Understanding Budget Travelers' Responses to Price Hikes: Insights from Emerging Tourism Markets

This study aims to investigate the impacts of price hikes on the needs and choices of Bangladeshi budget-minded travelers. A questionnaire structured with a five-point Likert scale is used and the researchers employed a convenience sample of 350 travelers. The researcher carried out Partial least squares (PLS) and structural equation modeling (SEM) to evaluate the conceptual framework and to test hypotheses. The findings of the study indicate that variables covering journey planning, which includes frequency of travel, food choice, and destination selection collectively have a noteworthy impact on the preferences and choices of budget travelers in Bangladesh. Additionally, the paper demonstrates significant insights for tourism stakeholders like local authorities and service providers to adapt to the continuously changing preferences of budget travelers.