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The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School College of Health and Human Development RAIL-RO, AN EMERGING RAIL TRAVEL PHENOMENON: A STUDY OF DOMESTIC TOURISM, RAILROAD, AND CULTURE AMONG YOUTH IN KOREA A Dissertation in Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management by So Young Bae 2013 So Young Bae Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2013 The dissertation of So Young Bae was reviewed and approved* by the following: Garry Chick Chair of Committee Professor of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management Dissertation Advisor Deborah Kerstetter Graduate Program Chair Professor of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Management Alan Graefe Professor of Recreation, Park and Tourism Management Robert Schrauf Professor and Head of Applied Linguistics *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School iii ABSTRACT Rail-Ro (Railo1) is the name of a rail pass in Korea that allows passengers of 25 or under to enjoy an unlimited amount of travel for 7 consecutive days. While the original intention of Railo was to increase train use, it has become a popular travel culture phenomenon among youth since its inception in 2007. Passengers traveling with a Railo pass call themselves Rail-ers (Railers2) and identify themselves as a cultural group. It has not only increased the number of rail users, but also strongly influenced domestic tourism by adding an inflow of young travelers into local areas and changing their perception of domestic tourism. It is remarkable that a distinct youth culture has been created through Railo, considering the lack of healthy leisure opportunities for youth in Korea. Although Railo has influenced various aspects of travel and culture, few researchers have given this phenomenon a closer look. The purpose of this dissertation is to provide insight to the Railo experience and Railers’ travel behaviors in order to understand this emerging cultural phenomenon and its influences. In more detail, this study (a) provides a rich and in-depth description of the Railo culture, (b) demonstrates a coherent profile of the Railo culture and documents the degree to which Railers agree on it, and (c) examines the relationships between Railers’ motivation, satisfaction, loyalty, and attachment to the country. 1 Railo is the most important keyword for this dissertation. Considering the extremely frequent use of this term, I transcribed it as “Railo” instead of using the official English term, “Rail-Ro” for better readability. 2 For the same reason, I used the word, “Railer” to indicate the official term, “Rail-er” to ensure readability. iv This dissertation is composed of five chapters including an introductory chapter (Chapter 1), the three interrelated studies on Railo (Chapters 2-4), and a final, concluding chapter (Chapter 5). I collected the data during two phases, phase I (June-August 2012; Railo summer 2012) and phase II (December 2012-March 2013; Railo winter 2013) using multiple data collection methods: ethnographic tools (e.g., interviews, observations, free listing surveys) and questionnaires (e.g., cultural consensus survey, structural equation modeling survey). The population for the first data collection was Railers who were traveling during the summer of 2012 or who had experienced Railo since its introduction in 2007. The population for the second phase of data collection was limited to Railers who made Railo trips between December 2012 and March 2013. Chapter 2 provides an ethnography of Railo. For the purpose of exploring the nature of the phenomenon, it offers a rich and detailed description about Railo experiences from the perspective of cultural insiders. Although the three main chapters (Chapters 2-4) in this dissertation could be read regardless of order, I recommend reading this chapter first to have the fundamental background of Railo. Chapter 3 discusses a shared cultural domain of Railo experiences among Railers and their agreement on it based on cultural consensus theory and method. The results demonstrated that Railers understand Railo as a coherent culture. But there was no difference in cultural knowledge in Railo experiences by subgroups (i.e., gender, age, and years of experience). Chapter 4 focuses on a series of hypotheses about several predictors of Railers’ behaviors: motivation, satisfaction, loyalty, and attachment to the country (i.e., place v identity & place dependence). Using structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis, the modified theoretical model was found acceptable and the results provided support for the proposed hypotheses. Motivation to “experience Korea and feel Koreanness” was a significant predictor of satisfaction and place identity. Satisfaction was a predictor of attachment to the country (i.e., place identity and place dependence) while being an antecedent of loyalty to Railo which, in turn, significantly influenced loyalty to domestic tourism and loyalty to train. Loyalty to domestic tourism was also predicted by place dependence, but not by place identity. In sum, this study provides various insights into Railo and its influences on the domestic travel behavior of Korean youths. It also presents implications for Korail (Korean Railroad Corporation), local governments, and tourism organizations who are responsible for creating sustainable strategies for operating Railo and encouraging domestic tourism. Avenues for future research also were discussed in an effort to expand knowledge about travel, transportation, and culture. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures .............................................................................................................. ix List of Tables ............................................................................................................... x Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... xii Chapter 1 Introduction ................................................................................................. 1 The Encounter with a Number of Young Domestic Travelers ............................. 1 Railo and Its Influences on Domestic Tourism and Youth Culture...................... 2 Research Purpose .................................................................................................. 3 Theoretical Grounding and Research Hypotheses ................................................ 4 Railo at the Intersection of Domestic Tourism, Youth Tourism, and Rail Travel ..................................................................................................... 4 Ethnography .................................................................................................. 6 Cultural Domains and Cultural Consensus Theory ....................................... 7 Attachment in the Context of Domestic Tourism .......................................... 8 Motivation, Satisfaction, and Loyalty ........................................................... 9 Research Overview ............................................................................................... 11 References ............................................................................................................. 14 Chapter 2 An Ethnography of an Emerging Korean Youth Culture: Domestic Train Backpackers in Korea ................................................................................. 19 Abstract ................................................................................................................. 19 Introduction ........................................................................................................... 20 Domestic Tourism in Korea .................................................................................. 21 Youth Tourism ...................................................................................................... 23 The Spring Break Phenomenon ..................................................................... 24 Backpacking Tourism .................................................................................... 25 Data Collection ..................................................................................................... 28 A Review of the Online Community, By Train ............................................. 30 Meeting with a Key Informant ...................................................................... 31 Semi-structured Interviews with Korail Employees and Train Station Staff Members ........................................................................................ 31 Participant Observation and Unstructured Interviews with Railers .............. 32 Free Listing Surveys ...................................................................................... 33 Semi-structured Interviews with Railers, Travel Writers, and By Train Staff Members ........................................................................................ 36 Data Analysis ........................................................................................................ 38 What is Railo? ....................................................................................................... 39 An Online Community for Train Travelers, By Train .......................................... 43 vii My Travel Experience with Railers ...................................................................... 45 Free Listing Survey Results: Railers’ Perceptions of Railo ................................. 59 Meanings of Railo ................................................................................................

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