Studies scrutinizing the tangible and intangible factors regarding the length of stay (LOS) in a destination are rare. The emotional factors have not always been integrated into this analysis. We have contributed to fill this gap in the literature considering the degree of happiness with the tourist destination. We used a sample of 1253 tourists and three regression models were estimated (OLS regression model, a Weibull survival model and a zero-truncated negative binomial) to study the LOS. We verified that the emotional factor related with happiness affects the LOS. Furthermore, regarding the managerial/practical implications it is important to highlight that the tourists who intend to visit the city have gastronomic and wine experiences, and, through their contact with the cultural heritage of the city, they will stay for a longer period of time. In addition to economic factors, as expenditures, there are also emotional and experiential aspects that influence LOS and these have to be included in the communication of a tourist destination. The attributes of a destination are not enough to influence the LOS. The destination must also be a set of experiences that will increase the happiness of the tourist with the destination.
AguilóERossellóJVilaM (2017) Length of stay and daily tourist expenditure: A joint analysis. Tourism Management Perspectives21: 10–17.
2.
AhuviaAC (2017) Consumption, income and happiness. In: Lewis A (ed.) The Cambridge Handbook of Psychology and Economic Behaviour. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
3.
AlbayrakTCaberMAksoyS (2010) Relationships of the tangible and intangible elements of tourism products with overall customer satisfaction. International Journal of Trade, Economics and Finance1(2): 140–143.
4.
AlénELosadaNde CarlosP (2017) Profiling the segments of senior tourists throughout motivation and travel characteristics. Current Issues in Tourism20(14): 1454–1469.
5.
AlénENicolauJLLosadaN, et al. (2014) Determinant factors of senior tourists’ length of stay. Annals of Tourism Research49: 19–32.
6.
BarrosCPMachadoLP (2010) The length of stay in tourism. Annals of Tourism Research37(3): 692–706.
7.
BarrosCPButlerRCorreiaA (2010) The length of stay of golf tourism: A survival analysis. Tourism Management31(1): 13–21.
8.
BignéJEAndreuLGnothJ (2005) The theme park experience: An analysis of pleasure, arousal and satisfaction. Tourism Management26(6): 833–844.
9.
BridaJGMeledduMPulinaM (2013) Factors influencing length of stay of cultural tourists. Tourism Economics19(6): 1273–1292.
10.
BruwerJRueger-MuckE (2019) Wine tourism and hedonic experience: A motivation-based experiential view. Tourism and Hospitality Research19(4): 488–502.
11.
CarneiroMJEusébioC (2019) Factors influencing the impact of tourism on happiness. Anatolia30(4): 475–496.
12.
ChenYLiXR (2018) Does a happy destination bring you happiness? Evidence from Swiss inbound tourism. Tourism Management65: 256–266.
13.
CollinsDTisdellC (2002) Gender and differences in travel life cycles. Journal of Travel Research41(2): 133–143.
14.
CooperCFletcherJFyallA, et al. (2007) El Turismo: Teoría y práctica. Madrid, Spain: Síntesis.
15.
Del BosqueIRMartínHS (2008) Tourist satisfaction – A cognitive-affective model. Annals of Tourism Research35(2): 551–573.
16.
DienerESeligmanM (2002) Very happy people. Psychological Science13(1): 81–84.
17.
DienerEScollonCNLucasRE (2003) The evolving concept of subjective well-being: The multifaceted nature of happiness. Advances in Cell Aging and Gerontology15(2): 187–219.
18.
DienerESuhEMLucasRE, et al. (1999) Subjective well-being: Three decades of progress. Psychological Bulletin125(2): 276–302.
19.
EtkinJMogilnerC (2016) Does variety among activities increase happiness?Journal of Consumer Research43(2): 210–229.
20.
FilipovićN (2018) Intangible cultural heritage as a motive for choosing the tourist destination aranđelovac. Menadzment u Hotelijerstvu i Turizmu6(1): 53–62.
21.
GilletSSchmitzPMitasO (2016) The snap-happy tourist: The effects of photographing behavior on tourists’ happiness. Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research40(1): 37–57.
22.
GösslingGScottDHallCM (2018) Global trends in length of stay: Implications for destination management and climate change. Journal of Sustainable Tourism26(12): 2087–2101.
23.
HerzMArneggerJ (2016) Economic and destination image impacts of mega-events in emerging tourist destinations. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management5(2): 76–85.
Instituto Nacional de Estatistica (INE) (2019) Estatísticas do Turismo – 2018. Edição 2019. Available at: Portal do INE (accessed 20 January 2021).
26.
JacKmanMLordeTNaitramS, et al. (2020) Distance matters: The impact of physical and relative distance on pleasure tourists’ length of stay in Barbados. Annals of Tourism Research80: 102794.
27.
JacobsenJKSGösslingSDybedalP, et al. (2018) Exploring length of stay: International tourism in South-Western Norway. Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management35: 29–35.
28.
JensenJMHjalagerA-M (2019) Travel motivations of first-time, repeat and serial backpackers. Tourism and Hospitality Research19(4): 465–477.
29.
JianYZhouZZhouN (2019) Brand cultural symbolism, brand authenticity, and consumer well-being: The moderating role of cultural involvement. Journal of Product & Brand Management28(4): 529–539.
30.
KimJH (2014) The antecedents of memorable tourism experiences: The development of a scale to measure the destination attributes associated with memorable experiences. Tourism Management44: 34–45.
31.
KwonJLeeH (2020) Why travel prolongs happiness: Longitudinal analysis using a latent growth model. Tourism Management76: 103944.
