Destination Attractiveness Drivers among Urban Hostel Tourists: An Analysis of Frustrators and Delighters

Abstract

This study is based on data from 679 tourists staying at hostel accommodation facilities in Zagreb, a propulsive city-break destination in Central Europe. Besides providing insight into the socio-demographic and behavioural characteristics of hostel tourists, this study uncovers determinant destination attributes influencing their perceptions of destination attractiveness. In particular, impact asymmetry analysis identified potential sources of delight and frustration among hostel tourists. Since the hostel tourist segment, as such, is almost completely unconsidered in contemporary tourism research, partly covered only by a few studies on youth travellers and backpackers, the results of this case study are valuable to both practitioners and researchers related to the hostelling industry and city destination marketing organizations.