Length of stay for low-cost tourism

Awareness of tourists' length of stay and the factors which determine that is an essential element for good planning and management at tourist destinations. This article analyses to what extent the personal characteristics of the low-cost tourist, those of the trip and stay and those of the destination itself are significant in determining the duration of a trip. To this end an econometric duration model is estimated. The results obtained show that the effect of time restrictions seem to be relevant for explaining the observed differences in length of stay, as well as the effects of the tourist's spending capacity, prices and the differences between urban and "sun and sand" destinations. Furthermore, the model also allows us to analyse changes in the likelihood of the stay being ended at a specific point in time (hazard) associated with changes in the explanatory variables, and to obtain predicted survival times for different groups of tourists. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.