Factors influencing choice of souvenirs by international tourists.

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to assess the factors influencing souvenir choice by international tourists in Ghana. Data was collected from 196 international tourists who were systematically sampled from souvenir shops and attraction sites within the capital city of Accra. The results showed that accessibility to the shopping outlets, shopping environment, travel characteristic and souvenirs characteristic played key roles in the tourists’ choice of souvenir. This study intends to provide baseline information needed to promote research in the role of souvenirs to the tourism experience in Ghana since this theme has attracted limited attention from tourism researchers. Knowledge of these factors would help artist and the management of Center for National Culture (CNC) to modify souvenirs to reflect the features that would attract more tourists and increase spending on souvenirs. The observation that accessibility to shopping outlet is foremost, implies that demand for souvenirs could reduce in tourist do not locate outlets with ease while other factors could be re-looked at by regulatory bodies so as to enhance the demand. This study provides insight into the component of the souvenir decision making which is vital as souvenirs serves as memory tokens that preserve tourists’ experiences and a source of tourism revenue to the tourism destination.

Keywords

• Souvenirs
• choice
• tourists
• factors
• shopping
• Ghana