The purpose of this research paper is to explore the impact of a travel destination on tourist behaviour. The research focused on Qatari tourists visiting New York City. New York City was selected as a destination due to being one of the most popular and most visited cities in the world. One of the other reasons choosing New York City was its lifestyle and culture which are very different compared to Qatari culture and lifestyle. The qualitative research approach was chosen approach of this. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to understand Qatari tourist behaviour and their decision-making process and feelings, before, during and after their trip. Saturation was reached after conducting 18 interviews with Qatari male and female tourists. The findings of this research highlighted that the media has a big impact on selecting New York as a destination. The way media portrays New York City in movies and TV shows, has impacted the imagery of Qatari Tourists. In addition to the points mentioned, the image of a destination for Qatari tourists is mainly impacted by media and word-of-mouth. Moreover personality, lifestyle and background of the participants plays an important role when selecting a destination like New York.

travel destination

tourist behaviour

destination image

travel motivation