Abstract

This study was designed to explore the expenditures of the visitors on a tourism festival. It was considered potential predictors that were the past visiting experience, duration time in the site, travel distance to the site, the purposes of the travel, travelling companions, and other demographic variables. Especially, two possible psychological mechanisms were focused that novelty or variety experience in the destination could have some mediating effects on the consumption influences of the past visiting experience and travel distance to the site, and the effects of duration time is based on compensation need for the psychological invests of the travelling. 325 visitors were surveyed in the exit of the 2001 World Festival for Islands Cultures that has been held in Jeju island. The results showed that the past visiting experience, duration time in the site, married condition, and sex are influencing on the expenditures. Additionally the visitors with the family did more expenditures than the visitors with friends. But it was not found that the predicted psychological mechanisms of the novelty experiences and psychological compensation is operating on the expenditures. In discussion, the authors have explained on the implications and the limitations of this study as well as the future studies.