The effects of international travel on the tourist: seeing and clearing methodological roadblocks

Measuring change such as the effects of the travel experience on the tourist requires the collection of before and after data and the analysis of the difference between the two. To do so for an overseas tourist segment is a relatively difficult, time-consuming and expensive undertaking, and as a result has been done in very few studies. This paper presents methodological procedures used to obtain pre- and post-trip measures of and therefore change in the destination perceptions and attitudes of a Japanese tourist segment. The study's methodological considerations included scope (e.g. number and choice of methods; longitudinality), experimental design (e.g. control of extraneous variables), instrument design and pre-test (e.g.generation of destination attributes; construct validity), data collection procedures (e.g. the setting and timing of survey administration), data analysis procedures (e.g. requirements of statistical tests), and the cross-cultural context (e.g. language barriers; cultural attributes). Suggestions for replication and modification of the methodology for future research on tourist perception and attitude change are given. Other methods and approaches of value in measuring the quantitative and qualitative effects of travel are outlined.