Push and pull escape travel motivations of Emirati nationals to Australia

Abstract

Purpose - This study adopts the push and pull framework to identify travel motivations of the

Emirati nationals to Australia. The aim is to examine the escape motivations of this emerging

market and provide suggestions for Australia’s promotion.

Design/methodology/approach - The study uses a series of focus groups and in-depth

interviews to understand the escape motivations that encourage the Emiratis to leave their

home country and travel for a holiday to Australia.

Findings - The results indicate that the Emiratis are motivated to travel to Australia by four

escape factors: physical, personal, interpersonal, and fun. The internal motivations that

encourage the Emiratis to escape their home country are inseparable from Australia’s

external attributes that attract the Emiratis to the country.

Originality/value – The study contributes to the theory of tourist motivation by supporting it

in the culturally different Muslim/Arab context, which has not been explored before. The

authors argue that it is not so much what Australia offers and what escape needs the Emiratis

can fulfil in Australia, rather that Australia serves the Emiratis well and meets their escape

needs.

Keywords

Push and pull motivation, escape motivation, Emiratis, United Arab Emirates

Paper type Research paper

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Introduction

Push and pull motivations are important factors in understanding tourist behaviour, especially

in destination choice. There is a large body of studies that have examined tourist motivations

based on the push/pull framework. However, very little research work on Muslim/Arab

tourist motivations in the push and pull framework has been done. This is surprising because

travel is an important element of the Arab lifestyle (HalalFocus, 2011). Islam endorses travel

and leisure and considers it to be vital in life (Hashim et al., 2006).

As part of the Arab world, the Middle East is one of the world’s fastest growing tourism

generating regions. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a key tourist market in the Middle

East (Augustine, 2014; UNWTO, 2012). The outbound overseas travel of the UAE nationals

(the Emiratis) increased from 17 to 21 per cent between 2012 and 2014 (Pan Arab Research

Centre, 2015). The UAE market has a high spending power (Ali, 2014; Scott and Jafari,

2010) and is very lucrative to target.

Australia is one of the most popular destinations to visit by the UAE travellers (Francis

2016). Australia is trying to attract tourists from the UAE (Baheti, 2016). However, despite

the growing interest of the Emiratis in Australia, the number of the Emiratis visiting Australia

is very small. Of Australia’s seven million plus inbound travellers (Tourism Australia, 2016),

there were only 157,000 Emirati travellers in 2012 and 214,000 in 2015 (Pan Arab Research

Centre, 2015). This is probably because there has also been little promotion of Australian

tourism in the UAE (Tourism Queensland, 2014). Also, Australia’s destination marketing

organizations (DMOs) have a limited understanding of what motivates the Emiratis to travel

to Australia (Tourism Queensland, 2014).

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Motivations differ among culturally different tourist markets (Kim and Prideaux, 2005). The

past studies focused on motivations of Western (e.g., Kim et al., 2007; Sangpikul, 2008;

Goossens, 2000) and Asian travellers (e.g., Jang and Wu, 2006; Gilbert and Terrata, 2001;

Prayag and Ryan, 2011). Only few motivation studies focused on Muslim/Arab travellers

(e.g., Alghamdi, 2007; Bogari et al., 2003: Mohsin and Alsawafi, 2011) and even fewer

examined the UAE travellers (e.g., Michael, 2014; Michael et al., 2011; Prayag and Hosany,

2014).

This study aims to a) analyse the push and pull escape motivations of the Emiratis traveling

to Australia; b) understand how the internal escape motivations of the Emiratis encourage

(push) them to escape their home country and how the external Australia’s characteristics

attract (pull) the Emiratis to the country; and c) explore the mutual relationships between the

internal and external escape motivations of the Emiratis traveling to Australia.

Literature Review

Motivation

Motivation is the force that arouses and directs travel behaviour (Iso-Ahola, 1982).

Motivation is “a state of need, a condition that exerts a push on the individual towards certain

types of actions that are seen as likely to bring satisfaction” (Moutinho, 1987, p.16).

Motivation is “[...a] network of biological and cultural forces, which gives… direction to

travel choices, behaviour, and experience” (Pearce et al., 1998, p. 215). Thus, motivation is a

major determinant of tourist behaviour (Smith and Costello, 2009; Yoon and Uysal, 2005;

Yuan et al., 2005).

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Tourism researchers have investigated travel motivation (e.g., Crompton, 1979; Dann, 1977;

Gnoth, 1997). The past studies focused on motivations to travel to different destinations

(Yuan and McDonald, 1990), participate in distinct activities (Fluker and Turner, 2000;

Formica and Uysal, 1998; Qu and Ping, 1999), and attend festival events (Crompton and

McKay, 1997) by tourists of different nationalities. These studies identified motivations

ranging from the physical characteristics of tourism destinations to the traveller’s

psychological motivations, such as escape (Iso-Ahola, 1982), self-actualization, social

interaction, excitement (Crompton, 1979), or relaxation (Goossens, 2000). Despite the large

number of motivation studies done in tourism, research on the Muslim/Arab travel market is

very limited (Albughuli, 2011; Bogari et al., 2003).

Theoretical motivation models

Motivation is a key component in behavioural models investigating tourist consumption

(Gnoth, 1997). Various theories exist to classify and understand tourists’ motivations.

