Meet me halfway – Disentangling the factors affecting leisure joint destination choice

This study investigates the factors that influence joint-leisure activities and travel between dyads (pairs of friends, family or acquaintances). We draw on a special dataset of self-reported frequently visited leisure destinations conducted in Zurich, and estimate two discrete choice models that consider relationship attributes, such as relationship time length, strength and gender homophily. The first model analyzes home-visits, as the probability of a person hosting a social activity at their place; while the second model is an out-of-home destination choice that quantifies the impact of relationship attributes on the distance traveled for social activities. The findings show that long relationships, (relationship time length > 7 years), have a higher probability of hosting social activities by 3.87 percentage points, and having a strong relationship (when survey respondent can draw on ≥ 3 expressive resources from the other person) results in higher probability of hosting by 10.5 percentage points. For social activities outside the home, strong ties ( ≥ 3 expressive resources from the other person) travel 0.88 km farther on average, and long ties ( > 7 years) 1.54 km farther, relative to weak ( < 3 expressive resources) and short ( ≤ 7 years) ties, respectively. However, dyads in a relationship that is both long and strong travel an average of 3.18 kilometers extra than those in relationships that are neither long nor strong, showing that these relationship attributes have an even higher impact when combined. • Revealed preference data show social networks shape joint destination choice and influence willingness to travel for social activities. • Long-term friendships ( > 7 years) raise the probability of at-home activities by 3.9 percentage points. • Stronger friendships ( ≥ 3 of 4 resources) increase travel distance by 1.5 km on average. • Long-term friendships increase distance traveled to meet by about 0.9 km.