Chapter 1
Why People Travel
Objective: understanding the motivations of
travelers – why they choose to go where they go.
Tourism Geography
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There is difference between “tourism
geography” and other forms of geography.
The interaction of traveler and the destination
makes the difference.
Knowledge about the psychological and
sociological factors affecting the traveler helps
to understand why a particular type of product
is purchased (type of travel is chosen).
Understanding needs and wants
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What people are looking for when they visit
different destinations?
Why would a tourist choose to holiday in Florida
rather than Spain – what variables are at work
apart from cost?
Why would he choose to travel with British
Airways, but not with Lufthansa?
Why would he buy an independent inclusive
tour, but not a group tour?
Need Satisfaction Theory
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All consumer purchases, including choice of
travel destination, are made to satisfy a need of
the consumer. The individual has a desire for
something?????
Do people travel just to travel?
People do not travel just to travel. Travel fills
some need in each consumer. Travelers’ needs
differ.
Do we really need?
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Often people talk about what they need, say a
new television set, a new dress, or a holiday. But
do they really need these things? Or are they just
expressing a desire for more?
Due to today’s increased material consumption
patterns, it is becoming difficult to distinguish
wants (e.g. reference group influence) from
needs.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
Self-actualization
(e.g. self-fulfillment, etc.)
Ego needs
(e.g. self-respect, status, success, etc.)
Social needs
(e.g. affection, love, friendship, etc.)
Safety needs
(e.g. security, protection, etc.)
Physiological needs
(e.g. food, water, air, etc.)
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According to Maslow, the more basic needs have
to be satisfied (satisfied according to the needs
of our cultural group) before our interest will
focus on higher level needs.
However, according to Alderfer, and his ERG
(existence, relatedness, and growth needs)
theory, (1) more than one need may be operative
at the same time, (2) if the satisfaction of a
higher level need is frustrated, the desire to
satisfy a lower level need increases.
Motivations of tourist
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Motivation for travel and tourism can be
categorized as;
 Physical motivations
 Cultural motivations
 Personal motivations
 Prestige and Status motivations
(Mathieson and Wall, 1993)
Physical motivations
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refreshment of body and mind (rest and
relaxation) – beach holidays, lakes and mountains,
etc.;
for health purposes (i.e. either medically
prescribed or undertaken voluntarily) – spas, etc.;
for participation in sports – skiing, canoeing,
safari parks, ponytrekking, etc.;
pleasure, - fun, excitement, romance and
entertainment, to shop.
Cultural motivations
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curiosity about foreign countries, people and
places;
interests in art, music, architecture, folklore –
music festivals, theatre visits, etc.;
interest in historical places (remains,
monuments, churches);
experiencing specific international and national
events - Olympic Games, Oktoberfest, etc.
Personal motivations
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visiting relatives and friends;
meeting new people and seeking new friendships;
seeking new and different experiences in different
environments – sailing etc.;
escaping from one’s own permanent social environment
(i.e. desire for a change)
personal excitement of traveling;
visiting places and people for spiritual reasons (i.e.
pilgrimages)
traveling for travel’s sake
Prestige and Status motivations
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pursuit of hobbies – craft or painting holidays
etc.;
continuation of education or learning- study
tours etc.;
seeking of business contacts and professional
goals – fairs, etc.;
conference and meetings;
ego enhancement and sensual indulgence;
fashion
Factors affecting human needs
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All people may have the similar basic needs. But
how is it that in various countries and regions,
different needs arise, leading to different
patterns of demand?
Why is the American satisfied with
“convenience” food, to be served quickly and
accompanied by a glass of water, while the
French consider the meal the most important
event of the day?
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Factors affecting the demand for goods and
services (as well as holidays) may be divided into
four categories;
Cultural (culture, subculture – ethnic group, social
class)
 Social (reference groups, family, roles and status)
 Personal (mostly demographic variables – age and
life-cycle stage, occupation, economic situation,
lifestyle, personality and self-concept)
 Psychological (motivation, perception, learning,
beliefs and attitudes)
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Cultural factors
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Culture is the most basic cause of a person’s wants and
behavior.
Culture can be defined as “the set of basic values,
perceptions, wants, and behaviors learned by a member of
society from family and other important institutions”.
Cultural influences on buying behavior may vary greatly
from country to country – e.g. Germans love beauty and
art, appreciate their environment, are obsessed with
physical well-being. As tourists, they demand
accommodation that is clean and simple with private
facilities, and offers fresh food with service in the
restaurant.