Examples include expectancy-value theories (Lewin, 1938), goal-directed behaviour

(Bettman, 1979), hierarchy of needs (Maslow, 1954), push and pull framework (Crompton,

1979; Dann, 1977; Klenosky, 2002), escaping-seeking dichotomy (Iso-Ahola, 1982),

allocentric-psychocentric typology (Plog, 1972, 1974, 1991), travel career ladder (Pearce and

Lee, 2005), and dependables-venturers and authentics-venturers models (Plog, 2001). This

study focuses on Crompton’s (1979) push and pull framework because it is most popular and

commonly used (Kanagaraj and Bindu, 2013; Kim et al., 2003; Mohammad and Som, 2010;

Uysal and Jurowski, 1994). Crompton’s (1979) framework identifies travel motivations of

tourists (Nikjoo and Ketabi, 2015), explains why tourists choose a specific destination, the

type of experiences they seek, and the type of activities they want (Chen et al., 2011). The

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push and pull framework has been examined in different contexts and is widely accepted

worldwide (Yuan and McDonald, 1990; Uysal and Hagan, 1993).

Most tourism studies used Crompton’s (1979) push and pull framework to investigate

Western and Asian travellers’ motivations (e.g., Caber and Albayrak, 2016; Mohammad and

Som, 2010; Wong and Musa, 2015). However, there is a gap in the literature as to the

application of this framework in the Muslim/Arab context. Therefore, this study uses

Crompton’s framework to examine the Emiratis’ motivations to travel to Australia. Australia

is a very different country from the UAE in terms of its physical and socio-cultural

environment and it is important to determine what needs (push factors) the Emiratis want to

fulfill in Australia and how Australia’s characteristics attract (pull factors) the Emiratis and

meet these needs. The focus is on the Emiratis’ escape needs. The study explains how the

escape factor encourages the Emiratis’ travel decisions and what needs to be done to attract

more Emiratis to Australia.

Push and pull motivation framework

The concept behind Crompton’s (1979) push-pull framework is that tourists travel because

they are pushed by their internal forces and pulled by the external forces of a destination.

Most of the push factors are origin-related and represent internal desires of the individual

travellers (Uysal and Hagan, 1993), which are socio-psychological in nature (Crompton,

1979). The examples of the push factors are desire for freedom, interpersonal relationships,

and family bonding (Sung et al., 2016). On the other hand, pull factors are destination related

(Crompton, 1979) and represent tangible features or the ‘object’ that motivates individuals to

travel to the destination (Dann, 1977). The examples of the pull factors are climate, natural

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environment, exotic architecture (Uysal and Hagan, 1993), beach activities (Abodeeb, Wilson

and Moyle, 2015), fun and entertainment and outdoor activities (Sirisack et al., 2014).

The influence of push motivation

Travel has more to do with a person’s needs, motives and personality and less to do with the

destination (Epperson, 1983). According to Dann (1977), ‘what makes tourists travel’ relates

to push motivations and the destination’s pull motivations are relatively unimportant.

Crompton (1979) supported Dann’s argument by suggesting that tourists’ do not travel to

particular locations to seek cultural artefacts or insights; rather they travel for socio-

psychological reasons. Therefore, push factors are major travel motivations (Nicolau and

Mas, 2006) and pull factors are just common-sense explanations of tourist activities (Pizam et

al., 1979). According to Sharpley (1999), push factors encourage individuals to purchase a

holiday first, and pull factors decide the destination selection based on the fulfillment of

tourists’ needs. This is because tourists are driven more by their internal needs than by the

attractions of a destination. Thus, the internal needs to be fulfilled are of primary importance,

whereas the destination attractions are of secondary importance (Ivanovic, 2009; Lubbe,

1998; Jang et al., 2009). According to Correia et al., (2007), travel arises from push

motivations first and these determine pull motivations.

The influence of pull motivation

According to Luo and Deng (2007), tourists have needs that can only be fulfilled by specific

destinations. If tourists have a need to acquire historical knowledge, they will consider only

those destinations that fulfil this need (Lubbe, 1998). It is a destination’s attributes that come

first and decide the destination choice. Also, destination attributes may stimulate and

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reinforce the inherent push motivations (Yoon and Uysal, 2005). For example, the

availability of museums and galleries at a destination may stimulate tourists’ internal needs

for knowledge and education. Moreover, when confronted with many alternatives the

travellers evaluate destinations in terms of their abilities to best satisfy tourists’ internal

needs. Destination external characteristics decide which place the traveller selects. According

to Crompton (1979), the pull motivations tend to be more apparent only for taking a pleasure

vacation.

Relationships between push and pull motivation

According to Lubbe (1998), tourists are driven equally by both push and pull motivations.

For instance, one may have a need for adventure and thus take a holiday in a ski resort, or one

may have a need for socializing and thus take a packaged tour holiday. Also, push and pull

motivations may reciprocally interact with each other (Mehmetoglu, 2011; Prayag, 2012;

Yousefi and Marzuki, 2015). The appeal of destination attributes as external pull motivations

depends upon internal push motivations, which encourage individuals to travel to destinations

(Uysal and Jurowski, 1994).

According to Oh and Pizam (2008), the influence of the push and pull motivations on

travellers’ decisions occurs interdependently because both types of motivations

simultaneously influence destination selection (Alghamdi, 2007; Baloglu and Uysal, 1996;

Lee et al., 2002). Push factors are reasons for travel (e.g., to escape from a cold winter) that

can also be pull factors that are benefits sought from travel (e.g., to be in a warm climate)

and, simultaneously, benefits can be reasons for travel (Iso-Ahola, 1982; Baloglu and Uysal,

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1996). The most successful destinations provide most benefits and respond best to tourists’

needs.

