TOURISTS’ MOTIVATION TO CHOOSE A VACATION DESTINATION: THE CASE OF MANADO, INDONESIA

Abstract

The increasingly competitive nature of the tourism industry requires tourist destinations to
develop effective marketing plans and strategies. Destinations mainly compete based on their
unique attractions relative to competitors in the marketplace. For destinations to serve tourists
better it is vital to know the motivation of travelers when choosing their destination. The
tourism industry is growing fast in South-East Asia and one of the fast growing countries in
this area is Indonesia, which offers a variety of attractions. Since studies related to motivation
of domestic tourists are still limited in Indonesia, this study plans to find out more about the
motivations of domestic tourists who choose Manado as one of the destinations within
Indonesia. This research aims to evaluate the critical factors influencing domestic tourists to
choose Manado as their destination for vacation. To collect the data self-administrated
questionnaires were distributed among 300 domestic tourists in Sam Ratulangi International
airport and different tourist attractions around the city. Statistical analysis through SPSS
software was used to analyze the data. The results shows the purpose of visiting for
sightseeing is the most important factor that motivate local tourists to visit Manado, while
novelty seeking is the least motivating factor influencing the choice of destination. This
research is one of the first to examine the motivation of domestic Indonesian tourists to
choose a destination within their country. A major contribution of this research is its
implications for practitioners in the tourism industry such as marketers or travel agencies in
order to develop better marketing strategies for Manado