The Many Definitions of Long-Distance Travel – a Discussion

Long-distance travel describes a crucial part of the travel behavior of individuals. While most travel behavior studies concentrate on everyday travel patterns, long-distance travel accounts for large parts of individual travel performance and travel-related emissions. However, despite the agreement that this part of travel behavior is important to be analyzed, there is a lack of consensus regarding the definition of long-distance travel. Researchers investigating long-distance travel inevitably encounter the challenge that although many studies refer to long-distance travel, there is no consistent definition of this segment of travel behavior. A literature review promptly reveals the existence of various definitions that can substantially differ from each other, resulting in difficulties when comparing different studies and findings. Most commonly used definitions are based on distance, trip purpose, journey duration, travel time, or combinations thereof. In addition, the concept of ‘tourism’ is considered in this review, as it addresses the identification of non-routine behavior. Thus, this concept overlaps with the intended research objective in most long-distance travel studies. This paper systematically examines the diverse definitions used in the literature, discusses the reasons behind them, identifies commonalities, and highlights key differences. By outlining the advantages and disadvantages of the different criteria, this paper presents insights into the implications of each long-distance travel definition for research findings. It thus provides guidance for the selection of long-distance travel definitions in future studies.