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Research Note: The Determinants of Tourists' Length of Stay: Some Further Modelling Issues

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  • Christer Thrane

    (Lillehammer University College, Faculty of Economics and Organization Science, Box 952, 2604 Lillehammer, Norway, and Institute of Transport Economics, Gaustadalléen 21, 0349 Oslo, Norway)

Abstract

Very complicated so-called ‘survival’ (or duration) models have featured strongly in research aimed at explaining variation in tourists' length of stay at destinations. In a constructive critique of this research, Thrane (2012) has shown that use of these models lacks sound footing on conceptual as well as statistical grounds. In recent studies, length of stay has been thought of as a count variable, and the variation in this variable has accordingly been modelled with count data regression models. The purpose of the present study is to provide a constructive critique of this research. There are two conclusions. First, count data regression models should be used when analysing ‘how-many-times-something-happened’ data. Consequently, these models are not ideal when the non-discrete dependent variable is length of stay measured in days. Second, since an OLS regression analysis on the natural log of length of stay yields the same results as a far more complicated count data regression model, the former is preferable on the principle of parsimony and with regard to reaching out to an audience not well acquainted with statistics.

Suggested Citation

  • Christer Thrane, 2015. "Research Note: The Determinants of Tourists' Length of Stay: Some Further Modelling Issues," Tourism Economics, , vol. 21(5), pages 1087-1093, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:toueco:v:21:y:2015:i:5:p:1087-1093
    DOI: 10.5367/te.2014.0385
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jeffrey M Wooldridge, 2010. "Econometric Analysis of Cross Section and Panel Data," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 2, volume 1, number 0262232588, April.
    2. J. Scott Long & Jeremy Freese, 2006. "Regression Models for Categorical Dependent Variables using Stata, 2nd Edition," Stata Press books, StataCorp LP, edition 2, number long2, March.
    3. Thrane, Christer, 2012. "Analyzing tourists’ length of stay at destinations with survival models: A constructive critique based on a case study," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 126-132.
    4. Christer Thrane & Eivind Farstad, 2012. "Tourists' Length of Stay: The Case of International Summer Visitors to Norway," Tourism Economics, , vol. 18(5), pages 1069-1082, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Ashrafi Tannaz Alizadeh & Myrland Øystein, 2017. "Determinants of trip duration for international tourists in Norway; a parametric survival analysis," European Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation, Sciendo, vol. 8(1), pages 75-86, May.
    2. Aaron Gutiérrez & Daniel Miravet & Òscar Saladié & Salvador Anton Clavé, 2020. "High-speed rail, tourists’ destination choice and length of stay: A survival model analysis," Tourism Economics, , vol. 26(4), pages 578-597, June.
    3. Paulo H A Feitosa & Amanda B A Silva, 2022. "Length of stay and satisfaction shaping the competitiveness of international business tourism in São Paulo city, Brazil," Tourism Economics, , vol. 28(3), pages 728-747, May.
    4. Andrea Pellegrini & Stefano Scagnolari, 2021. "The relationship between length of stay and land transportation mode in the tourism sector: A discrete–continuous framework applied to Swiss data," Tourism Economics, , vol. 27(1), pages 243-259, February.
    5. Li, Xinming & Hossein Rashidi, Taha & Koo, Tay T.R., 2023. "Tourists’ travel mode and length of stay: Application of a fully nested Archimedean copula structure," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    6. Reza Mortazavi & Catia Cialani, 2017. "International tourists’ length of overnight stay in Venice," Tourism Economics, , vol. 23(4), pages 882-889, June.
    7. Rafael Robina Ramírez & Manuel Pulido Fernández, 2018. "Religious Travellers’ Improved Attitude towards Nature," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-23, August.

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