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| TRAVEL BEHAVIOR OF COLLEGE STUDENTS IN WESTERN CHINA——A Case Study of Shaanxi Province |
| GOU Xiao-dong1,2, MA Yao-feng1, LI Fu-sheng2 |
1. Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an 712100, China;
2. N. W. Agriculture and Forestry University, Yangling, 712100, China |
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Abstract According to statistics, college students are now a very dynamic and important tourist market force in China. Based on the survey carried out to 337 college students from 7 universities in Shaanxi Province from April to June 2006, college students' travel interest, preferences, expenditure, travel modes, spatial behavior and their assessment to travel products quality and prices were studied.
The results surprisingly found that college students in Western China in general have a very high travel interest. They travel about 2.13 times every year and prefer the natural attractions to human attractions. College students mostly travel in a few specific time periods of the year, with the summer vacation being their first choice, followed by the May First Day holiday and the National Day holiday. The average travel expense each time by college student is 394 Yuan, mainly on the basic travel needs of sightseeing tickets, transportation, food and lodging. About 80 percent of the students spend no more than 500 Yuan, which is also the number of 80% students' monthly living expense. It is also found that college students' travel expense accounts for 15% of their total living expenses. The most popular travel mode is to travel with schoolmates or friends, rather than joining tour groups by travel agents. Train and bus are the two most important transportation means. The word-of-mouth communication is the most important travel information channel to college students, rather than any other channels, inferring that there is huge market potential to which the travel business and travel agents should pay more attention to. As to the travel distance, the research shows that distance decay is obvious and about 80% college students are traveling within 800km. This is a big jump compared to the conclusion drawn by Wu Bihu in 1997 that 80% urban residents traveled within 500km, confirming that the transportation, accessibility to visitor attractions and tourist purchasing power have all improved dramatically in the last decade in China. Analysis of college students' assessment of tourist products, services and prices found that currently tourist products and services in the domestic market are generally satisfactory to college students travelers while prices are somehow expensive.
Based on the analysis above, the paper points out that the annual travel demand by college students in China is estimated to be over 27 billion Yuan, accounting for more than 5% of the total domestic market demands.
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Received: 06 January 2007
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2008, Vol. 23 
