Impact of the Destination Weather Conditions on Decision and Complaint Behavior of Guests Who Booked Vacation Rentals

Abstract

Climate and weather conditions at a destination influence the decision regarding what season and which location tourists might travel to. Assuming that the holiday experiences and satisfaction during their stay are influenced by weather and climate as well, this study investigates the question: does bad weather lead to a higher complaint rate among guests who booked vacation rentals? To answer this question, the complaint behavior and the weather parameters temperature, precipitation, wind speed and humidity are examined. The correlations between weather and complaining behavior are proven using the four-field coefficient. The chi-square four-field test is used to subsequently test independence. As a result, a correlation between the weather parameters and complaints cannot be proven based on the applied methods and used data. The four-field coefficient cannot confirm a correlation, as it is close to zero for all four weather parameters. For further investigations, more complaint data are required to obtain more significant results.

Keywords

• weather
• climate
• holiday destination
• leisure tourism
• vacation rentals
• complaint rate