Importance of Multiple Stops in Destination Choice

Conventional destination choice models assume single-stop trips. Multiple destinations are ofterr visited on a trip, however, and multiple stops influence the choice of a destination. Despite thf importance of multiple stops in destination choices, little attention has been paid to the issue by Japanese geographers; this article reviews studies on multiple stops, and discusses how destine Lion choice models can incorporate the effects of multiple stops.<br> Multistop trips occur often: 18 to 69 percent of all trips have multiple stops, according to previous studies. On shopping trips, multiple stops are especially important: 59 to 69 percent of all shopping trips are multiple-stop. Travel cost and time per stop are reduced by combining stops on a trip. Trips with two or three stops are popular, accounting for 67 to 94 percent of multistop trips. To reduce the complexity of multistop trips, therefore, a trip with two or three stops can be analyzed when necessary.<br> The analysis of travel distance implies that different sets of destinations are visited on single-stop and multistop trips. The average distance between home and a destination is significantly longer on multistop trips than on single-stop trips. On multistop trips, it is also important to ana-lyze the distance between stops in addition to the distance of home-based links. It appears that the length of a link relates to the purposes pursued at the origin and at the destination of each link, The order of a stop whether it is the first or last stop on a trip, for example-is also related to the distance between home and a stop. Additional studies are needed to clarify the variation in various distance measures on multistop trips, and eventually lead to an understanding of the in-fluence of multiple stops on destination choices.<br> Several attempts have been made to consider the influence of multiple stops in destination choice models. Empirical results of these studies support the influence of multiple stops on destination choices. The extent to which multiple stops affect destination choices, however, varies according to travelers' attributes, including their residential location. For example, it appears that decreasing accessibility of potential destinations increases the importance of multiple stops. Therefore, it is necessary to incorporate intra-urban variations in the importance of multiple stops into destina-tion choice models.<br> To this end, it is necessary to understand the process of decision making in destination choices and to understand how multiple stops influence each stage of decision making. This requires a long-term commitment. As an initial effort, it is advisable to study individual questions concern-ing relationships between multiple stops and destination choices. These questions include: when and to whom simultaneous and sequential approaches are appropriate; when and what kind of travelers try to minimize the overall travel distance; and how the nature of travel purposes and the combination of purposes affect the importance of multiple stops and their influence on destination choices.