Assessment of the importance of benefits provided by rural tourism homesteads in Lithuania
ENTourism industry becomes an increasingly important service sector. Hence, tourism provides many intangible benefits to consumers. Therefore, the scientific problem “what intangible benefits are provided by rural tourism homesteads in Lithuania?” is analyzed in the article. The aim of the research is to determine the intangible benefits, which should be provided by rural tourism homesteads in Lithuania. As in case of the choice for rural tourism homestead, all the utilitarian and hedonic benefits can be identified. Thus, the hypotheses are made that utilitarian and hedonic benefits (savings, quality, convenience, exploration, and entertainment) have a positive impact on tourists’ perceived total benefits. Structural equation modelling (SEM) using partial least squares path modelling methodology (PLS) and Importance-Performance matrix analysis (IPMA) was provided to assess the importance and performance of every benefit. The analysis of the research results reveal that the main benefits for the improvement with management activities are convenience and entertainment; and the enhancement of latter benefits can lead to the gaining of competitive advantage for the rural tourism homestead in Lithuania. Moreover, the investments into the benefit of quality might be suspended for the certain period in order to balance investments while enhancing perceived total benefits regarding the choice of rural tourism homestead in Lithuania. Key words: benefits, importance, performance, rural tourism, value. [From the publication]