32.
LalMKumarSAnonS (2019) Understanding the dynamics of length of stay of tourists in India through interpretive structure modeling. Review of Professional Management – A Journal of New Delhi Institute of Management16(2): 14–24.
33.
LawRAuN (2000) Relationship modeling in tourism shopping: A decision rules induction approach. Tourism Management21(3): 241–249.
34.
Martin-KrummCKernLFontayneP, et al. (2015) French adaptation of the orientation to happiness scale and its relationship to quality of life in French students. Social Indicators Research124(1): 259–281.
35.
Marujo N, SerraJMBorgesMR (2012) Visitors to the city of Évora: Who are they?European Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation3(2): 91–108.
36.
McCabeSJohnsonS (2013) The happiness factor in tourism: Subjective well-being and social tourism. Annals of Tourism Research41: 42–65.
37.
McKercherBTseTSM (2012) Is intention to return a valid proxy for actual repeat visitation? Journal of Travel Research51(6): 671–686.
38.
McKercherBWongDYY (2004) Understanding tourism behaviour: Examining the combined effects of prior visitation history and destination status. Journal of Travel Research43(2): 171–179.
MoscardoG (2017) Exploring mindfulness and stories in tourist experiences. International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research11(2): 111–124.
44.
NawijnJ (2011) Determinants of daily happiness on vacation. Journal of Travel Research50(5): 559–566.
45.
NealJUysalMSirgyMJ (2007) The effect of tourism services on travelers’ quality of life. Journal of Travel Research46(2): 154–163.
46.
NealJDSirgyMJUysalM (1999) The role of satisfaction with leisure travel/tourism services and experience in satisfaction with leisure life and overall life. Journal of Business Research44(3): 153–163.
47.
NiedermeierAAlbrechtLJahnB (2019) “Happy together”: Effects of brand community engagement on customer happiness. Journal of Relationship Marketing18(1): 54–76.
48.
LoureiroSMCBreazealeMRadicA (2019) Happiness with rural experience: Exploring the role of tourist mindfulness as a moderator. Journal of Vacation Marketing25(3): 279–300.
49.
LyubomirskySLepperHS (1999) A measure of subjective happiness: Preliminary, reliability and construct validation. Social Indicators Research46(2): 137–155.
50.
Oliveira SantoGERamosVReyMJ (2015) Length of stay at multiple destinations of tourism trips in Brazil. Journal of Travel Research54(6): 788–800.
51.
RiveraMCroesRLeeSH (2016) Tourism development and happiness: A residents’ perspective. Journal of Destination Marketing & Management5(1): 5–15.
52.
RyanRDeciE (2001) On happiness and human potentials: A review of research on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Annual Review of Psychology52(1): 141–166.
53.
SaaymanMLiGUysalM, et al. (2018) Tourist satisfaction and subjective well-being: An index approach. International Journal of Tourism Research20(3): 388–399.
54.
SääksjärviMHellénKDesmetP (2016) The effects of the experience recommendation on short and long-term happiness. Marketing Letters27(4): 675–686.
55.
SarraADi ZioSCappucciM (2015) A quantitative valuation of tourist experience in lisbon. Annals of Tourism Research53: 1–16.
56.
ŠeinauskienėBMaščinskienėJJucaitytėI (2015) The relationship of happiness, impulse buying and Brand loyalty. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences213: 687–693.
57.
SirgyJ (2019) Promoting quality-of-life and well-being research in hospitality and tourism. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing36(1): 1–13.
58.
SolomonMBamossyGAskegaardS and HoggMK (2006) Consumer Behaviour: A European Perspective. Fourth Edition Harlow: Prentice Hall.
59.
StroeAM (2016) Perspectives upon consumption and happiness. Romanian Review of Social Sciences6(11): 40–49.
60.
ThomasRMillarM (2013) The effects of material and experiential discretionary purchases on consumer happiness: Moderators and mediators. The Journal of Psychology147(4): 345–356.
61.
ThraneC (2016) Students’ summer tourism: Determinants of length of stay (LOS). Tourism Management54: 178–184.
62.
UysalMSirgyMJ (2019) Quality-of-life indicators as performance measures. Annals of Tourism Research76: 291–300.
63.
Van den BergPArentzeTTimmermansH (2011) Estimating social travel demand of senior citizens in the NetherlandsJournal of Transport Geography19: 323–331.
64.
WeiXMaEJiangK, et al. (2019) Pre-travel anticipation as a catalyst of happiness – Do demographics matter?Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management40: 21–30.
65.
WooEKimHUysalM (2015) Life satisfaction and support for tourism development. Annals of Tourism Research50: 84–97.
66.
WooEUysalMSirgyMJ (2019) What is the nature of the relationship between tourism development and the quality of life of host communities? In: Campon-Cerro AM, Hernandez-Mogollon JM and Folgado-Fernandez JA (eds) Best Practices in Hospitality and Tourism Marketing and Management. Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Springer, pp.43–62.
67.
WuH-CChengC-CAiC-H (2017) A study of experiential quality, equity, happiness, rural image, experiential satisfaction, and behavioral intentions for the rural tourism industry in China. International Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Administration18(4): 393–423.
68.
YangYZhangH (2015) Modeling tourists’ length of stay: Does one model fit all. Tourism Analysis20(1): 13–23.
69.
YuYJingFSuSTZhouN and NguyenB (2016) Impact of material vs. experiential purchase types on happiness: The moderating role of self-discrepancy. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, J. Consumer Behav.15: 571–579.
