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CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE Pull CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE Pull Factors that Can Make a Microstate an Attractive Destination for American Tourists: The Case of Andorra A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Tourism, Hospitality, and Recreation Management By Lluís Miquel Gonzàlez Solà May 2019 Copyright © 2019 by Lluís Miquel Gonzàlez Solà ​ All rights reserved. This thesis or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal. ii The graduate thesis of Lluís Miquel Gonzàlez Solà is approved: _______________________________________________ ____________________ Dr. Mechelle Best Date _______________________________________________ ____________________ Dr. Joong-won Lee Date _______________________________________________ ____________________ Dr. Hui (Jimmy) Xie, Chair Date California State University, Northridge iii Acknowledgment I sincerely thank my committee members, Dr. Joong-won Lee and Dr. Mechelle Best for sharing their expertise throughout this project. Special thanks to the committee chair Dr. Hui (Jimmy) Xie for his time, guidance, and encouragement. There are people in everyone’s lives who make success both possible and rewarding. Special thanks go to Nelli Marutyan and Wendy Brown for their invaluable help during this process. Also, this Master’s project could not be completed without the funding support from the Office of Research and Graduate Studies. Last but not least, I would like to express my gratitude to the Department of Tourism & Education of Andorra and especially to the Fulbright Committee for giving me the opportunity to pursue my Master’s program in the United States of America. iv Dedication This is for you, Vikki. v Table of Contents Copyright ii Signature Page iii Acknowledgment iv Dedication v List of Figures vii List of Tables viii Abstract ix Introduction 1 Literature Review 5 Travel decision process 6 ​ Understanding the tourists´ motivators 8 ​ Definition of pull factors 12 ​ Microstates as tourism suppliers 16 ​ ​ Andorra’s overview 19 ​ ​ Pull factors of Andorra 21 ​ ​ Current issues regarding tourism in Andorra 22 ​ Andorra as a complementary destination 25 ​ The tourism demand: US tourist 27 ​ Methodology 29 Method´s design 30 Sample 30 Structure 31 Logistics and outcome 33 Data Analysis 34 Results 36 Conclusion 45 References 47 Appendix A: Research Instrument 54 ​ vi List of Figures Figure 1. Study variables 3 Figure 2. Consumer’s decision making process 7 Figure 3. Travel process 7 Figure 4. Maslow’s hierarchy of needs 10 Figure 5. Travel Career Ladder 11 Figure 6. Consolidated nine attributes and dimensions assessing the destination image 22 Figure 7. Europe’s map 24 Figure 8. US outbound tourists’ arrivals to Spain 30 Figure 9. Concept groups 35 Figure 10. Travel decision process diagram 42 vii List of Tables Table 1. Attributes and dimensions assessing the destination image perceived by the tourist 15 Table 2. Arrivals of non-resident tourists at national borders 23 Table 3. Sample demographics distribution 33 Table 4. Focus groups schedule 34 Table 5. Individual interviews schedule 34 Table 6. What are US tourists’ perceptions of Andorra as a destination? 36 Table 7. What pull factors are more relevant for US tourists for choosing Andorra (Categories) 38 Table 8. What pull factors are more relevant for US tourists for choosing Andorra (Items) 40 viii Abstract Pull Factors that Can Make a Microstate an Attractive Destination for American Tourists: the Case of Andorra By Lluís Miquel Gonzàlez Solà Master of Science in Tourism, Hospitality, and Recreation Management While many microstates rely on tourism as a way of economic development, little research has been conducted on how to market and promote a microstate destination to distant international markets. Based on previous research on tourist motivations and decisions, this research argues that tourists from distant markets may consider traveling to a microstate if the right pull factors (destination features) are promoted. