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

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Filio Lazana, Diana Draganescu, Georgiana Grama, Magdalina Yarichkova
this subject was the reception of 158 completed questionnaires, out of which 80 were completed
manually and 78 electronically, registering an overall response rate of 45,14%. The survey
instrument consisted of eleven closed-ended questions, out of which two general questions
on travel habits, five demographic questions, targeting the outline of the respondents’ profile
and four questions on the pattern of safety and security issues and on how perceptions of risk
affect decisions to travel to certain destinations. The closed-ended questions were formulated
so as to help the respondents in making quick decisions by choosing from several alternatives
(Sekaran, 2001). The safety and security items were measured on a five-point Likert scale,
labeled definitely disagree and definitely agree at the poles and neutral at the mid point, using
a set of six items asking about their considerations regarding certain destinations recently
affected by a crisis issue. The method according to which an answer was being considered
valid was the ticking/checking of the one answer most appropriate to one’s perception. The
written survey method was selected for this study to be more appropriate for the respondents
to fill in the questionnaires at their own convenience.
The sample surveyed represented respondents as it follows: 89% European, 7% American,
2% Asian and 1% African. The differentiation by gender had it that 53% of the respondents
were females, the majority of whom (49%) were between 26-44 years of age. A high percentage
(43%) has an annual income level of less than f12.000 and 55% have a university or college
degree. The majority (53%) of male respondents were between 26-44 years old, most of them
(28%) having an annual income level of less than f12.000 and 54% had a university or
college degree. Fifty-eight percent of the respondents traveled 1-3 times for leisure purposes
in 2005 (table No. 1) and 49% traveled both within their country of origin and abroad (table
No. 2).
The information and data derived were analyzed and are discussed in this paper in order to
provide more findings in an area which lacks research. The approach enabled some limited
findings to be compared with secondary information, allowing thus the paper to illustrate the
theory with realities.
Table No 1: Travel for Leisure Purposes in 2005
Tourism Today - Fall 2007 - Full Paper