Perceived influence of transportation services on tourism participation among travelers in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria

Abstract

Tourism is one of the development strategies working to unite the world by expansion, not without transportation services, though! The study assessed the perceived influence of transportation services on tourism participation in Ibadan Metropolis, Nigeria. A structured questionnaire was used to collect information from three hundred and thirty respondents who were randomly selected from Ibadan domestic airport, one public and one private motor park, one tricycle and one motorcycle terminal, all along Ife Road through Iwo Road to Ojoo Road, and Dugbe Train Station in Ibadan. The findings revealed that the factors considered most by respondents for choice/use of transportation services were accessibility(x=4.64) ranked first; Duration of the journey (x=4.36) ranked second; and Information about the transportation services and Availability (x=4.35) both tied on third position. It was also found that a bus was the most engaged transport by travelers while the airplane was the most preferred. Availability (r = 0.211) of transportation services had a low probability of influencing tourism participation; Comfort had the likelihood of influencing transportation choice in tourism participation varied. Ride comfort showed positive significance relationship with a high marginal effect on households’ participation (r=0.539) while ambient condition and facility did not have a significant influence and had a low marginal effect (r=0.626) thus, Comfort was found to influence transportation choice towards tourism participation. Customer care had a significant influence on transportation decision of tourists on tourism participation; Safety from crime (r=0.424) and safety from accident (r=0.419) had weak correlation coefficients with participation in tourism. Meanwhile, ticketing did not have a significant coefficient but had a moderate marginal effect of 0.681. The analysis further indicated that the probability of a traveler/tourist participating in tourism increased with increase in the ticketing. Time of the journey showed significant relationship between transportation and motivation to travel. Based on the results, it was recommended that transportation services need to improve to attract interest in travel which will translate to tourism participation.