Availability of Free Time as a Factor of Forming the Demand for Tourism Services

Abstract

The article considers the mutual influence between the amount of free time as a mandatory resource for leisure and recreation, the level of personal income and the expenditures for tourism services made by the population. The correlation between these indicators is analyzed in selected OECD countries; an additional indicator is the factor of satisfaction with the balance of free and working time. The reverse correlation between labour intensity and willingness of employees to spend money on leisure has been revealed. This is due to the actual lack of free time for people who are forced to work more than 50 hours a week, and the social policy of the state. It is proved that the problem of excessive growth of labour intensity leads to negative economic consequences, and is not exclusively a socio-demographic problem, because households do not have time to consume products. It is determined that the profile of the consumer of tourism services is formed as a result of a combination of welfare, labour legislation and attitudes to leisure. It is proposed to build a marketing strategy and assortment policy of travel companies on the basis of a matrix approach (the method of strategic groups mapping); an example of grouping consumers by a three-dimensional model is provided. At the level of the public employment policy, the consequences of two alternatives are described: increased labour intensity and export intensification, which leads to a growth in the state budget burden (the need to allocate funds for subsidies to medium-income industries and social programs), and reducing the workload and supporting the national producer by the help of the tertiary sector (households). The type of recreation and readiness to spend personal income on leisure depends, among other factors, on the balance of work and leisure; this criterion is more important for the citizens of most OECD countries than the level of income. With the increase in labour intensity and the corresponding decrease in the amount of free time, reduction or complete absence of annual vacations for several years, the content component of tourist services and organizational aspects of travel need to be reviewed. Prospects for further research are a comparative analysis of employment policies, incomes and expenditures on tourism services in other countries of the world in order to identify groups of countries with the same economic indicators and patterns of consumer behavior, which will help tourism companies to build effective marketing strategies and create a market-specific tourism product.

Intelligent Tourism Information Service Model considering Tourist Experience in the Environment of Internet of Things

“…Tourist perception experience is a kind of social perception that tourists perceive the impact of tourism, including the perception of economy, social culture, environment, self, interpersonal relationship, and social role. Tourism experience is generated in every link of tourism product consumption, from landscape appreciation to the acquisition of various services, and the quality of service in each link will affect the quality of tourist experience [ 19 , 20 ]. The accuracy, safety, comfort, and reliability of information transmission determine the service quality of each element.…”