A Comparison of Information Sources Used by Vacationing Germans and Japanese

Abstract

In order to promote a tourism destination, managers need to understand the sources of information most heavily used by foreign visitors in their search for information about overseas vacation destinations. This article examines the sources of information used by travelers from Japan and the former West Germany when they determine their top five overseas vacation destinations. This research discovered that both the Germans and Japanese relied heavily on multiple sources of information, with the travel agent being the number one information source for both groups. However, the Japanese relied more heavily on the print medium for their secondary information source. The Germans’ main secondary information source was word-of-mouth advice from family and friends.