Scholars investigated the relationship between push and pull motivations (e.g., Hanqin and

Lam, 1999; Jang and Cai, 2002; Kim and Lee, 2002; You et al., 2000). For example, Prayag

and Ryan (2011) found the relationship between push and pull motivations of international

tourists to Mauritius. The pull factors of sun, sand, and sea were associated with the push

factors of relaxation and escape, whereas the push factors of social interaction and kinship

were linked to pull factors that reflected the opportunity to visit friends and relatives. The

push factor of familiarity of the place was associated with the pull factors of visiting family

and friends, quality of hotels, friendliness of people, and re-enactment of previous enjoyable

experiences.

Push and pull motivation framework in the cross-cultural context

Crotts and Pizam (2003) argued that tourists from different cultures have different

motivations. Studies identified differences in push and pull motivations among international

tourists (e.g., Alghamdi, 2007; Park et al., 2015; Seebaluck et al., 2015; Tangeland et al.,

2013; Yousefi and Marzuki, 2015). For example, Park et al., (2015) noted that Taiwanese and

Western tourists visiting Macau, China were more pushed by knowledge and fun, while

Mainland Chinese and Hongkongese tourists by relaxation and escape. Hongkongese tourists

were more pulled by local cultural resources, gambling and entertainments, Taiwanese

tourists by gambling and entertainment, and Westerners by Macau’s exciting and relaxing

atmosphere. Wong and Musa (2015) reported that British retirees traveling to Malaysia were

more pushed by instant thoughts, weakening political stability and security, and the need for

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tranquility and simple life, whereas Japanese retirees by the need for active change upon

retirement, the retiring opportunities overseas, and the need for a meaningful second life.

British retirees were more pulled by beautiful country’s side and food diversity, whereas

Japanese retirees were more attracted to good amenities and residential areas, the host

country’s image, and exotic fruits. Table 1 presents examples of the motivation studies that

used push and pull framework in the cross-cultural tourism context.

------------------------Insert Table 1 here------------------------

Motivation to travel to Australia: push and pull framework

Numerous researchers examined tourists’ motivations to travel to Australia by using the push

and pull framework. For example, Cocolas et al., (2016) determined that the major push

factors of the winter alpine tourists to Australia were rejuvenation, novelty/adventure, and

self-expression, whereas the major pull factors were snow-related activities, place

attachment, safety and reliability of a destination, and après-ski facilities. Zhang and Peng

(2014) noted that the important push factors encouraging Chinese tourists to travel to Cairns,

Australia were rest and relaxation, unique experience, and enhanced knowledge, whereas the

important pull factors were the scenery and Cairns’ natural environment. Kao et al., (2008)

reported that the main push factor motivating Taiwanese tourists to travel to Australia was

seeing the world, whereas the main pull factors were sunshine and scenery.

Motivation to travel to Australia by Muslim/Arab tourists

Michael et al., (2011) found that the Emiratis traveling to Victoria, Australia were motivated

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by push factors, such as enhancement of kinship relationships and social interaction, and

pulled by the opportunities to shop for local products, natural attractions, spas, museums,

horse-riding and snow related activities. In order to motivate Muslim/Arab visitors to travel

to the Gold Coast, Australia the Australian online marketing websites emphasized a wide

variety of accommodation and the unique natural environment, whereas the Arabic websites

showcased beaches and shopping malls (Abodeeb et al., 2015).

Escape push and pull motivation

Escape is one of the major psychological forces that push people to travel (Caber and

Albayrak, 2016; Cohen, 2010). People are motivated to go on holiday to escape the mundane

aspects of their daily physical and social environments (Crompton, 1979; Dann, 1977), take a

break from the ordinary (Oh et al., 1995) and everyday routine (Mehmetoglu, 2005), forget

about the home duties (You et al., 2000) and social commitments and the behavioural norms

and values of one’s society (Cohen, Higham, Peeters and Gossling, 2014), leave social life

behind (Turner, 1982), get a change from a busy job (Yoon and Uysal, 2005), immerse in a

different experience (McCabe, 2014) and lifestyle that people cannot obtain at home

(Sangpikul, 2008; Yousefi and Marzuki, 2015), experience change (Alghamdi, 2007), and

achieve balance in life (Crompton, 1979; Dann, 1977). Even the most prized living

environments may push people to escape for a vacation (Crompton, 1979) to fulfil various

motivations (McCabe, 2014). According to Dann (1977), the need to escape stems from

anomie, which is a state of “society whose norms governing interaction have lost their

integrative force and where lawlessness, meaninglessness and a feeling of alienation prevail”

(p.186). Thus, a vacation filled with new activities and experiences unavailable in the home

environment can help to restore balance.

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Escape motivation was examined in different contexts and tourist groups. For example,

Japanese tourists travelled for a holiday to the United Kingdom to escape from their daily

routines and find new experiences in a different culture (Gilbert and Terrata, 2001). Indian

tourists travelled for a holiday to Bangkok to reduce stress and learn new things, have fun,

and experience a different place (Thairath, Local Thai Newspaper, 2010). Escape was the

second most influential motivation for English, French, German, Italian and South African

tourists to Mauritius as it offered an opportunity to experience different weather, unique

landscapes and scenery, exotic flora and fauna, beautiful beaches, friendly locals, and unique

culture (Kassean and Gassita, 2013). International tourists escaped to Thailand to experience

the traditional Thai markets and Thai food (Yiamjanya and Wongleedee (2014). Arab tourists

travelled to Australia to escape the hot weather in their home countries, feel safe, and

experience friendliness of locals (Mick, 2007).

