A Study on Swedish Charter Tourists Behaviour and Acting : Case: Gran Canaria, Spain
Boberg, Anna (2010)
Boberg, Anna
Vaasan ammattikorkeakoulu
2010
All rights reserved
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201004216713
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-201004216713
Tiivistelmä
The idea of making a research regarding charter tourists’ behaviour and acting was born already in the second year of my studies in Vaasa University of Applied Sciences. I did then not know for sure if it would be possible to do a research about this subject, since almost the only possibility to receive answers for my research was to travel to a charter destination and conduct them there. Some people questioned whether it was actually necessary to travel all the way down to Gran Canaria for interviewing five respondents in four hours. I knew in the beginning that it would be worth it, since I felt that one can not have any deeper discussions with anyone if it’s not possible to meet them face to face. The research interviews was truly the most interesting and fascinating moment of the whole thesis process, firstly since I had the possibility to meet the respondents in their normal working environment, and secondly since they enthusiastically shared their stories with me. The outcome of the results showed that the Swedish charter tourists do try to adapt to the new situations on Gran Canaria as well as they can, but do not go as far as taking on a new role. Safety and security are of high importance for them, and is taking in consideration already in the planning of the charter trip and the decision where to travel. The Swedes take advantage of their anonymity on the destination be behaving in a more open minded way, and it can also be recognized in the high consumption of alcohol. Regarding the comfort zone, the opinions differed; two of the respondent did believe that the Swedes stay inside it whereas the three other only partly could agree on it. Surprisingly all the respondents felt that the Swedish charter tourists want to spend time with other Swedes in a group during their time in Gran Canaria, which was explained by the fact that the Swedes are drawn to clubs and restaurants where other Swedes are. It was also mentioned within this theme that Swedes are drawn to buy familiar products and food, and that they to some extent search for familiar food and Swedish menus on restaurant. The motive to why the Swedish charter tourists are travelling to Gran Canaria are because of the relaxation that the island can give them; sun, beach, and bath. Surprisingly it was not the statements the respondents agreed with me on that made the interview interesting, however it was the underlying factors behind their answers. I expected the respondents to agree on many statements, but it was unexpected that they e.g. could recognize tourists with alcohol and drug problems from other tourists so easily regarding the discussion about behaviour. Hence it was exciting to receive additional stories and experiences from the statements given by the respondent during the interview. The idea before analyzing the research interview was also to use the background information about the respondents within this thesis. The background information gathered could have been compared with the results in analysing to see if there would be differences according to e.g. gender or work experience. However, since three of the respondents were females and one of them was a male, it could not have been compared in an age perspective because of non reliability. The work experiences that the respondents had where also quite similar, which would had made it very hard to make a comparing analyse regarding that. Hence, the planned comparing analyse was not created for this thesis. Now afterwards when the research analyses are completed and I am in the end of the thesis process, I feel very proud of myself for succeeding in making a research like this. As I mentioned earlier, I did not know in the beginning if a research like this one would be possible to do, and I was unsure what to expect from it. I hope that the results will be of interest for others and especially for Ving, since I believe that the results can give them a better understanding of the Swedish charter tourists’ motive for travelling to Gran Canaria, and the decisions they make on the destination. The purpose of this thesis is to study how Swedish charter tourists behaves and acts during a vacation in Gran Canaria, Spain. The theoretical part of the thesis is handling information regarding charter tourism; a definition of it, history, charter tourism in Gran Canaria, presentation of the company Ving, and matters about tourism behaviour. As research method for this thesis the qualitative method was used. Five respondents from the Swedish tour operator Ving were interviewed. The qualitative interview with the respondents was conducted in San Fernando, Gran Canaria in February 2010. The structure of the whole research interview was six different themes, handling statements regarding tourists and their behaviour and acting. The aim of the research was to find out whether the respondents felt that the Swedish charter tourists changed their behaviour and way of acting when travelling to Gran Canaria, and if so, to which extent would that changed behaviour control them. The outcome of the study showed e.g. that the respondents felt that the Swedish charter tourists change behaviour partly to escape reality at home, but they did not agree that they take on new roles or personalities. Syftet med det här lärdomsprovet är att studera hur svenska charter turister beter sig och agerar under en semester på Gran Canaria, Spanien. Den teoretiska delen av lärdomsprovet behandlar information angående charter turism; definitionen av den, historiken, charter turismen på Gran Canaria, presentation av företaget Ving, samt angelägenheter gällande turism beteende. Den valda undersökningsmetoden är av kvalitativ form, där fem respondenter från det svenska reseföretaget Ving blev intervjuade. Den kvalitativa intervjun med respondenterna hölls i San Fernando, Gran Canaria i februari 2010. Strukturen för hela intervjun utgjordes av fem stycken teman, angående påståenden gällande turister och deras beteende och agerande. Målet med undersökningen var att få reda på om respondenterna ansåg att svenska charter turister ändrar sitt beteende och agerande när de reser till Gran Canaria, och i så fall, till vilken utsträckning skulle det ändrade beteendet kontrollera dem. Slutsatsen av resultatet visade t.ex. att respondenterna ansåg att svenska charter turister ändrar sitt beteende delvis för att slippa verkligheten hemma, men de ansågs inte att ta på sig nya roller eller personligheter.