Chapter 7

Tourism Market Segments and Travel Psychology

Chapter Objectives
 To describe different ways to segment tourism markets To provide information on travelers by purchasing and style of travel To provide information on travelers according to basic demographic factors such as age, sex, and education To provide information on travelers according to life circumstances To review the key factors and main approaches to tourist motivations as a conceptual approach to segmentation To describe the links between tourist motivation and other topics in tourism study.

Key Terms and Concepts

 Business travel Family life cycle Market segmentation Multimotive Pleasure travel Pull factors  Push factors Religious travel Special interest travel VFR

Tourism Market Segments and Travel Psychology

Different Types of Tourists
Tourism places are setting for the behaviors and experiences
of many different types of visitors

Some are teenagers in small groups, others are young

couples, others are senior citizens.

On a global scale, tourists fit into many possible categories. Any individual tourist has a range of characteristics which may
be useful in describing his or her behavior and travel experience.

Different Types of Tourists

Segmentation approach to classify tourists in terms of their
purpose of travel

Among international visitors there is considerable variation in

purpose or type of visitor.

If all international inbound tourism is considered, Switzerland

and France receive almost the same total number of border crossings (about 130 million). For Switzerland, however, only 13 million of these are overnight visitors while for France the figure is 67 million)

Tourists by Purpose of Travel

Tourist: Visitor staying at least one night, but not more than one year in a collective or private accommodation in the place visited. Non-tourists: Day trip visitors, flight and cruise staff, military personal, workers who cross borders for employment reasons, international students or trainees, etc., Categories of visits ( WTO)
1) Leisure, recreation, and holidays (Leisure travelers)

2) Business and professional

(Business travelers)

3) Others (visiting friends and relatives, health treatment, religion and pilgrimages).

Leisure vs. Business Travelers

Subdividing Travel Market Leisure travel : Travel for recreational, sightseeing, relaxing and other
experiential purposes. .

Business travel : Travel for commercial, attending meetings, conferences,

sales missions, and general promotional purposes.

25 % of U.S. travel is business related, usually organized by travel agents.

Pleasure travel : Travel activities that independently organized or organized

through a travel agent.

Conference or Convention travel : Core components of business travel. Hybrid travel: One travel destination with two purposes Incentive Travel : Pleasure oriented travel business related with respect to
trip sponsorship.

Table: Percentage Visitation to Selected Destinations by Purchase of Travel

Bermuda Leisure, Recreation and Holidays Business and Professional Other (Includes, VFR, health, religious pilgrimages) Total Visitors (000's)

Hawaii 79.40 % 11.40 %

Indonesia

Australia

HongKong

United Kingdom

Pakistan

82.60%

74.40%

62.30%

54.10%

43.20%

19.80%

10.60%

23.20%

23.20%

30.50%

26.60%

28.50%

6.80% 413

9.20% 6,326

2.40% 3,403

2.40% 3,403

15.40% 19,154

30.20% 8,938

51.70% 379

Visiting Friends and Relatives (VFR)

VFR : A large segment of international travel and is
linked to immigration between countries  Repeated and longer visits.  Likely to be repeated Strong family ties between the citizens of countries  England India and Pakistan  England Australia and New Zealand.  Italy and Argentina and Chili  USA - Israel VFR Subcategories:
Shorter holiday Long distance trips

Special Interest Travel

Special Interest Travel refers to diverse tourism activities as gambling, adventure travel, sports-related travel, and cultural pursuits. Also can be seen as a part of alternative or ecotourism. Recreational Travel: enjoyment of specific on-site activities. Better educated, higher income, managerial or professional positions. Enthusiastic hobbyist, a club member, yachting holidays Different yachting styles include bareboat cruising, skippered cruises, luxury yachting, and flotilla yachting. Include specialty accommodation styles which organize travelers experiences, such as health farms, coastal resorts, bed and breakfast inns, and backpacker hostels.

Special Interest Travel

Religious Travel: Travel to certain destinations for strong religious purposes, such as visiting Mecca in Saudi Arabia, the Vatican or Holly Land in Israel.

Visiting European Cathedrals, Fatima in Lisbon, Santiago de

Campostela in Spain, Ephesus in Turkey

Religious-oriented travel has been around since the first pilgrimages In recent years it has developed into a much larger and more
segmented market

Traditional approach: Wander foreign lands until you find a site

that seems holy to you.

Many younger religious travelers want a vacation that combines faith

poverty/penitential travel mentality to a first-class travel mentality.

with fun, and churches recognize a need for an active religious vacation.

In the past five to 10 years, the religious market has transitioned from a Religious travelers, including church groups, have recognized that
spiritual healing fits naturally with physical healing, or with active pursuits like skiing or hiking.

Group vs. Independent Travelers

(Free) Independent Travelers (I.T. or F.I.T.) refers individual travel in which travelers do not participate in an organized group tour. Package Tourism: A fixed price travel product where the different parts of the total holiday were integrated into one product. Group Travel refers to travel that individuals purchase a group package in which they will travel with others along a pre-set itinerary. Advantages to Group Travel:: Highly competitive prices, elimination of many travel difficulties for the inexperienced traveler.

Sociodemographic Factors and Life Circumstances

Age
The Senior Market Over 50 years of age, wealthy, travels more frequently, goes longer distances, stay away longer, and relies more on travel agents. Snowbirds Travelers that seek the winter sun in the southern part of the United States. Young budget travelers Long-stay budget traveler, less than 30 years old, Southeast Asian and Australian destinations. Select packpacker hotels (hostels).

Sociodemographic Factors and Life Circumstances

Gender
Womans Travel Motivations
Growing market in last 20 years. Travel motivations: escaping from a routine environment, changes in personal circumstances, a desire to experience, independence or competence.

Businesswoman
One-third of U.S. business travel is undertaken by women. In 1970s it was only one%

Education
Strong link between travel and education. As education level increase, desire to travel increase.

Other Factors
The Family Life Cycle (as shown in table) Disabled travelers hotels for disabled people

Table: Consumption as it relates to life cycle

Stage
Bachelor

Characteristics
Young: not living at home No children Youngest children under 6 Youngest children over 6 Older married with dependent children Older married-no children at home, still working Older married retired Still working Retired

Travel Consumer Behavior

Few financial burdens-some vacation purchase, highly recreation oriented Initially financially well off-more vacation purchasing Travel restricted Finances improving-some family holidays Vacations just one part of the purchasing mix Optimum financial position. Strong vacation purchasing Vacations decline-depending on finances Purchasing power high-may travel Package tour options-security sociability needs high

Newly married Full nest-stage 1 Full nest-stage 2 Full nest-stage 3 Empty nest-stage 1 Empty nest-stage 2 Solitary Survivor Solitary Survivor

Approaches to Tourist Motivation

Travel Motivation Model

Why do people travel?  Why do people go to a certain place? What motivates people to undertake certain kinds of travel
Tourist motivation can be defined "as the global integrating network of biological and cultural forces which gives value and direction to travel choices, behavior and experience. Push factors are defined as origin-related and refer the intangible, intrinsic desires of the individual traveler, such as desire to escape, rest and relaxation, adventure, health and prestige. True motivational forces

Pull Factors refer to features of a destination which are thought to be likely to attract people to a specific location. Each destination offers a variety of products and services to attract tourists.

Approaches to Tourist Motivation

There are three sources of information on tourist motivation:

History of tourism itself and some valuable sociological commentaries on

the changing needs of travelers in different eras.

Changing needs of travelers. There have been systematic and focused attempts to produce theories of
tourist motivation (Travel Psychology)

Market research and survey studies

The End