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to explore which pull factors have the potential to make a microstate an attractive destination for US tourists, using the landlocked European microstate of Andorra as a study case. To address the study purpose, a qualitative research method was employed. First, purposive sampling was used to select twenty US residents that traveled to Spain, Andorra’s ix neighboring state. The sample consisted of individuals of different age and household income ranges. Then, four focus groups and four individual interviews were conducted to explore the attractiveness of Andorra´s pull factors. The results of this study indicated that the small size of the country made it difficult for Andorra to be considered as a sole destination for American tourists. However, Andorra’s local culture, mountain scenery, entertainment opportunities, and outdoor activities may be marketed to American tourists visiting Spain or France as an opportunity to discover another country during their trip. In addition, participants mentioned uniqueness and unknownness as potential reasons for traveling to Andorra. Those two elements may have marketing opportunities as they are arguably more applicable to microstates than larger countries. This study contributed to tourism marketing literature by examining the effectiveness of pull factors in the promotion of microstates as travel destinations. In addition, the study results provided practical recommendations for developing Andorra’s international tourism marketing strategies. Keywords: Travel Motivators, Pull Factors, Microstate, Andorra, US tourist ​ x Introduction Tourism plays a critical role in the economy of a microstate. In fact, the idea that tourism is almost inevitable as a form of economic development (Wilkinson, 1989) has been stated by many authors that have written about tourism to microstates (Fagence, 1997; Ford, 2016; Milne, 1992; Milne & Nowosielski, 1997). Destination Marketing Organizations (DMO) in microstates have been working on developing strategies to attract tourism from distant countries like the United States, China or India (Sharma & Zemp, 2016). US residents have one of the most significant expenditures on outbound tourism in the world spending more than 160 billion dollars every year for this purpose (World Bank, 2016); however, there is a limited understanding of how to promote microstate destinations to distant international markets such as the United States. Assessing the motivators of travelers and developing a customer profile of potential visitors can maximize the overall value of the destination by tailoring the destination tourist products to the visitors´ needs (Kutner & Cripps, 1997). However, there is a lack of agreement upon the conceptualization of tourism motivation (Fodness, 1994). Several authors have accepted the push/pull model as an acceptable principle (Crompton, 1979; Hanqin & Lam, 1999; Lam & Hsu, 2004). This research uses the push/pull model as its theoretical framework. Pull factors are defined as the "drawing force generated by the overall attractions existing in a given place" (Kaur, 1981, p.19). Whereas, push factors are the intrinsic motivations that make visitors look for activities to fulfill their needs, such as the need to escape, relax, fame, health or socialization (Crompton, 1979). Because push factors are more linked to the development of the travel need (Bello & Etzel, 1985), this research solely focuses on the pull factors as they are considered more influential during the destination choice process (Bello & Etzel, 1985). The pull factors of the 1 study destination were segmented using the nine dimensions and attributes determining the perceived tourist destination image of Beerli and Martı́n (2004) and consolidating them within four areas: (1) Natural and cultural resources, (2) tourist and leisure infrastructure, (3) opportunities for sports activities, and (4) atmosphere, social setting, and social environment. The purpose of this research is to examine what pull factors have the potential to make a microstate an attractive destination to distant markets, using the landlocked European microstate of Andorra as a study case. Three reasons supported the selection of Andorra as a study case. First, with less than 80,000 inhabitants, Andorra is a microstate by definition, as it is “a sovereign country with a population below 2 million inhabitants” (World Economic Policy and Debt Department, 2005, p.3). Second, tourism is a central pillar in the economy of Andorra; with the service activity representing the 89% of the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP), and with a tourism industry that employs 14.7% of the country's overall labor force (Andorra Department of Statistics, 2017). Third, Andorra’s tourism industry relies heavily on tourists from neighboring countries, such as Spain, which represented 71% of the total arrivals to the country in 2016 (World Tourism Organization, 2017). This dependence on the Spanish market may condition Andorra to diversify its tourism markets by promoting its travel experiences to more distant countries. Yet, Andorra Tourism Organizations have done little promotion of their tourism products to the US market. Andorra as a country has enough potential of turning into a popular leisure-destination for US tourists. Having one of the lowest crime rates in the world, Andorra
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