Although tourists may feel a strong desire (push) to escape their home environment, pull

motivations may encourage them to escape to a new environment (Lee et al., 2002). Iso-

Ahola (1982) suggested the escaping and seeking dichotomy within which individuals are

pushed to escape their home environment and pulled by different environments and intrinsic

rewards these environments offer. For example, Western tourists choose to visit local

communities in sub-Saharan Africa because they possessed unique indigenous cultural and

nature-based attractions that were lacking in their urban environment (Akama and Sterry,

2002). The escaping and seeking dichotomy correlates with Crompton’s (1979) push/pull

framework (Crompton and McKay, 1997).

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Cultural issues associated with Muslim/Arab travel to non-Arab destinations

In general, Muslim/Arab travelers wish to follow their socio-cultural norms and religious

practices when going overseas. However, these norms and practices restrict Muslim/Arab

tourists travel decisions (Hashim et al., 2006). For example, in the UAE, Emirati women

cover their heads with a shaila (scarf) and wear long black abayas (gowns), whereas men

wear long white kandouras (gowns) and ghutra (scarves) that restrict them from going to the

beach or swimming (Shakona et al., 2015). Muslim/Arab tourists stay in hotels that are sharia

compliant (Henderson, 2010; Ozdemir and Met, 2012; Zulkharnain and Jamal, 2012) and

offer separate rooms, swimming pools and recreational facilities to avoid free gender mixing

(Hashim et al., 2006). Muslim/Arabs do not eat pork and drink alcohol forbidden in Muslim

countries (Hodge, 2002). Muslim/Arabs do not engage in activities like gambling because

these activities are not permitted in Islam (Miller, 2004). Many Muslim/Arabs may perceive

the religious and socio-cultural aspects of their life to act as potential travel constraints.

In summary, tourists are motivated to travel by push and pull factors that interact with each

other and influence tourists interdependently. Tourists from different cultures have different

travel motivations. The escape motivation is an important travel motivation (push factor) that

triggers tourists’ desire to go away and destination characteristics (pull factors) meet this

desire. Muslim/Arab tourists may feel a strong desire to escape the socio-cultural and

religious aspects of their home environment and host destination attributes may encourage

them to escape to a new environment.

Method

Study site and sampling

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The study was conducted in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, UAE in 2010. The target sample was

chosen from the Emiratis who had travelled to Australia for leisure purposes. Since the

Emirati population is small and not very open to those from outside their community (Forbes

Formula HSBC Survey, 2012) a snowball sampling technique was used to identify potential

respondents. A total sample included 32 Emirati nationals. Although the sample size is small

it did not pose a problem for supporting credible conclusions. In qualitative studies sample

sizes are generally smaller than in quantitative studies (see Hardy and Gretzel, 2011; Song

and Hsu, 2013). Also, the data saturation level was achieved.

Data collection

Two types of interview techniques were used: focus groups and in-depth interviews. The

focus groups were conducted first to determine the format of the in-depth interviews. All

interviews were conducted in English and Arabic by the bi-lingual researcher. There were 17

respondents participating in three focus groups and 15 participating in 14 in-depth interviews

(two respondents were interviewed together). The participants from the focus groups were

not included in the in-depth interviews. The duration of the focus group discussions varied

between 60 and 90 minutes, whereas the duration of the in-depth interviews ranged from 30

to 90 minutes. All interviews were audio recorded except for one.

The interviews were semi-structured. The respondents were asked about their desire for

various holiday experiences and activities, the importance of the escape motivation, reasons

for traveling to Australia, the importance of choosing Australia in terms of specific

experiences, perceptions of the local population, and the way Australian holidays helped the

respondents to cope with the UAE home environment. The respondents were asked the same

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questions in both focus groups and in-depth interviews. The questions asked were adapted

from previous research (see Dann, 1977, 1981; Hanqin and Lam, 1999; Kim and Lee, 2002;

Uysal and Jurowski, 1994) and adjusted for the purpose of the study. Many questions were

open-ended to allow the Emiratis to reveal their feelings and experiences. Since the Emirati

society is traditional and conservative (Michael, 2014) sensitive questions were not directly

asked. However, effort was made to identify whether the controversial issues (considered

unacceptable or haram in Islam) served as push or pull travel-motivating factors. The

anonymity of the respondents was assured; all answers were confidential and voluntary. In

the study, all respondents’ names are fictitious to conceal their identity.

Analysis

A Qualitative Content Analysis (QCA) was adapted using Elo and Kyngas’s (2008) deductive

and inductive analysis procedure consisting of three stages: preparation, organization, and

reporting the results. In the preparation and organization stages of the analysis, the

researchers adapted Guba’s (1978) and Lincoln and Guba’s (1985) strategy for examining the

categories and relationships within the identified escape motivations. The preparation stage

involved selecting and understanding the data obtained from the transcribed interviews.

