The impact of culture on the choice of accomodation facilities in holiday tourism: An application

One of the main facilities tourists need during their vacation is accomodation facilities. In today?s competitive environment, facilities can be successful only to the extent that they provide the majority of the services that their customers would need during their travel. There is a very strong relationship between consumer behaviour and "culture", that one of the many factors that effect consumer behaviour. Literature shows have found the same relationship between culture and touristic consumer behaviour. While there is some mention of cultural factors in various studies of touristic consumer behaviour, there seems to be no study that primarily deals with the subject of individualist-collectivist culture. A survey has been conducted for the application part of this study, in which 530 tourists participated. Classified according to the countries and cultures they belong to, these tourists have been identified to have come from a total of 29 countries, of which 12 are from a collectivist, and 17 from an individualist culture. The analyses of touristic consumer behaviour and tourist expectations show a significant difference between those tourists that show individualistic characteristics and those that have collectivist features. This difference is clearly important for the internationally active accomodation facilities and other touristic facilities. Depending on the mode of travel, the analyses also show that tourists which belong different cultures tend to choose different accomodation facilities. The tourism concept of today and the cultural variety of international tourists require a better understanding of the cultural differences between tourists. For an accomodation establishment open to tourism business, the ability to appeal effectively to tourists with cultural differences is an important factor in providing a positive and satisfying holiday experience. The satisfaction of the tourists, in turn, would help increase the profitability of the establishment, as well as contributing to the country's economy. KEY WORDS: Touristic Consumer Behaviour, Culture, Choice of Accomodation Facility, Tourism Marketing, Accomodation Establishment Marketing.