Factors Influencing the Motivation of Young People When Choosing a City Destination in Europe – a Case Study From Esbjerg (Denmark)

This paper examines the motivation factors which influence young people when
choosing city destinations in Europe and aims to show if there are any differences in the decisionmaking
process between Danish and international students. Previous research has taught us that
the decision to buy a tourism product is a complex process. Therefore, any kind of differences can
be essential in developing appropriate marketing strategies for different market segments. The
findings of this study indicate that there are seven major factors for young people when choosing a
city destination in Europe. Further analysis shows that there are significant differences among
several motivation factors when it comes to Danish and international students. The contribution of
this study is its indication towards which factors influence city destination choice among young
people which will further enable European cities to develop and promote more appropriate and
satisfactory tourism products and services for their young visitors.