Every in-depth interview and focus group session was transcribed to record all the

information the participants provided about their behaviors and thoughts (Zhang and

Wildemuth, 2009). The researchers took into account only manifest content and ignored

latent content (e.g., silence, sighs, laughter, posture) (Catanzaro, 1988). Attention was paid to

words and sentences containing several and hidden meanings. The organization stage

involved deductive (included open coding) and inductive (included open coding and

abstraction) analyses. Open coding, for both deductive and inductive analyses, was done

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simultaneously. The deductive analysis involved grouping the collected data under the escape

motivation name (under Crompton’s escape category), whereas the inductive analysis

involved grouping the data that indirectly related to the reason for escape (additional

categories were created that did not fit Crompton’s escape category). Abstraction included

filling-in, extension, and surfacing. Filling-in involved reconstructing a coherent scheme as

new ways of looking at the data set emerged, and creating new codes and themes (e.g., escape

from one’s intrapersonal and interpersonal environment). Extension involved investigating

the information collected earlier through a new theme, construct, or relationship (e.g., escape

from the UAE home social environment). Surfacing involved finding new categories,

proposing new information that ought to fit, and verifying their existence (e.g., escape to the

Australian host community). Finally, the examined data were grouped into different escape

motivation categories (see the Results and Discussion section).

Results and Discussion

In the focus groups seven respondents were females and 10 males, whereas in the in-depth

interviews seven respondents were males and eight were females. All respondents were

between 20 and 60 years old. Most respondents had a university degree and were employed.

Two respondents were in the final year of their undergraduate university studies. All

respondents travelled to Australia for leisure purposes; some were on their second or third

visit to Australia. The four distinct categories of the escape motivation that emerged during

interviews were physical, personal, interpersonal, and fun. These are presented and discussed

below.

Physical escape motivations

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Weather

The major factor that motivated all Emiratis to escape to Australia was the weather. As

explained by Khalifa,

“Once you get touched by the heat here [in the UAE] you just want to escape to

somewhere where it is cold… so it’s always Australia on your mind.”

In the UAE temperatures often reach 45-50 degrees Celsius. During the northern summer

months of June to August hot weather combined with high humidity motivates the Emiratis to

go to a place that has a milder climate (Michael et al., 2011; Prayag and Hosany, 2014).

Southern winter and relatively lower temperatures, as compared to the UAE, motivated the

Emiratis to travel to Australia. The weather motivation, however, seems to be seasonal and

applied in the summer months only.

Landscape

Nearly all respondents wanted to escape the UAE’s sandy desert landscape and see

Australia’s green nature, rainforests and mountain ranges, and experience its unpolluted

environment. As reported by Hussein:

“We go there [to Australia] to see greenery, nature … different landscape altogether.

We’ve got beautiful landscapes [in the UAE] … desert… our oasis… we call them

wadis, which are like valleys. But it’s very much different over there [in Australia]

when you see that sort of greenery, the cleanliness and less pollution… it is a healthy

experience.”

The UAE are located on the edge of Rub al-Khali (the empty quarter), one of the world’s

largest deserts. The country has a flat and barren landscape subject to frequent sandstorms.

On the other hand, Australia has many varieties of beautiful landscapes, including dense bush

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areas and the Great Dividing Range of mountains, clean coastal beaches, and the Great

Barrier Reef. Australia is also a home to many unique species of flora and fauna (e.g.,

kangaroos, koalas, wombats) one cannot see anywhere else in the world.

The study’s finding is consistent with past studies claiming that weather/climate and

landscape are important travel motivations and elements in destination choice (Becken,

2010). For example, Williams (1998) noted that climate and landscape are equally, if not

more, important than other environmental factors in motivating tourists to escape to places

other than their own. According to Fyhri, Jacobsen and Tømmervik (2009), tourists prefer

lush and densely vegetated landscapes and seek experiencing something what is lacking in

their home environment.

Outdoor activities

Outdoor activities represented another important factor motivating Emiratis’ travel to

Australia. For instance, Reem said:

“When you go on holiday … you can do whatever you want to, like swimming. No one

can or will tell you what to do, no one will catch you and tell you to stop doing what

you are doing, like here [in the UAE] you find it a lot. Like yah, don’t swim at the

beach … dress properly…they are going at you [meaning telling you off].”

The Emiratis felt their participation in outdoor activities at home was limited because of strict

socio-cultural norms and religious practices, including a dress code. For example, according

to Shallal (2011), the Emirati women are particularly restricted in their mobility and activities

due to conservative cultural attitudes. Australian holiday allowed the Emiratis for

experiencing the freedom of doing what they wanted and facilitated participation in outdoor

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activities. This finding is consistent with Wu, Xu and Erdogan (2009) claiming that tourists

travel to engage in outdoor activities.

Beaches

Several respondents mentioned Australia’s attractive beaches. For example, Fatima said,

“There are open beaches over there [in Australia]; as to us, we do not have open

beaches, we have parks.” Mirza said, “The first thing we enjoyed there [in Australia]

compared with here [in the UAE] it is the beach, big, different, and the ocean… and

we try to swim in the ocean.”

Australia’s coastline stretches for 50,000 kilometres. With more than 10,000 beaches around

its shores, Australia leads the world when it comes to the best sandy beaches, which are

exceptional for their surfing, swimming, wildlife and beauty (Moore, 2009). Australian

holidays gave the Emiratis a chance to experience beautiful wide and open beaches and swim

in the ocean. Also, many Emiratis desired to go for morning walks along a beach, have a

beach-side BBQ’s and picnics, and even listen to tunes of waves. As Khalifa said, “I am not

a sports person but I like seeing the nature, probably a bit of walking along the beach.”

Pedestrian environment

The Emiratis felt they could walk more in Australia. For example, Saad said:

“The only thing we would be doing more is walk, … as opposed to here [in the UAE]

where you can’t walk much”… a feeling of freedom – because you can walk easily

and you do not need to drive.”

