Reconceptualizing the Travel Career Concept: Scale Development and Validation

Abstract

Travel career is as an important concept in leisure and tourism sciences; however, inconsistent definitions and assessments have led to contradictory findings. This study aimed to develop a tool for measuring travel career levels and verify its reliability and validity. Travel career was conceptualized, and a scale was developed by expanding on the concept and its subfactors. Initial questions were derived from content analysis of extant literature and complemented by in-depth interviews with travelers. Expert opinions were sought on the suitability of the questions to establish content validity, and reliability was verified through exploratory factor analysis. The final measure, comprising 19 questions, was tested on 309 travelers and verified as a theoretically valid measure by conducting confirmatory factor analysis, model fit, and confirming convergent, discriminant, and nomological validity. The travel career scale can contribute to empirical research on the travel market by identifying associated factors related to travelers' behavior.