Understanding the relationship between push and pull motivations in rural tourism

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the differences and relationships of push and pull motivations in two different rural tourism destinations. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from tourists visiting rural tourism companies in Finland and in Tyrol (Austria). The data were analyzed using analysis of variance and correlation coefficients. Findings – The results indicate significant differences of push and pull motivations in the two regions. In addition, tourists motivated by different variables obviously search for different destination attributes. For example, tourists motivated by the search of a once‐in‐a‐lifetime experience expect different destination attributes than those respondents searching for a sense of comfort or an opportunity to relax. Research limitations/implications – The low sample size in both Tyrol and Finland reduces the generalizability of the results. Practical implications – The findings can be used by rural tourism companies and practitioners to understand how push and pull motivations affect tourist behaviour. Based on this information, marketing initiatives can be customized for various target segments in this particular market. Originality/value – This is the first paper to examine the inter‐relationship between push and pull motivations in rural tourism and one of the most detailed studies on rural tourist motivations. Additionally, the comparison of the two countries underlines the assumption, that cultural or macro‐economic variables strongly influence push and pull motivations of consumers.