A latent class approach to examining migrant family travel behavior

Despite numerous studies suggesting the presence or absence of children influence family vacation travel, there has been little focus on migrant families. Latent class analysis was used to create empirically derived travel behaviour clusters of Western professional migrant families with and without children based on their motive to move, self-concept and how they construct a sense of home in the Hong Kong and Macau Special Administrative Regions of China. The analysis identified six distinct classes. Three groups were families without children and the rest were those with children. Each segment has markedly different travel behavior patterns with differences in demographic and migration characteristics also apparent. Implications for tourism management and future research are discussed.