireland Visitor Attitudes Survey 2008
(Millward Brown Irish Marketing Surveys Limited)
Note: Respondents are 5,683 overseas visitors.
5
Shinpei Shimoura, Chiba University, Japan
School of Geography & Archaeology and CISC Seminar, September 16th, 2010
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1
Background of the Survey
Background of the Survey
Background of the Survey
Local Agri-Products/ Traditional Meal
In the survey, 4 main factors related to multi-functionalities was
selected as parameters to analyze visitors’ relative weights.
Japan
Culture (Local Manner/ Custom)
Ireland
p
Japan
Ireland
Local Agri-Products/ Traditional Meal
Culture (Local Manner/ Custom)
L l Crafts/
Local
C ft / Arts
At
Scenic View
Shinpei Shimoura, Chiba University, Japan
School of Geography & Archaeology and CISC Seminar, September 16th, 2010
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Background of the Survey
Background of the Survey
Local Crafts/ Arts
Japan
8
Background of the Survey
Scenic View
Ireland
Japan
p
9
Viewpoint 2
How do visitors evaluate “Accommodation service” as factors on
g to select a rural travel site to visit ?
their decision making
Ireland
Accommodation service:
Budget?
Level of comfort in guest room?
Meal?
Access?
Hospitality?
Shinpei Shimoura, Chiba University, Japan
Department of Geography Seminar, September 16th, 2010
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Shinpei Shimoura, Chiba University, Japan
School of Geography & Archaeology and CISC Seminar, September 16th, 2010
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Shinpei Shimoura, Chiba University, Japan
School of Geography & Archaeology and CISC Seminar, September 16th, 2010
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2
Background of the Survey
 From a viewpoint of asymmetric information what visitors would be
facing, discussions and promotion of Quality Label Guarantee
Certification of accommodation facilities in rural area would be
essential point.
point
 Information about how visitors evaluate accommodation service
would contribute to discussions on Quality Label Guarantee
Certification.
Access
Comfort in Guest room
Meal
Hospitality
Cost
Background of the Survey
Rating
In the survey, 3 main factors related to accommodation
service was selected as parameters to analyze a visitors’
evaluation.
Comfort in Guest Room
In Japan, some local authorities
have already introduced Quality
Label Guarantee Certification
system. However, discussion
about introducing the certification
of overall accommodations in
Japan is next step.
GITES DE FRANCE
Label Guarantee Certification of B&B in Ireland
13
14
Method of Analysis
Background of the Survey
Meal
Location from Downtown
Shinpei Shimoura, Chiba University, Japan
School of Geography & Archaeology and CISC Seminar, September 16th, 2010
Building of Hierarchy about Decision-Making of Travel Planning
Goal
Factors
Satty s AHP (1980) :
Satty’s
 Pairwise comparison procedure designed to capture
relative weights of each factors related to a decisionmaking process.
 It is applied around a wide variety of decision-making
situations over social/ economical/ political matters.
Factors related to “Accommodation Service”
Factors related to “Budget”
Shinpei Shimoura, Chiba University, Japan
School of Geography & Archaeology and CISC Seminar, September 16th, 2010
Accommodation Charge (F12)
Budget (F1)
Factors related to “Multi-Functionalities”
16
Step1: Building of Hierarchy about decision-making of travel
planning
Step2: Pairwise Comparisons
17
Step3: Calculation of relative weights
Attributes
Transportation Fee (F11)
AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process) Approach
In the survey, relative weights of three
factors was analyzed .
15
Cost of Food/ Drink (F13)
Cost of Souvenir (F14)
Local Agri-products/
Traditional meal (F21)
Travel Planning
Local Goods/ Locality
(F2)
Local Manners/ Customs (F22)
Local Arts/ Crafts (F23)
Scenic View (F24)
Comfort in Guest Room (F31)
Accommodation Service
(F3)
Meal (F32)
18
Location from Downtown (F33)
3
Pairwise Comparisons
How important do you consider the items showed below on your one
night travels to local/countryside?
