Panel Data, Event Histories and Dynamic Choice Modelling: its Usefulness in Tourism Research

Abstract

In recognition of the dynamic nature of many consumer decisions, household-based panel studies have been designed and implemented in a number of non-tourism contexts. Such panels involve the monitoring of individual and household behaviour over a period of time in order to gain an understanding of behavioural change as a basis for predicting change. Panel surveys can be of value in tourism contexts. They provide an opportunity to investigate a richer set of tourism behaviours than is possible with a single cross-section. In this paper we discuss the key advantages of a panel approach to studying tourism behaviour. We also outline a number of modelling frameworks which provide suitable approaches to measuring and predicting the sensitivity of choice behaviour to changes in the wider set of factors influencing behavioural response.