Participation in tourism consumption and the intensity of participation: an analysis of their socio-demographic and economic determinants

Unlike other goods, tourism services are not consumed by a significant percentage of households. Thus, knowledge of aggregate tourism demand hinges on the determinants of corner solutions at the microeconomic level. Furthermore, with regard to those households that consume tourism, their travel frequency patterns in the year need not be the same. This paper uses household microdata to examine the socio-demographic and economic determinants of both decisions: holiday participation and the intensity of participation in the year conditional on participation. The results highlight the relevance in tourism demand analyses of distinguishing between both decisions. In fact, many socio-demographic variables show only explanatory power for the participation decision. The two key. factors in explaining both decisions are the previous year's tourism participation pattern, suggesting evidence of habit persistence, and income, although with an Income elasticity below unity.