TOPIC 2

THE DEMAND FOR

TOURISM

Objectives
Distinguish between motivating and facilitating
factors
Understanding the nature of psychological and
sociological demand for tourism
Recognize how the product influences the
consumer demand
Be aware of some of the main theories of
consume behaviour, such as decision-making and
risk avoidance
Be aware of the factors, influencing demand and

The tourists needs and wants

Physiological needs essential to
the survival of human race
Psychological needs important
for our well-being

Innate needs based on factors

inherited by us at birth
Learned needs influenced by the
environment in which we are raised

Maslows Hierarchy of Needs

Maslows Hierarchy of Needs

What is Motivation?
A process of internal
psychological factors (needs,
wants, goals) generating an
uncomfortable level of tension
within the mind and bodies of
individuals. This leads to actions
to try to release tension and
satisfy needs (Richardson and Flurk, 2004)

Motivation process
Consumer
need
Consumer
perception of
what will
satisfy need
Consumer
perception of
the attractions

Actual
attraction

If these
two agrees

Motivation
to vision
destination

Generic and specific motivation

An understanding of tourist motivation is the key
to understanding tourist behaviour, answering the
question why people travel.
Generic motivations: business travel, leisure
travel and miscellaneous travel
Specific motivations: E.g. Visiting Swiss Alps
Significant to manipulate consumer behaviour
and effective marketing

Segmenting the tourism market

Geographic variable determined according to
the area in which consumers live
Demographic variable characteristics such as
age, gender, familiy composition, stage in lifecycle,
income, occupation, education and ethnic origin
Psychographic variables impact of aspirational,
and lifestyle characteristics on consumer behaviour.
Behavioural variables segment markets
according to their usage of the products.

Consumer Process
Awareness
Interest

Image

Desire

attitu
de

Action

Risk

Plogs Psychographic Traveller Types

Distribution of tourist in each typology

Allocentric

Mid-centric

Psychocentric

Independent travellers

Majority of travellers

Above average income

Seek well-known
established destinations

Less sure, more insecure

travellers

Choose destination
Seek more adventurous
similar to home
May go to destination
experiences
populated by allocentrics Like the familiar and
may be repeat visitor

Making the decision

Extensive problem solving wide range of
products are evaluated and compared
Limited problem solving (satisficing) no
patience to explore wide variety of products
Routinized response behaviour choices
change relatively little over time.
Impulse more typical of products costing little

Fashion and taste

Tourism business needs to identify and cater for

the changing consumer tastes.
The product of tourism, too, will experience a life
cycle of growth, maturity, saturation, and
eventual decline, if no action is taken to restore
Number
Number
Number
Number
it.Free
visitors
of
of
of
of
as resort
becomes
known

Launch

visitors
accelerat
es
rapidly

Growth

visitors
continue
s to
increase,
but at a
slower
rate

Maturity

visitors
peaks
and
falters

visitors
starts to
decline

Saturatio

Declin

The motivations of business

travellers
Business travellers are
in general;
Less price sensitive
More concerned with
status than leisure
travellers

Motivated;
by the need to
complete their travel,
and
Business dealings as
efficiently and
effectively as possible
within a given time
frame.

Other motivations;
Speed of transport
Convenience
Punctuality
Reliability
Frequency of flights
Flexibility
Travels on weekdays

Motivators and facilitators

Facilitators can be referred to all the factors that
makes it possible for prospective tourists to
indulge in their desires.
Example of facilitators: money, time, favourable
exchange rates, friendly locals speaking the
language of the tourists, easier entry etc.

Factors influencing changes in

tourist demand
Factors that can be forecast
Cultural, social, technological
Factors that cannot
be forecast
Economic or
political
circumstances
Climate, natural
or artificial
disaster

The future pattern of tourist

demand
Companies must be prepared for rapidly changing
circumstances, often at a very short notice
Government should support small firms with
public funds if they are to remain viable

Importance of measuring demand

Tourism development
Availability of financing
Sales and marketing management

Determinants of demand
Economic distance
Cost of service
Cultural distance
Quality of service
Seasonality

Economic distance
Relates to the time and cost involved in travelling
from the origin to the destination area and back
The higher the economic distance, the higher the
economic resistance for that destination and
consequently lower the demand

Cultural distance
Refers to the extent to which the culture of the
area from which the tourist originates differ from
the culture of the host region.
The greater the cultural distance, the greater the
resistance to travel to a particular destination.

Cost of service
Refers to the total expenditure incur for
services/facilities
The higher the cost of services at a destination,
the greater the resistance to travel to that
destination and thus lower the demand

Quality of service
Clearly, the higher the quality of service at a
destination, the lower the resistance will be for
travel to that destination.

evaluation of quality is a personal matter

Seasonality
The relative
attractiveness of a
given destination will
depend on the time
year for which a
vacation is planned
E.g. Demand for
Beach holidays surges
during summer