ABSTRACT
Braun and Soskin (2002) claimed that the day-trip market has been largely ignored in the tourism literature, particularly in relation to economic and product development impacts. Theirs is one of the few studies specifically examining self-drive day-trip travellers. They found that use of a private vehicle to get to a day-trip destination was a significant factor in determining frequency of travel, the capacity to change travel arrangements on short notice and the tendency to travel in relatively small groups. Issues relating to management of the vehicle in the destination, such as parking facilities and access to off-road (in their case, beach) driving sites were important to travellers, but not as important as the ability to experience the natural and cultural environment. The vehicle allowed frequent and spontaneous access to favourite day-trip sites, but was not an essential accessory for enjoying the destination once the traveller had arrived. Similarly, Vogel (2005), in a study of day-trip tourism by residents of Berlin, Germany, found that, while over 70 per cent of trips were taken by private vehicle, the destinations visited tended to correspond with those serviced by public transport, with relatively little additional dispersal of self-drive visitors.
