Multidestination travel patterns of international visitors to Queensland

Tourists frequently undertake multidestination trips to maximize the benefits of travel. A more detailed understanding of this phenomenon contributes to destination marketing by enabling identification of potential multidestination marketing synergies. For individual destinations lacking the critical mass of attractions, such synergies provide a foundation for leveraging strategies. While research has revealed a range of factors associated with variations in travel patterns, no attempt has been made to explore the relative contribution of each factor in a specific context. Research conducted to date has focused primarily on domestic recreational travel (largely in the United States) rather than international tourism. This study uses an Australian database on international visitor travel patterns in Queensland to do this. It is revealed that risk-reduction tendencies associated with long-haul travel, variations in mobility, multiple-benefit seeking, and information sources used by visitors prior to their trip all have a bearing on the level of multidestination travel.