Calculation of relative weights
Basic Information of Questionnaire Survey
Number of
Respondents
Site of
Survey
Nationality of
Respondents
Date of Survey
Ireland
93
Dublin,
Galway
Ireland
May, Jul., Aug.,
2010
Japan
120
Chiba
Japan
Nov. 2009
Relative Weights in each Factors
The Eigenvector Method
Shinpei Shimoura, Chiba University, Japan
School of Geography & Archaeology and CISC Seminar, September 16th, 2010
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Shinpei Shimoura, Chiba University, Japan
School of Geography & Archaeology and CISC Seminar, September 16th, 2010
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Relative Weights in each Attributes: Ireland
Shinpei Shimoura, Chiba University, Japan
School of Geography & Archaeology and CISC Seminar, September 16th, 2010
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Relative Weights in each Attributes: Japan
Similarities：
Relative weights of “Local Goods/ Locality” and “Accommodation
Service” show higher value in both country’s respondents.
Relative weights of “Budget”
Budget show lower value in both country’s
country s
respondents.
Differences：
The results in Japan show that respondents put almost same values
of weights on “Local
Local Goods/ Locality
Locality” and “Accommodation
Accommodation
Service” .
Respondents in Ireland show higher values on “Local goods/
Locality”.
Shinpei Shimoura, Chiba University, Japan
School of Geography & Archaeology and CISC Seminar, September 16th, 2010
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Shinpei Shimoura, Chiba University, Japan
Department of Geography Seminar, September 16th, 2010
23
Shinpei Shimoura, Chiba University, Japan
Department of Geography Seminar, September 16th, 2010
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4
Relative Weights in each Attributes: Ireland
Budget (F1)
Travel Planning
Local Goods/ Locality
(F2)
Relative Weights in each Attributes: Japan
Transportation Fee (F11)
Transportation Fee (F11)
Accommodation Charge (F12)
Accommodation Charge (F12)
Budget (F1)
Cost of Food/ Drink (F13)
Cost of Souvenir (F14)
Local Agri-products/
Traditional meal (F21)
Local Agri-products/
Traditional meal (F21)
Local Manners/ Customs (F22)
Travel Planning
Local Arts/ Crafts (F23)
Local Goods/ Locality
(F2)
Scenic View (F24)
Meal (F32)
25
Location from Downtown (F33)
Hierarchy about Decision-Making of Travel Planning
Transportation Fee (F11)
Relative weights of “Local Manner/ Custom”, “Local Crafts/ Arts”
show lower values.
Local Manners/ Customs (F22)
Local Arts/ Crafts (F23)
Meal (F32)
26
Location from Downtown (F33)
Relative Weights in each Attributes
(Local Goods/ Locality)
27
***
Relative weights in higher value in Japan are “Local Agri-Products/
Traditional Meal (F21)”.
 Relative weights of “Scenic View (F24) ” in Ireland show higher values.
Local Agri-products/
Traditional meal (F21)
Local Goods/ Locality
(F2)
Shinpei Shimoura, Chiba University, Japan
School of Geography & Archaeology and CISC Seminar, September 16th, 2010
Relative Weights in each Attributes
(Local Goods/ Locality)
Cost of Souvenir (F14)
Travel Planning
Relative weights shown higher values are related to accommodation
services (“Comfort in Guest Room”, “Meal”, “Location from
Downtown”)
Comfort in Guest Room (F31)
Accommodation Service
(F3)
Accommodation Charge (F12)
Budget (F1)
How differences are shown
in respondents’ relative weights
Cost of Food/ Drink (F13)
of 4 attributes in “Local
Local Goods/ Locality (F2)
(F2)”?
?
