The length of stay is an important decision during the tourist holiday planning, because it is linked to the allocated budget and the choice of type of accommodation. Moreover, it is an important element for tourism demand because it induces both the experienced actions and activities and consequently, the money spent at the destination.
Nowadays, tourists tend to travel several times during the year but for shorter time. This study aims to investigate the factors influencing the length of stay of international tourists visiting Venice, Italy. Venice has to deal with major issues caused by the significant growth of tourism such as tourists overcrowding, the high number of day-trippers and the decline of the population. The results from this study may contribute to solve the problems that Venice is facing. It could assist the destination marketers in identifying and targeting overnight tourists presenting the longest length of stay. Thereby, it would favour higher rate of occupancy in accommodations and higher tourism earnings.
A quantitative method is chosen for this study based on an empirical model using an OLS (Ordinary Least Square) regression. This study is carried out by using secondary data collected by an Italian consulting firm between January 2012 and January 2013. The model includes the factors that have been identified from literature, for instance the tourists’ profile (such as age and occupation) and some trips characteristics (such as package and size group). Some factors have stronger effects than others; although, empirical findings demonstrate that each variable does influence the length of stay. The findings indicate that the available time of tourists, their budget and distance between residence and holiday’s destination are also relevant factors influencing the duration of stay.