Microsoft Word 2007 ichrie conference Proceedings Final-Final 06-06-07. doc

 
2007 Annual International CHRIE Conference & Exposition 
382
MEET THE PACKAGED TOURIST: A JAPANESE AND AMERICAN PERSPECTIVE 
Mark S. Rosenbaum 
College of Business/Dept. of Marketing 
Northern Illinois University 
DeKalb, IL USA 
and 
Daniel L. Spears 
School of Travel Industry Management 
University of Hawaii 
Honolulu, HI USA 
ABSTRACT 
Japan Travel Bureau recently reported that 46% of Japanese oversea travelers, in 2003, were part of a 
packaged tour, while 42% arranged their own travel. Interestingly, very little is actually known regarding 
demographic and consumption differences between Japanese packaged and independent tourists, especially 
regarding their shopping behaviors, or how Japanese -package tourists differ from another segment, such as 
packaged tourists from America.
The objective of this article is to address this chasm by exploring demographic and consumption 
differences between, and among, Japanese and American packaged and non-packaged tourists who are vacationing 
in Honolulu. The sample includes 198 and 127 Japanese independent and packaged tourists, respectively, as well as 
383 and 76 American independent and packaged tourists, respectively.