Similarities between Ireland and Japan：
Scenic View (F24)
Comfort in Guest Room (F31)
Accommodation Service
(F3)
Cost of Food/ Drink (F13)
Cost of Souvenir (F14)
Local Manners/ Customs (F22)
***
Relative weights
g
in “Local Agri-products/
g p
Traditional Meal
(F21)” and “Scenic View (F24) ” show different trend
between Ireland and Japan.
Local Arts/ Crafts (F23)
Scenic View (F24)
Comfort in Guest Room (F31)
Accommodation Service
(F3)
Meal (F32)
28
Location from Downtown (F33)
Shinpei Shimoura, Chiba University, Japan
Department of Geography Seminar, September 16th, 2010
29
Shinpei Shimoura, Chiba University, Japan
School of Geography & Archaeology and CISC Seminar, September 16th, 2010
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5
Relative weights (Local Goods/ Locality) by Ages
(Japan)
***
**
*
*
Relative weights by Gender and Ages (Ireland)
Relative weights (Local Goods/ Locality) by Ages
(Japan)
Statistical differences (t-test) of relative weights by ages are shown.
shown
 Weights of “Local Agri-products/ Traditional Meal (F21)” are higher
in 29yrs or younger.
 Weights of “Local Crafts/ Arts (F23) ” show higher values in 60
years old or older.
**
*
***
***
***
a***/b**
a***/b**
*
a***
a***
a***
b**
b**
b**
a***/b**
It is shown that generation gaps in values of relative weights are
relatively wide in “Local Agri-products/ Traditional Meal (F21)” and
“Local Crafts/ Arts (F23) ”
Note)***:1%, **:5%, *: 10% Significant (t-test)
31
32
Shinpei Shimoura, Chiba Univer
it J
Hierarchy about Decision-Making of Travel Planning
Relative weights in each Attributes
(Local Goods/ Locality)
Transportation Fee (F11)
Statistical differences of relative weights by gender and ages are
shown.
 Weights of “Local
Local Agri
Agri-products/
products/ Traditional Meal (F21)
(F21)” are higher
in male, 30 yrs or older.
 Weights of “Local Manners/ Customs (F22) ” show higher values
in female, 29 yrs old or younger.
 Weights of “Local Crafts/ Arts (F23) ” show higher values in age
between 20 and 30 yrs.
g of “Scenic View ((F24)) ” have higher
g
values in female
 Weights
respondents.
Differences of relative weights by personal demographic
characteristics in Ireland are more clearly shown than Japan.
1)***:1%, **:5%, *: 10% Significant (t-test)
33
2)Alphabetical mark on each value shows pairs for t-test
Relative Weights in each Attributes
(Accommodation Service)
Accommodation Charge (F12)
Budget (F1)
Cost of Food/ Drink (F13)
How differences are shown in respondents’ relative
Cost ofweights
Souvenir (F14)
of 3 attributes in “Accommodation Service(F3)”?
Local Agri-products/
Traditional meal (F21)
Travel Planning
Local Goods/ Locality
(F2)
Local Manners/ Customs (F22)
Local Arts/ Crafts (F23)
Scenic View (F24)
Comfort in Guest Room (F31)
34
Accommodation Service
(F3)
Meal (F32)
35
Location from Downtown (F33)
36
6
Relative Weights by Gender and Ages (Ireland)
Relative weights in each Attributes
(Accommodation Service)
**
**
Between Ireland and Japan,
Japan almost same tendencies are shown in
relative weights of “Comfort in Guest Room (F31) ”, “Meal (F32) ”,
“Location from Downtown (F33) ”.
**
Weights of “Meal (F32)” are higher in respondents of Japan.
***
**
***
Relative weights of “Comfort in Guest Room (F31) ”
show higher in values in males, bet. 30 and 39 years old.
Relative weights of “Meal (F32)” are higher values in
males.
*
g of “Location from Downtown ((F33)) ”
In Ireland,, relative weights
show higher in values.