Several respondents said they were not able to walk in their country because the UAE do not

have pedestrian-friendly places. The Emiratis felt Australia has lots of trails and greenways,

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clean roads and streets, comfortable pedestrian facilities, waterfronts and parks where they

could enjoy walking and have rest.

The above findings support McIntosh and Goeldner’s (1990) claim that physical travel

motivations reflect a need for participating in outdoor and health-related activities. The

Emiratis were pushed to escape their physically unfriendly home environment and pulled by

Australia’s outdoor healthy environment. This supports Iso-Ahola’s (1982) escaping-seeking

dichotomy and confirms that individuals are motivated to leave behind their home

environments and go to other places, which meet their unfulfilled needs.

Personal motivations to escape

Daily responsibilities

The Emiratis admitted they go for a holiday to forget about everyday routines and escape

work pressures and stress. For example, Hussein said,

“Being in the routine of work … here in the UAE … Sometimes you really need to

take a break from all …and holidays are an ideal get-away.”

According to Krippendorf (1987), people’s travel choices are shaped by their specific society

and everyday life. Often people want to escape their world of personal troubles and failures,

and seek rewards of rest and relaxation, recharge and renewal (e.g., Assiouras et al., 2015; Li

et al., 2016). Likewise, according to Goodall (1988), tourism offers chances to escape work

and daily chores (McCabe, 2009) and relieve physical and mental tension through rest and

relaxation in new environments (Van Vuuren and Slabbert, 2011). It is commonly known that

Australia is an easy-going and laid-back country (Zeveloff, 2013). It seems that in the

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Australian stress-free and relaxed environment the Emiratis could forget about daily

responsibilities, unwind and feel renewed.

Physical and time distance

The need to escape from work-related stress motivated the Emiratis to travel long distances

and across time zones. According to Latifa,

“[Australia] was something like a good get-away. The time difference… it was

different… Usually when you are travelling you are not very fond of using the phone

or checking your emails, so this time difference helped.”

It appears that Australia was a perfect holiday destination for the Emiratis. The geographical

and time distance gave the Emiratis a chance to break from social communication and media,

and forget about the Internet and phone calls. Although tourists often carry work with them

when on vacation (Crompton, 1979) the interviewed Emiratis did not take any work with

them when traveling to Australia.

Interpersonal motivations to escape

Family

For most Emiratis one of the main reasons to travel to Australia was the opportunity to spend

quality time with families and relatives and enjoy each other’s company. Shereen noted,

“Opportunity to be together with the family…I travel with my family, especially with

my cousins… so we get bigger groups and have more fun together”.

Traditionally, the Emiratis are strongly motivated by family togetherness; they always travel

with family members and relatives. Emirati social circles tend not to include co-workers or

neighbours when holidaying, whether at home or outside the home environment. The

20

Emiratis perceived Australia as a family-friendly destination that greatly fulfilled their needs

for family bonding. Traveling to Australia was enjoyable because it brought all family

members together. This finding is supported by previous studies (e.g., Kim et al., 2003;

McCabe, 2009; Mohammad and Som, 2010; Yoon and Uysal, 2005).

Australia also provided the Emiratis with a great opportunity for engaging in family-friendly

activities. As Khalifa stated:

“We could sit in coffee shops or restaurants, or just walk along the beach… we were

all together…and teenagers could go and play together… Kids loved it because of all

the interactions with animals and the wildlife… and feeding kangaroos, feeding

koalas…, stuff like this which for kids is like a plus. In Europe you have these

activities but they are not promoted the same way.”

Australia fulfilled the Emiratis’ needs for family activities because it offered a great variety

of places to go, things to do, and activities to engage in when traveling with a family. The

Emiratis and their families could go to a variety of coffee shops and restaurants, visit theme

parks, experience rainforest and bush lands, and take their children to zoos and animal farms

to see wildlife, or go to aquariums to explore the underwater world.

Emirati nationals

Australia offered the Emiratis an opportunity to escape their nationals and other Arabs. As

Noura said,

“We went there [to Australia] because we didn’t find locals or anything like Arabs;

we went just to get away from Arabs.”

21

The Emiratis’ society places a lot of pressure on socially acceptable behaviour. Individuals

are bound by strict family-mandated cultural norms. Therefore, when on holiday the Emiratis

try to escape their socio-cultural norms and not to mix with other Emiratis/Arab families

(Michael, 2014).

The Emiratis preferred to travel to Australia than to other countries, such as the United

Kingdom or Germany that attract a large number of Arab tourists. For example, Latifa said,

“We went to Australia because there are not many Arabs there… Arabs travel to

London… and Germany.”

Friendliness of the Australian people was another motivating pull factor. Mirza stated,

“Australians are friendly, they seem to have fun, they are happy.” The Emiratis often

compared Australians to other nationalities. For example, Hussein commented, “Australians

are very friendly, not like Europeans.” It appears that friendliness and welcoming attitude of

the local people attracted the Emiratis to Australia.

According to Crompton (1979), pleasure vacations may be more people-oriented than place-

oriented. Travellers undertaking people-oriented vacations often escape their interpersonal

world of co-workers, family members, relatives, friends, and neighbours to gain rewards of

more varied and increased social interaction (Iso-Ahola, 1982) with friendly locals and fellow

tourists in a new place (Iso-Ahola, 1982). However, according to Dann (1977), people may

choose to maintain elements of their home environment while on vacation. The study’s

results show that although the Emiratis avoided social contact with own nationals, at the same

22

time they sought contact with friendly Australians. The only strongly maintained element of

the Emiratis’ home environment was being and spending quality time with family.

