Ski – resort and regional development: profile of visitors ... - E-Journal

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Ski - resort and regional development: profile of visitors and appraisal of demand in parnassos ski - resort
The signs of the model parameters are consistent with the economic theory. The adjusted
coefficient of determination has an acceptable value if compared to the findings of similar
research (Gum and Martin, 1975; Walsh and Davitt, 1983, McClaskie et al., 1986). The
standard errors of the dependent variable are significantly smaller than the average of the
observed values. As the figures in parentheses indicate the standard errors of the constant and
the independent variables are low and the coefficients are statistically significant. The Durbin
- Watson test shows that there is not autocorrelation between the residuals of the models.
According to the linear model, the frequency of visits to Parnassos ski-resort depends on the
following factors whose values (beta values) are shown in the model (Uysal et al., 1988):
Visitors’ profession: Some professions or occupations (for example students, teachers etc)
provide people with more free time and/or income. Thus these people can visit more
frequently ski resorts (Douglass, 1975).
Cost of visits: The beta value indicates that the connection is important (Martin and Witt,
1988). The higher the cost (distance costs, staying overnight costs etc) to the lower the
visits to the resort.
Distance in kilometers between the ski-resort and the visitors’ area of residence. When small
distances are involved it is easier to travel more frequently. Long journeys call for
increased expenses. For this reason, the opportunities and the possibilities for frequent
visits to the ski-resort are limited. Distance is a significant factor that affects the demand
of almost any type of recreation (Lucas, 1985 and Roggenbuck and Lucas, 1987).
Journey time: Both a variable that expresses journey time and a variable which expresses
distance are included in the model. Amongst other, the variable of travel time depicted
the traveling conditions (road turnings and condition, difficulty because of the snow etc).
These are factors that produce a different travel time for equal distances (in km). For
some researchers this is considered to be a very important factor that affects demand
because it incorporates the ratio of cost time (Knetsch and Cesario, 1976). A negative
correlation is likely as the possibilities of having long journeys are low.
The final linear model that expresses the demand in hours of stay at Parnassos ski-resort is
the following:
Tourism Today - Fall 2007 - Full Paper
y=6,81 - 0,298 X1 (4.2)
(0.34) (0.112)
R 2 =0.41 S.E.=1.3 D.W.=1.81
Where:
y = expresses duration of stay (in hours) at the ski-resort.
X 1 = expresses required travel time.