Determinants of tourists’ expenditure on tea souvenirs: an empirical evidence from the tea tourism in Thailand

Abstract

Tea tourism as an emerging niche market has become more and more widespread, with the improvement of people’s health consciousness. Through a study in Thailand, this study aims at identifying the factors influencing tourists’ expenditure on tea souvenirs. Four hundred eleven questionnaires were administered; Tobit model were adopted on based on tourists of tea tourism. The results show that tea tourists and non-tea tourists have significant distinctions in terms of their expenditure of buying tea as souvenir. Tea tourists are mainly those think that drinking tea is a healthy lifestyle; they tend to be both males and females (yet female account for a significantly higher proportion than males), over 60 years old, who have tea tourism experience. This research also gives some marketing suggestions for this ecological market. Keywords: Tea tourism, tourists’ expenditure, souvenirs