The three categories of the escape motivation (physical, personal and interpersonal) that

emerged during interviews confirm the findings of previous studies showing that tourists

travel to Australia to experience a pleasant weather, see beautiful landscapes, engage in

outdoor activities, enjoy wide beaches, forget about daily responsibilities, feel relaxed, spend

time with family, escape own nationals, and encounter friendly locals (see Becken, 2010;

Klenosky, 2002; Li et al., 2016; Park and Yoon, 2009; Prayag and Hosany, 2014; Royo-Vela,

2009).

Fun motivations to escape

It appears that Australia also met the Emiratis’ needs for fun. This fun motivation included

escape from monotonous daily environment and socio-cultural obligations to an alternative

world (Dann 1977) that allowed the Emiratis to indulge in behaviours that are improper,

inappropriate, and frowned upon in their home environment. In Australia, the Emiratis could

live in a less complex environment in which they could do whatever they liked.

Gender roles

In Australia, the Emiratis could escape the traditional gender roles and enjoy behaviour

considered inappropriate in their home country. For example, Khalifa said,

“When we go to Australia my dad cooks. He helps my mum with cooking, doing

dishes, cleaning the pans, and all of that stuff. So, this is something… I tell you, they

do stuff differently at home.”

23

Islam and social norms in the UAE impose strictly defined gender roles. From childhood girls

are prepared for marriage and motherhood and all females are encouraged to follow and value

traditional domestic roles of a homemaker and mother. Men are considered to be the primary

family breadwinners and authority figures (Ibrahim, 2010). Challenging gender roles is not

possible in the Emiratis’ home environment. However, in Australia the Emiratis could

immerse themselves in a new world and men enjoyed doing housework.

Moreover, increasing wealth and materialistic lifestyle attitudes encourage Emirati families to

hire maids and nannies who are not only a part of the Emiratis’ family structure but are

considered symbols of wealth and important elements of the Emirati lifestyle (Ibrahim,

2010). The Emiratis never engage in housework unless it is essential. By travelling to

Australia they could escape the pressure of conforming to social status. Khalifa noted,

“When in Australia you can do your own cooking, have your own sense of things, and

just clean up your own place. We do not take our maid with us; my mother… she is

doing her own cooking and looking after the clothes and… everything. Something that

is hard to wash we take to the laundry. I do my own ironing, I do my own washing,

and I do my own clothes; I like to be independent. This is fun.”

Dress code

Travel to Australia challenged the Emiratis’ traditional dress code that is shaped and guided

by Islam and the local climate, and is a symbol of national identity (Khalaf, 2005). In

Australia, the Emiratis could escape the restricted dress code and were free to wear the

clothes they liked. Asma said,

24

“When on holiday in Australia we wear Western clothes … no shaila or abhaya… and

this is fun”.

The interviewed Emiratis perceived wearing casual Australian clothes as fun. In their home

environment, the Emirati women wear an abhaya and a shaila that restrict them from

participating in leisure activities (Shakona et al., 2015). Wearing casual clothes in an

alternative or fantasy world (Dann, 1977) allowed the Emiratis to get a sense of freedom and

escape their social and cultural world. The above finding is in accordance with Crompton’s

(1979) claim that the vacation offers the freedom from the customs, values, and expectations

of reference groups.

Dietary customs

In Australia, the Emiratis challenged their religious dietary restrictions. Some respondents

admitted indulging in food that is haram (forbidden) in Islam. Although the Emiratis’

families exert a large degree of influence on their members as to what food they can eat

(halal) and cannot eat (haram) at home, respondents were able to go against their religion and

ate forbidden pork and drank alcohol, which was also perceived as fun. Khalifa said,

“My family, yes my parents, they kind of stick to what they know; for me no, I would

go and try different stuff … for me it doesn’t matter so we did even try the wines.”

Some Emiratis even admitted eating crocodile meat, which is also forbidden by their religion.

Muslims are not allowed to eat four-footed animals that catch their prey with their mouths

(Kittler, Sucher and Nelms, 2012). For example, Nasser said,

“There are certain things we cannot eat as Muslims. Of course, the obvious is pork,

but for example we cannot eat crocodile meat, but I must admit I tried it.”

25

Table 2 summarises the major motivations that pushed the Emiratis to Australia and the

corresponding Australia’s attributes that pulled the Emiratis towards it.

------------------------Insert Table 2 here------------------------

The study’s findings are consistent with the argument that vacations provide individuals with

opportunities to escape domestic restrictions (McCabe, 2009). According to previous studies,

Muslim/Arab tourists expect to be provided with many aspects of their home environment

when on holiday (e.g., Muslim-friendly amenities, halal food, separate rooms and facilities

for women and men) (Battour, et al., 2012; Muhamad-Yunus et al., 2015; Nassar et al.,

2015). However, the Emiratis who participated in the study sought holiday destinations that

allowed them to avoid specific aspects of their home environment and escape into the world

of holiday destinations in order to enjoy activities and experiences that were disapproved at

home. The motivation to escape into the holiday world is related to regression motivation, or

the desire to regress to a less complex environment and withdraw from one’s obligations to

participate in puerile, irrational, adolescent, or child-like activities (Crompton, 1979) and

experience a simpler life, or perhaps live life to its fullest (Fodness, 1994).

The need to escape does not have to involve the alienation from the home society. When on

holiday tourists act differently and “exhibit atypical behaviours” (McKercher, 1993, p.12).

