Exploring Tourists’ Push and Pull Travel Motivations to Participate in Songkran Festival in Thailand as a Tourist Destination: A Case of Taiwanese Visitors

This study aims to identify travel motivations including push and pull motivations that positively and directly affected the decision-making of Taiwanese travelers in participating in Songkran Festival in Thailand as their cultural destination. A questionnaire survey was conducted with 388 Taiwanese respondents who have never participated in Songkran Festival in Thailand before. The lists consisted of 30 attributes representing push motivation (14 attributes) as “psychological factor”, pull motivation (13 attributes) as “destination factor”, and intention to participate (three attributes). Pearson’s correlation and simple linear regression were used to examine the research hypotheses. As a result, push and pull motivations positively and directly affected the intention to participate in Songkran Festival in Thailand. For push motivation, Taiwanese visitors perceived that they want to relax and get experience in foreign land, and have enjoyable time with travel companion. For pull motivation, Taiwanese visitors perceived that there are many special events in Songkran Festival, the image of Songkran Festival, Thai food is delicious, and the people are friendly and courteous. The managerial implications were also made for tourism industry of Thailand in terms of examination motivations in implementing new market strategies, designing promotion, and decision-making about destination development.

Ajzen, I. (2001). Nature and operation of attitudes. Annual Review of Psychology, 52(1), 27-58.
Andale. (2012a). Pearson correlation: Definition and easy steps for use. Statistics How To. Retrieved from
http://www.statisticshowto.com/what-is-the-pearson-correlation-coefficient
Andale. (2012b). Correlation coefficient formula: What is it? Statistics How To. Retrieved from
http://www.statisticshowto.com/what-is-the-correlation-coefficient-formula
Asia News Monitor. (2010). Thailand: Songkran festival: One of the most significant elements of Thailand’s cultural heritage.
ProQuest Research Library. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1242141233?accountid=14526
Awaritefe, O. D. (2003). Destination environment quality and tourists’ spatial behaviour in Nigeria: A case study of third world
tropical Africa. International Journal of Tourism Research, 5(4), 251-268.
Bachleitner, R., & Zins, A. H. (1999). Cultural tourism in rural communities: The residents’ perspective. Journal of Business
Research, 44(3), 199-209.
Beard, J. G., & Ragheb, M. G. (1983). Measuring leisure motivation. Journal of Leisure Research, 15(3), 219-228.
Bowen, D., & Clarke, J. (2009). Contemporary tourist behaviour: Yourself and others as tourists. Wallingford: CAB
International.
Business Monitor International. (2014). Thailand tourism report Q1 2015. Market Research. Retrieved from
http://www.marketresearch.com/Business-Monitor-International-v304/Thailand-Tourism-Q1-8537709/
Canny, I., & Hidayat, N. (2012). The influence of service quality and tourist satisfaction on future behavioral intentions: The case
study of Borobudur temple as a UNESCO world culture heritage destination. International Proceedings of Economics
Development & Research, 50, 89-97.
Chaipinit, W., & Phetvaroon, K. (2011). Motivation and behaviour of Thai outbound tourists to Europe. Journal of Tourism,
Hospitality & Culinary Arts, 3(1), 99-109.
Chen, C. F., & Tsai, D. (2007). How destination image and evaluative factors affect behavioral intentions. Tourism Management,
28(4), 1115-1122.
Chon, K. S. (1989). Understanding recreational traveler’s motivation, attitude and satisfaction. The Tourist Review, 44(1), 3-7.

Dann, G. M. S. (1977). Anomie, ego-enhancement and tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 4(4), 184-194.

