Investigating the push and pull motivation of visiting domestic destinations in china: A means-End approach

China, with its over 1.3 billion population, is a rising star in terms of tourism, not only for its potential of outbound tourism but also for its great potential of domestic tourism. Thus, the present study was conducted to develop a better understanding of Chinese tourists' motivations in selection of domestic destinations for Spring Festival holiday. A qualitative method, namely, the means-end approach, was used to analyze the primary data. The results of implication matrices and hierarchical value maps indicated the existence of 8 pull motivational factors and 17 push motivational factors. Correlations between these factors were found when respondents were solicited to provide abstract meanings of the destination attributes they identified. More specifically, consequences and personal values driven by the destination attributes were presented as having similarities with mentioned push factors. This study thus attempted to contribute to the existing literature by investigating the means-end chains of both pull and push motivational factors and by applying the motivation theory and means-end theory in China's domestic tourism. Finally, managerial implications were specified for the benefit of Chinese local governments and destination marketers.