| Author: | Xu, Di |
| Title: | What determines destination choice of bridal photography tourists? |
| Advisors: | Xiao, Honggen (SHTM) |
| Degree: | DHTM |
| Year: | 2021 |
| Subject: | Weddings Destination weddings Wedding photography Hong Kong Polytechnic University -- Dissertations |
| Department: | School of Hotel and Tourism Management |
| Pages: | iii, 139 pages : color illustrations |
| Language: | English |
| Abstract: | Originally from Taiwan, bridal photography (or pre-wedding photography) is embraced by soon-to-wed couples as a must-do practice before wedding ceremonies. In recent years, young couples are inclined to seek individualized bridal photographs and unforgettable honeymoon experience, with wandering around a range of domestic and international destinations. The coupling between the wedding industry and the tourism industry was mainly recognized by overseas weddings and honeymoon trips, while the pre-wedding stage known as bridal photography tourism has seldom been noticed in literature. As a unique cultural phenomenon in China, bridal photography tourism was literally described by early researchers as travelling with a wedding dress. The present study attempted to capture this recent trend by investigating why young couples prefer a certain destination for bridal photography over another. The key objective of this study was to identify the factors that are significantly correlated with bridal photography tourists' destination choice through binary logit regression analysis. Due to limited knowledge that has been revealed on bridal photography tourism, this study first adopted a combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches to generate a valid and reliable set of measurement items in order to appropriately describe the travel motivation of bridal photography tourists and their corresponding evaluations on destination attributes. In the subsequent analysis, it initiatively classified all the destinations chosen by engaged couples into six types based on distinguished destination characteristics and different styles of photography. The research findings statistically proved that pre-wedding travelers' destination choices were correlated with their age, photography-related cost, travel cost, motivations of developing relationship and gaining prestige, and evaluations on destination atmosphere. As for city destinations, metropolises were more attractive to those who were relatively senior. A value-for-money inclusive package was the key factor for catching the eyeballs of young couples. Ancient towns with a romantic atmosphere were beneficial to develop couples' relationship. In terms of coastal destinations, the preference toward domestic seaside cities was mainly determined by destination atmosphere. Tropical islands locating in Southeast Asia were able to satisfy young couples' needs of both developing couple relationship and gaining prestige via enjoying the same style of pre-wedding travel photography used by their favourite celebrities. In addition, a long-haul or a niche destination mainly attracted those who were young and looking for extraordinary bridal photographs. This study contributes to advancing the theoretical knowledge towards bridal photography tourism in two aspects. First, it shed light on the travel motivation of bridal photography tourists, and initially discovered the motive of developing couples' relationship. Second, it further substantiated the relationship between push and pull factors and destination choice, however based on specific cities rather than previous research conducted at a state or national level. Based on the research findings, destinations that seek to attract bridal photography tourists can accordingly evaluate their relative strengths and weaknesses in this new tourism segment. More practically, each type of destination ought to capitalize on its distinct advantages by developing corresponding tourism products and services and conducting effective marketing programs in order to satisfy potential pre-wedding travelers or even exceed their expectations. In future studies, it is suggested to approach pre-wedding travellers via China Wedding Expos, and therefore can generate more meaningful results. Also, a longitudinal study to explore the significant differences on the perceived importance of destination attributes in different seasons will be valuable as well. |
| Rights: | All rights reserved |
| Access: | restricted access |
Files in This Item:
| File | Description | Size | Format | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5802.pdf | For All Users (off-campus access for PolyU Staff & Students only) | 2.06 MB | Adobe PDF | View/Open |
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