EXPLORATION OF TOURIST MOTIVATION AND PREFERRED ACTIVITIES IN RURAL AREAS

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the motives that attract tourists to visit rural areas in Vojvodina Province, Northern Serbia. The authors identified the motivation factors that push tourists to rural areas, the activities that tourists prefer on the destination, and the relationship between these two constructs—motivation and activity preferences. The questionnaire was filled in by 476 rural tourists who spent at least one night in rural accommodation facilities in Vojvodina. For data analysis, the authors used the following: descriptive statistics to provide the characteristics of the sample and general information regarding the variables, correlation analysis with reliability test to identify a relationship between individual items, and canonical correlation analysis to analyze the relationship among dependent and independent variables. The results of the research indicated that the rural environment was one of the primary reasons for choosing rural areas for holiday, but the possibility for adventure or taking adventure activities was the lowest between the motivational factors. The study revealed that there are correlations between the push and pull factors, i.e., that motivations and preferred activities are interlinked.

Keywords

• rural tourism
• motivation
• preferred activities
• Vojvodina Province
• Serbia