Eastman, E. (n.d.). Songkran: Thailand’s water festival. The Culture Trip. Retrieved from
http://theculturetrip.com/asia/thailand/articles/songkran-thailand-s-water-festival/
Geladi, P., & Kowalski, B. R. (1986). Partial least-squares regression: A tutorial. Analytica Chimica Acta, 185, 1-17.
Jimmy, M. (2015). Songkran 2015 in Bangkok. Asia Web Direct. Retrieved from
http://www.bangkok.com/information-festivals/songkran.htm#
Kanagaraj, C., & Bindu, T. (2013). An analysis of push and pull travel motivations of domestic tourists to Kerala. International
Journal of Management and Business Studies, 3(2), 112-118.
Kaplanidou, K., & Vogt, C. (2006). A structural analysis of destination travel intentions as a function of web site features. Journal
of Travel Research, 45(2), 204-216.
Kassean, H., & Gassita, R. (2013). Exploring tourists push and pull motivations to visit Mauritius as a tourist destination. African
Journal of Hospitality, Tourism and Leisure, 2(3), 1-13.
Khuong, M. N., & Ha, H. T. (2014). The influences of push and pull factors on the international leisure tourists’ return intention to
Ho Chi Minh city, Vietnam: A mediation analysis of destination satisfaction. International Journal of Trade, Economics and
Finance, 5(6), 490-496. doi: 10.7763/IJTEF.2014.V5.421
Kim, K. (2008). Analysis of structural equation model for the student pleasure travel market: Motivation, involvement,
satisfaction, and destination loyalty. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 24(4), 297-313.
Lam, T., & Hsu, C. H. C. (2006). Predicting behavioral intention of choosing a travel destination. Tourism Management, 27(4),
589-599.
Lee, S., Jeon, S., & Kim, D. (2011). The impact of tour quality and tourist satisfaction on tourist loyalty: The case of Chinese
tourists in Korea. Tourism Management, 32(5), 1115-1125.
Lonely Planet. (2013). Songkran: Tips for enjoying Thailand’s water festival. Retrieved from
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/asia/travel-tips-and-articles/76374
Mazumder, M. N. H., Sultana, M. A., & Al-Mamun, A. (2013). Regional tourism development in Southeast Asia. Transnational
Corporations Review, 5(2), 60-76.
Mill, R. C., & Morrison, A. M. (1998). The tourism system: An introductory text (3rd ed.). Dubuque, Iowa: Kendall/Hunt
Publishing Company.
Ministry of Tourism and Sports of Thailand. (2014). The summary of tourism in Thailand during January – December 2014.
Annual report 2014. Retrieved from http://newdot2.samartmultimedia.com/home/details/11/222/24095
Mohammad, B. A., & Som, A. P. (2010). An analysis of push and pull travel motivations of foreign tourists to Jordan.
International Journal of Business and Management, 5(12), 41-50.
Moutinho, L. (2000). Trends in tourism. In L. Moutinho (Ed.), Strategic management in tourism. Wallingford: CAB International.
Nankervis, A., & Kelly, I. (2001). Visitor destinations. Sydney, Australia: John Wiley & Sons.
National Culture Commission. (2007). How to celebrate Songkran. Thailand Life. Retrieved from
http://www.thailandlife.com/songkran-festival/how-to-celebrate-songkran.html
Ng, S. I., Lee, J. A., & Soutar, G. N. (2007). Tourists’ intention to visit a country: The impact of cultural distance. Tourism
Management, 28(6), 1497-1506.
Niemelä, T. (2010). Motivation factors in dark tourism. Case: House of terror (Bachelor’s thesis, Lahti University of Applied
Sciences, Finland). Retrieved from http://publications.theseus.fi/bitstream/handle/10024/14984/Niemela_Titta.pdf
Popichit, N., Anuwichanont, J., Chuanchom, J., Serirat, J., & Mechinda, P. (2013). A survey of destination potential, tourism
activities and future travelling intention towards tourism along the rivers in Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province.
International Journal of Business and Social Science, 4(7), 116-122.
Pramotmaneerat, T. (2014). Special report: Songkran festival celebrated in all corners of Thailand. National News Bureau of
Thailand. Retrieved from http://thainews.prd.go.th/centerweb/newsen/NewsDetail?NT01_NewsID=WNECO5704120010001
Pratminingsih, S. A., Rudatin, C. L., & Rimenta, T. (2014). Roles of motivation and destination image in predicting tourist revisit
intention: A case of Bandung – Indonesia. International Journal of Innovation, Management and Technology, 5(1), 19-24.
Qiao, G., Chen, N., Guan, Y., & Kim, S. (2008). Study on Chinese tourists’ motivation and satisfaction to visit South Korea.
International Journal of Tourism Sciences, 8(1), 17-38.
Singh, A. (1997). Asia pacific tourism industry: Current trends and future outlook. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research,
2(1), 89-99. doi: 10.1080/10941669808721988
Sirakaya, E., Sheppard, A. G., & McLellan, R. W. (1997). Assessment of the relationship between perceived safety at a vacation
site and destination choice decisions: Extending the behavioural decision-making model. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism
Research, 21(2), 1-10.
Sparks, B. A. (2007). Planning a wine tourism vacation? Factors that help to predict tourist behavioral intentions. Tourism
Management, 28(5), 1180-1192.
Sudipta, K. S., Sarat, K. L., & Babu, G. P. (2010). Cultural tourism in Malaysia in the perspective of Indian tourists: A study.
Journal of Tourism, 10(10), 48-53.
Suksawat, S. (n.d.). Happy New Year Songkran Festival. Thaiways Magazine. Retrieved from
http://www.thaiwaysmagazine.com/thai_article/2101_songkran_festival/songkran_festival.html
Tang, Y. (2014). Travel motivation, destination image and visitor satisfaction of international tourists after the 2008 Wenchuan
earthquake: A structural modelling approach. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 19(11), 1260-1277.
Tourism Authority of Thailand [TAT]. (2014). Thailand remains a popular destination among travellers from Taiwan. Retrieved
from http://www.tatnews.org/thailand-remains-a-popular-destination-among-travellers-from-taiwan
Vanhaleweyk, G. (2014). Thailand: Tourist arrivals from 1998 till 2014. Retrieved from http://www.thaiwebsites.com/tourism.asp
World Tourism Organization. (2004). Technical seminar on cultural tourism and poverty alleviation. Retrieved from
http://sdt.unwto.org/sites/all/files/pdf/cambodia_finrep.pdf
World Travel & Tourism Council. (2014). Economic impact 2014 Thailand. WTTC. Retrieved from
http://www.wttc.org/-/media/files/reports/economic%20impact%20research/country%20reports/thailand2014.pdf
Yiamjanya, S., & Wongleedee, K. (2014). International tourists’ travel motivation by push-pull factors and the decision making for
selecting Thailand as destination choice. International Scholarly and Scientific Research & Innovation, 8(5), 1348-1353.
Zeithaml, V. A., Bitner, M. J., & Gremler, D. (2009). Services marketing: Integrating customer focus across the firm (5th ed.).
New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.