Factors influencing Taiwanese demand to travel abroad

Abstract

Purpose – The present study analyzes how economic factors and online searching behavior influence the demand for international tourism and how to improve the relevance and prognostics between the active searching behavior and the tourism industry. Design – The study includes a tourist demand function, an econometric model, and a statistical inference, using panel data from 13 countries over a 108-month period. Methodology – This study uses a panel data model to analyze how economics and online searching behavior influence Taiwanese tourists who travel overseas. Approach – The study adopts a statistical test and inference based on the panel data model. Findings – The study’s results reveal that the effects of the consumer price index in the destination country, the Google search index for travel web pages, and the difference in the consumer price index in Taiwan are statistically significant and positively related to the number of Taiwanese overseas tourists. On the other hand, the Google search index for travel news has a negative statistical significance. Furthermore, the Google search index is statistically and significantly affected by economic variables. Originality of the research – This study adopts online searching behavior as a proxy variable to evaluate the intention to consume. In addition to economic factors, by promptly and effortlessly obtaining users’ search trends and intentions, this study then correctly predicts tourists’ demands, determines the best travel itinerary for tourists, and strengthens the quality of tourism services.

Keywords

• google search index
• panel data model
• tourism demand
• economic factors
• information searching behavior