Complementary, substitution, and independence among tourist trips

The relationship between day trips, short breaks (2-4 days), and holidays (5+ days) has never been examined at the level of the individual consumer because surveys on day and overnight trips are typically conducted independently. In this article, both the stated and the inferred relationship between day trips, short breaks, and holidays are explored. The stated relationship between these types of tourist trips is examined by investigating whether or not people consciously trade off ovemight trips against day trips. Li ttle evidence is found to infer that people consider these trips us interchangeable activities, suggesting independence between these tourist activities. The inferred relationship between day trips, short breaks, and holidays is examined by analyzing tourists' activ~ ity programs (the agenda of tourist activities for the next year) and by analyzing tourists' actual behavior. Activity programs are examined by means of rank and partial correlation analysis between the day trip, the short break, and the holiday segments of activity programs for a l-year period. Actual behavior is examined by means of cluster analysis, grouping together respondents with similar frequencies for holidays, short breaks, and day trips. Both the correlation and the cluster analysis suggest that holidays and day trips are substitutes. Holidays and short beaks, on the other hand, appear to be complements, whereas day trips and short breaks appear to be independent activities