An Evaluation for Participation Motivations of Professional and Non-Professional Visitors: The Case of Travel Turkey İzmir Fair

Authors : Sila Karacaoğlu, Ayşe Nevin Sert

Pages : 329-338

Doi:10.19168/jyasar.562830

View : 15 | Download : 9

Publication Date : 2019-07-31

Article Type : Research

Abstract :One of the major factors that enable the maximization of the benefits of fairs the importance of which is increasing day by day is the determination of the motivations and satisfaction perceptions of the participants. In this context, the study has two main objectives. The first objective is to determine the differences between (1) visitors working in different sectors of the tourism industry as professionals who have come to the Travel Turkey Izmir Fair (2018) and (2) the motivations of visitors who have the potential to participate in tourism activities. The second aim is to examine the relationship between these two different visitor types’ satisfaction perception, intention to recommend and intention to revisit. As a result of the survey conducted with 317 visitors participating in the Travel Turkey Fair (2018), it was determined that the main reasons for the participation of all the visitors in the fair were the elements of purchasing, socialization and tourism theme. When the results are examined separately in terms of professional and non-professional, it is noteworthy that the motivations differ. It has been determined that professional visitors participate the fair for seminars, purchasing, ongoing information search purposes while non-professional visitors  participated for tourism theme, socialization and escape motivations. The overall satisfaction of the Travel Turkey Izmir Fair (2018) was very high when the relationship between overall satisfaction, intention to revisit and intention to recommend were examined, likewise it was also concluded that the intention to revisit and intention to recommend was also high. On the other hand, there was a moderate positive relationship between the overall satisfaction, intention to revisit and intention to recommend. Furthermore, a strong and positive relationship was determined between the intention to revisit and intention to recommend. The study concludes with suggestions for trade fair organizers to increase the number of visitors to fairs in future years.
Keywords : Fair, Visitor, Motivation, Behavioral Intention