Tourists do not want to be burdened with the concerns of the everyday life (Dolnicar, 2015).

Tourists may want to temporary abandon their social status and open up to the opportunity to

26

satisfy the unfulfilled needs (e.g. outdoor recreation), or higher levels’ needs, such as self-

esteem or self-realization (Pearce, 1982; Maslow, 1954).

Although it can be argued that the four categories of the escape motivation that emerged

during interviews may be applicable to other destinations that the Emiratis frequently travel

to (e.g., United Kingdom, Germany) some motivations, such as the unique physical

environment (Zeveloff, 2013), friendliness of the Australian people and their welcoming

attitude (Oldfield, 2015), and casual lifestyle that offers fun are very specific to Australia.

Also, some motivations appear in more than one category because the Emiratis were

motivated to escape their home environment and travel to the Australian environment by the

same factors.

Conclusion

The study showed that the interviewed Emiratis escaped their country because they were

pushed to do so by their physical, intrapersonal, interpersonal, and fun needs. Australia

facilitated their escape by being able to meet these needs. The push and pull escape

motivations were interconnected and the Emiratis engaged in both motivations

simultaneously. For example, the Emiratis travelled to Australia to escape their country’s

nationals and yet sought contact with the host country’s nationals. Although from the

intuitive point of view the association between push and pull motivations is nothing more

than common sense, the Emiratis’ decisions to escape home were strongly tied to the specific

Australia’s attributes and their ability to create new experiences the Emiratis could not obtain

at home. The important issue is not so much what escape needs the Emiratis could fulfil in

Australia rather that Australia served the Emiratis well and met their escape needs.

27

Theoretical Implications

This study contributes to the theory of travel motivation by supporting it in the culturally

different Muslim/Arab context, which has not been explored before. The study supported the

conceptual push and pull framework and provided the evidence on the relationships among

push and pull factors in the Emiratis’ context, as far as escape motivation is concerned. The

study showed that the critical element of the escape motivation is the holiday destination that

is physically and socially different from the home environment (Crompton, 1979). The study

highlighted that the concept of escape motivation is not only individual-centric (push

motivator) but also an important destination pull factor. The study adds to the very limited

research on the emerging Emiratis’ travel market.

Practical Implications

The study can assist Australian destination marketing organizations (DMOs) to gain a better

understanding of the Emirati tourist market. The study showed that the Emiratis’ travel

motivations might be influenced by the context within which they live or operate (Prayag,

2009). This is an important factor to consider when trying to better cater to the Emiratis who

live in a society with strong religious and cultural bonds and may have strong internal needs

to escape these bonds.

The study can also facilitate the development of promotion strategies targeting the Emiratis’

market. Based on the study results, Australia should promote itself to the Emiratis’ market

featuring four escape motivations: a) physical (contrasting weather/climate, variety of

landscapes, natural scenic beauty, outdoor activities, beaches); b) personal (vastness of the

28

country, geographical and time distance, rest and relaxation, stress-free lifestyle); c)

interpersonal (family friendly atmosphere and activities, social bonding, escape from the

Arab world); and d) fun (different gender roles, dress code, dietary customs). However, the

challenge is not only to show the Emiratis the offerings that would induce them to travel to

Australia, but also the benefits the country can offer. By promoting the escape reasons for

traveling to Australia, DMOs can explain the Emiratis how they can benefit from holidaying

in Australia.

It is suggested to use social media as an important medium of communication to promote

Australia to the Emiratis. More than 71 per cent of people in the UAE between 18 to 40 years

old seek information and advice online before making a purchase decision (Nair, 2016).

When using the social media networks Tourism Australia would do well to display

Australia’s photography, highlight main tourism attractions and activities, inform about the

Australia’s most current events and shows, and refer to positive recommendations.

Since the Emiratis do not represent a homogenous travel market, and there are vast

differences among them in terms of the degree to which they follow religious practices and

socio-cultural norms when away from home, it is suggested to promote the original

Australian attributes that attract Emiratis, and also make allowances for those who want to

meet their religious and cultural needs. Although from a tourism operator’s perspective it is

more effective to design products and services that meet the travellers’ cultural needs,

marketers should expect that many Emiratis might want to experience local products that do

not respond to their cultural needs.

29

Limitations and Future Studies

This study examined escape motivation, which is only one of the many motivation forces that

explain tourists’ destination choice and behaviour. The study’s findings can only be

generalized to the Emirati travellers and Australia’s environment. A small sample size does

not represent the whole population of the Emirati nationals. The results are culture specific

and focused on outbound pleasure travel only. The use of the snowball sampling method may

lead to sampling bias.

It is suggested that the push/pull approach be applied to other countries in the Middle East

region that experience a dramatic growth in outbound tourism. Comparative studies may

unearth a new understanding of tourist motivation in different cultural settings. Future studies

may investigate other motivations and relationships between their push/pull factors. Studies

should be also conducted in the context of other motivational theories and control for

variations in the traveller’s profile, trip purpose, and destination type. A quantitative analysis

needs to be adopted to confirm the current study’s findings.

In terms of the relationships between the push and pull motivating factors, there are many

research challenges when it comes to investigating the influences of these relationships on

tourist behaviour. Push motivations may change as travellers seek to meet their unmet or new

needs; and pull motivations can vary from destination to destination, in different markets and

nationalities. Since tourist motivation is a multidimensional concept (McCabe, 2000) and

push and pull motivations interact in a dynamic and evolving context (Correia, 2000) tourist

motivations should be further examined.

30

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