Tourists’ motives and perceptions of destination card consumption

Abstract

Considering the dearth of research investigating destination cards from the tourists’ point of view, this study seeks to complement the growing stream of research on destination cards by elucidating what motivates and inhibits tourists to purchase destination cards and how tourists perceive the importance of offerings available in destination cards. Drawing on data solicited via in-depth interviews and a questionnaire survey, cost savings and time savings were found to be the primary motives leading tourists to purchase destination cards. In contrast, lack of knowledge about product value and product availability were the key inhibitors leading tourists not to purchase destination cards. Regarding the importance of destination card offerings, the participants perceived the most important card benefit to be a free admission ticket to major attractions. Furthermore, they rated a discount on pocket Wi-Fi rental as the second most important offering, and their third choice was free use of public transportation.