Push-pull Motivating Factors that Influence Local Tourists to Travel

within their Country Case Study of the District of Tirana, Albania

MIMOZA KOTOLLAKU

Department of Marketing and Engineering,

University of Elbasan "Aleksandër Xhuvani",

Elbasan, 3001,

ALBANIA

structured and randomly administered questionnaire. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics.

Several 250 questionnaires were distributed in the city of Tirana, but only 200 were collected in total, which can be

considered a limitation of the study in generalizing the findings to the entire study population. The study identified

four main driving motives when residents travel within the country that proved to be important for the interviewers

such as relaxation, local food, language, economic price of housing, and also five attractive factors such as beach,

climate, knowledge, entertainment, and culture when traveling to Albanian destinations. These findings can benefit

stakeholders in identifying the internal motivations of their potential customers, as well as help marketers who,

knowing what motivates local tourists, can create a positive image of the destination, as well as products to attract

domestic tourists to these destinations.

1 Introduction

Tourism in all countries is considered to be an

important industry. Its importance lies in the

generation of employment, the increase of income,

and the development of many fields. As one of the

most massive phenomena involving millions of

people around the world, it constitutes the most

important economic branch which provides countries

with developed tourism millions of dollars in income.

According to UNWTO, tourism can be categorized as

12 months and does not have the main purpose of

23.2% from 2022 and only 4.1% below the 2019

level. In 2023, there were 27 million new jobs, which

New trends in tourism, the situation created

during the COVID-19 crisis in the tourism industry,

require much more attention for domestic tourism.

Although domestic tourism is the largest part of

tourism, it remains unaddressed and left in the

shadows compared to international tourism, in terms

of scientific research and policies. Domestic tourism

has often been overlooked by tourism industry

players even though its importance in creating a

sustainable tourism industry has been widely

engines of the country's economic development and

growth. "According to data published by INSTAT,

the number of foreign nationals entered Albania in

2023 is 10,155,640, increasing by 35%, compared

with the year 2022 ", [5]. Tourism is transforming

into one of the most important sectors of the

Albanian economy. The data of the Bank of Albania

have confirmed that during 2023revenues from

tourism reached 4.1 billion euros.

Tourism is a rapidly growing sector in the

developing country, to rebuild itself economically,

socially, and politically has chosen tourism as one of

the main sectors of economic development. Like

many developing countries in the world, domestic

tourism in Albania is almost forgotten as a

development issue and a valuable field of research,

even though this tourism has increased year by year.

The motivations of domestic tourists as well as the

direct and indirect effects of travel motivations on the

behavior of domestic tourists remain almost

the literature and the findings of the primary

research, it was concluded that domestic tourism is a

language, lower price of accommodation, and are

influenced by attraction factors such as beach,

climate, knowledge, entertainment, and culture when

traveling to Albanian destinations. The findings show

that there exist commonalities and differences

between the motives in traveling of Albanian tourists

and tourists from other countries as per the literature

review, which will be addressed in the fourth part of

the study - Data Analysis. Marketers, knowing what

motivates local tourists, can create an image of the

Tourism. In this Declaration, the following is quoted:

"Within each country, domestic tourism contributes

to an improved balance of the national economy

through a redistribution of the national income", [6].

Domestic tourism also heightens the awareness of

common interest and contributes to the development

of activities favorable to the general economy of the

country. Thus, the development of tourism from

abroad should be accompanied by a similar effort to

expand domestic tourism. Domestic tourism also

compatriots as well as the sense of belonging to the

national culture.

In many developing countries, a significant

proportion of domestic tourism consists of visits to

friends and relatives (VFR). "VFR is a cause and

effect of international migration patterns and their

change will create a continuing pattern of change like

experience originates from the interaction of two

motivational forces: to escape from routine and

motives for travel are to overcome the feeling of

isolation and loneliness, "feeling away from it all."

Tourists are "motivated to go away rather than to

something", [16]. He used to say that relaxation and

escape are the two most important psychological

motives that people experience before they decide to

take an overseas holiday. In [17], the effect of

experience on motivation and the influence of socio-

demographic variables on the perception of the

tourist destination were analyzed. Similarly, the

extreme are the psychocentric, who tend to visit

popular tourist sites and prefer to travel in groups”,

[18]. Model helped explain what types of

destinations tourists prefer based on their

psychographic characteristics.

Introduced the concept of push and pull factors

of tourist motivation in tourism studies, answering

the question "What makes tourists travel?" he

showed that there are differences between "push"

factors and "pull" factors, [19]. To study the motives

factors), escape from a perceived mundane

environment, seeking and valuing oneself, relaxation,

prestige, increased kinship, and social interaction.

The two remaining motives (pull factors) were

innovations and education, which are separate

factors. Many studies have been developed to

identify push and pull motives in different

nationalities, destinations, and countries. In [21],

identified that "the motives that drive people to travel

escape from the routine of the environment, mastery,

the mind of the tourist. Thus, these two factors

should be considered as a single integral unit, without

behavior, causing a changing and growing demand

that needs to be segmented. In this scenario, it is

clear that trying to meet the demands of all

individuals with the same offer will hardly lead to

satisfying their needs. Unlike other business

activities, tourism is considered the business of

selling unforgettable experiences, where the tourist's

satisfaction at the destination is one of the most

important motivators of tourists' future behavior or

loyalty.

tourism. Domestic tourism has played a key role in

the development of tourism in Albania after the

1990s. In this process, the increase in the demand of

Albanian residents has stimulated the development

and growth of tourism. The fulfillment of this

demand has led to the birth and growth of diverse

and new forms of tourism. Among them, it is worth

mentioning: "The pleasure trip, which is organized

independently by individuals and by tourist agencies.