Shinpei Shimoura, Chiba University, Japan
School of Geography & Archaeology and CISC Seminar, September 16th, 2010
Relative Weights in each Attributes
(Accommodation Service)
Ireland
*
Relative weights of “Location from Downtown (F33) ”
show higher values in females.
37
Note)***:1%, **:5%, *: 10% Significant (t-test)
38
Statistical differences in weights weren’t shown.
Visitors’ relative weights related to accommodation service
Visitors’ relative weights related to rural multi-functionalities
 In Japan, visitors showed higher relative weights on “Local Agri-products/
Traditional Meal”.
Meal” A importance of local food as local resources for rural travel in
Japanese visitors was shown.
 In Ireland, visitors tended to put higher evaluations on “Scenic View”. Irish
countryside landscape was recognized as more important resources of rural travel
by visitors than Japan.
p
visitors showed relativelyy lower values in relative weights
g
of
 Irish and Japanese
“Local Manner/ custom” and “Local Crafts/ Arts”. It indicates that visitors’ demands
toward rural resources such as rural culture, crafts and arts appear to be small. In
other words, a gap between supply side and demand side about evaluation of multifunctional rural resources seems to be large. A marketing strategy for stimulating
visitors’ demands for multi-functional rural resources would be critical.
Shinpei Shimoura, Chiba University, Japan
School of Geography & Archaeology and CISC Seminar, September 16th, 2010
40
39
Conclusion (2)
Conclusion (1)
Relative weights by Ages (Japan)
Shinpei Shimoura, Chiba University, Japan
School of Geography & Archaeology and CISC Seminar, September 16th, 2010
41
 Irish and Japanese visitors tended to show higher relative weights in
accommodation services (“Comfort in Guest Room”, “Meal”, “Location from
Downtown”). Both visitors appear to recognize these issues as essential
i f
information
ti when
h they
th make
k a rurall travel
t
l plan.
l This
Thi results
lt supportt a importance
i
t
off
introducing and promoting “Quality Label Guarantee Certification” into rural
accommodations furthermore. Especially, in Japan, the certification system hasn’t
yet been introduced enough. More active discussions for the certification measures
of rural accommodation should be stimulated in Japan.
 To introduce the certification of rural accommodations, improvement of facility level
would be essential. Especially, in Japanese case, improvement of poor
accommodation facilities to keep higher standard services would be next and
urgent management strategy.
 In addition to consideration on a certification system and improvement of
accommodation facility standard, consideration of trade-off relationship between
higher
standard
andUniversity,
homey hospitality
would be inevitable.
Shinpei
Shimoura,
Chiba
Japan
Department
of Geography
Seminar,
September
16th, 2010
 Standardized
hospitality?
Family-like
hospitality?
42
7
Conclusion (3)
Difference of visitors’ relative weights by demographic characteristics
 In the result from Ireland, it was shown that differences of relative weights by
demographic characteristics (gender, ages) was more clearly than Japan, especially
in the relative weights of “Local Goods/ Locality”.
 This diversity of differences by demographic characteristics in Ireland indicates that
market segmentation to meet more specific visitors’ demands would be required in
Ireland than Japanese rural travel markets.
 Differences of relative weights by generation showed opposite tendencies between
Ireland and Japan. In Japanese results, relative weights of “Local Agri-products/
Traditional Meal” was highly evaluated by younger generations as opposed to more
older visitors in Ireland. The weights of “Local Crafts/ Arts” showed relatively higher
in values by older generations in Japan as opposed to younger generations in Ireland.
 In this survey, differences of visitors’ relative weights toward rural multifunctionalities in each gender/ generation/ countries were reconfirmed by AHP
approach. Furthermore surveys to distinguish general tendencies and local specific
Shinpei Shimoura, Chiba University, Japan
characteristics
would be
next works
to investigate.
43
Department
of Geography
Seminar,
September
16th, 2010
8