In general, pleasure trips tend to be spread over

form of tourism, are defined through concepts such

as meetings, conferences and conventions, training

and sales missions, general promotion, or

professional work with people who are concentrated

in key economic centers. Vacations in the sun and the

sea, with a chosen destination on the coast of an area

where the climate is usually good, which is known as

mass tourism, is an important place in the travels of

Albanians, within the country.

Cultural tourism that focuses on artistic events,

3 Methodology

To achieve the goals and objectives presented in this

study, empirical research was done on the proposed

family acquaintances. Hereby we have tried to make

sure that the selection process is completely random.

The entirety of the study is based on persons over the

age of 16 who are residents of the city of Tirana and

who have made at least one trip in 2023 within the

country, outside of its usual environment for a period

not exceeding 12 months and not having the main

purpose of exercising an economic activity within the

visited country. As it was very difficult for the study

to be carried out throughout Albania and represent its

Tirana was chosen as the city with the largest urban

population. According to INSTAT, on January 1,

2023, the population of Tirana was 925,268

inhabitants, corresponding to 33.5% of the total

population of Albania of 2,761,785 inhabitants.

"There is no single formula that can tell us which

measure of choice is best as there are many factors

and over 65 years old. We see that the sample taken

in the study is represented by relatively young active

participants belong to the male gender. So, the

selection of individuals, although random, has

provided us with good coverage and representation of

the female and male subgroups.

Education is one of the main determinants of

everyone's activities and social class. According to

the level of education has been determined as the

main factor that affects the income and further the

expenses of an individual, [30]. The participants in

this study consist of 108 individuals (54 %) with

tourists to take vacations. Often the workplace forces

us to make certain decisions, or the status it gives us,

becomes a determinant of the choice of destination,

the way of travel, and the tourist expenses that we

will carry out. 90 individuals or (45%) of the

participants in this study are employed in the public

sector, 46 individuals, or (23%) of the participants in

this study are employed in the private sector, 30

individuals, or (15%) of the participants in this study

are self-employed, 20 individuals or (10%) of the

Income is a personal budget constraint that

determines tourism spending. Income is a very good

predictor of vacation-taking behavior. The empirical

literature as in [31] shows that middle- and high-

income groups are more likely to take vacations.

“This result confirms the idea that tourism in general

behaves as a normal good with positive elasticity of

demand, increasing its consumption as income

increases”, [32].

"The average gross monthly salary for a salaried

providing us with a broad background on the impact

of tourism and its potential for increase the country's

identification of the motivational factors is defined

by 13 sub-questions which are as follows. "A

vacation in my country will help me to rest and

relax." "The journey within the country will be an

opportunity to meet friends and relatives". "Language

as a means of communication makes me choose my

place for vacation". "Affordable prices in the tourist

destination. "Because the vacation places are close to

my home, I don't need to spend a lot." Spending

vacations within the country will help the country's

vacations suit the family more than vacations in

foreign countries." "To be close to historical and

cultural places" and "Local food is preferred by the

family during holidays".

Why are domestic holidays important to you?

As for the first group of push factors, the results

for each factor are presented in Table 1. A total of 13

factors were considered, which answer the question:

my country will help me to rest and relax" with a

frequency of 108 individuals or (54%). the second

factor is: "Local food is preferred by the family

during holidays" with a frequency of 106 individuals

or (53%). The third factor is: "Hospitality and

generosity towards tourists in Albania" with a

frequency of 100 individuals or (50%). The fourth

factor "Travel within the country will be an

opportunity to meet friends and relatives" with a

frequency of 96 individuals or (43%). The fifth factor

tenth factor is: "Domestic tourism will protect our

children from anti-values" with a frequency of 64

are: The first least important factor is: "To be close to

historical and cultural places" with a frequency of

100 individuals or (50%). The second least important

factor is: "Personal safety in my country is

considered a factor in the decision-making for

vacations" with a frequency of 80 individuals or

(40%). Another important conclusion that also relates

to the literature and at the same time is the fact that

85 individuals or 42.5% of the respondents think of

contributing to the local economy by spending part of

As for the second group of pull factors, the

results for each factor are presented in Table 2 and

the evidence of pull motivational factors is

determined by 17 sub-questions. A total of 17 factors

were taken into consideration, which answer the

question: When you are on vacation, how important

are the items listed below in choosing a destination?

If we were to list them in order of importance,

the factors that the interviewees answered

"Completely agree" (fifth scale of Likert), are: The

with a frequency of 94 individuals or (47%). The

fourth factor is: "To go to places of entertainment and

entertainment" with a frequency of 80 individuals or

(40%). The fifth factor is: "To see typical handicrafts

of the country" with a frequency of 76 individuals or

(38%). The sixth factor is: "High standards of

hygiene and cleanliness" with a frequency of 70

individuals or (35%).

The least important factors, which the majority of

respondents answered "Agree" (fourth scale of