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Social class: Almost every society has some form of
social class structure. Social class may be defined as “the
ordered divisions in a society whose members share
similar values, interests, and behaviors”.
Social classes may be defined in terms of occupation
through which 6 “socio-economic groupings” can be
identified:
 A – higher managerial, administrative or professional;
B – Middle managerial, administrative or professional;
C1 – Supervisory or clerical, junior managerial; C2 –
Skilled manual workers; D – Semi-skilled and
unskilled manual workers; E – Pensioners,
unemployed, casual or lowest grade workers.
Social factors
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A person’s behavior is influenced by many small groups.
For example,
Peer group; the group with which an individual is most
closely associated in his or her life e.g. fellow students,
colleagues, friends and relations, close neighbors.
Reference group; the group with which an individual
would choose to associate himself/herself, either
because he/she admires them or simply because he/she
would like to emulate their lifestyle. “trickle effect”
where products originally purchased by elite members of
a society are adopted by those down the hierarchy, e.g. St
Tropez.
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Family group decision making; where decisions have to
be made together, it is important to understand who
participates in the decision and the degree of influence
each member of the group exercises e.g. wife's or
children’s role.
Personal factors
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An individual’s decisions are also influenced by personal
characteristics. Most of the information for this category
can be gathered through population (demographic)
statistics which include (1) the number of people living
in a country or region, and (2) the component make-up
of that population –
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the proportion in different age groups
the marital status
the proportion of those with children
occupation, and number unemployed
birth rate
disposable income
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Lifestyle; is a person’s pattern of living as expressed in his
or her activities (work, hobbies, shopping, sports, social
events), interests (food, fashion, family, recreation) and
opinions (about themselves, social issues, business,
products) e.g. internet behavior.
Personality and self-concept; Stanley Plog has found that
tourists can be categorized broadly as either psychocentric
or allocentric. Psychocentrics are self-inhibited, nervous
and lack the desire for adventure, preferring well-packaged
routine holidays in popular tourist destinations, mainly
“sea, sun and sand” variety. Allocentrics are more outgoing,
have varied interests and are keen to explore new places
and find new things to do, and tend to travel independently.
Mid-centric
Near
Psychocentric
Psychocentric
Near
Allocentric
Allocentric
Psychological factors
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An individual’s buying choices are influenced by four
major psychological factors: motivation, perception, learning
and beliefs and attitudes.
The way an individual perceive his/her needs is built up
a complex interrelationship of beliefs and attitudes
which arise out of his/her knowledge and opinions.
Individuals choose products which they perceive as
having the best potential to satisfy their needs. They
learn about such products partly through experience
with the same or similar products in the past, and partly
by seeking information (actively or passively).
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Our perception of products is highly selective. We tend
to “screen out” information which is too simple or too
familiar (boring), or too complex to take in. We are
more receptive to information to which we are
predisposed (ready to receive) e.g. we become more
aware of holiday advertisements, when we are thinking
about a holiday.
Our perception of information is also biased. We tend
to distort information to suit our own frame of
reference.
Learning theory; learning describes changes in an
individual’s behavior arising from experience.
 Learning occurs through;
Needs Drive Action Satisfaction Reinforcement
 Our individual needs give rise to a drive which we take
action to satisfy. If our action does indeed result in
satisfying the need, we tend to repeat the experience,
leading to the development of habit formation and
customer loyalty.
 Repeat purchase of the same product leads to
monotony and a search for a new product or brand.
AIDA model.
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Beliefs; through experiencing and learning (also from
others “word-of-mouth”), people acquire beliefs and
attitudes.
Beliefs make up “images” that affect buying behavior.
Beliefs may be wrong or prevent purchase.
Attitudes; a person’s evaluations, feelings, and
tendencies toward an object or idea.
Attitudes put people into a frame of mind of liking or
disliking things, of moving toward or away from them.
They are difficult to change.
Decision-making for
the travel purchase
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The decision making for travel purchases is
complicated by the degree of risk. Deciding
where to take the annual holiday involves a lot
of money and a high degree of uncertainty.
Risk can be reduced in several ways;
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through experience (familiarity) or word of mouth
recommendation
lowering our expectation of the product (not
suitable in travel and tourism, since consumers tend
to idealize their major purchases)
 maximizing knowledge
 searching for familiarity (1. choosing familiar or
closer destinations e.g. US tourists to Mexico or
Britain; Jersey “a bit of France that is British”, 2.
choosing package (guided) tours, 3. choosing familiar
organizations e.g. a Turkish tourist flying with the
Turkish airlines).
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Source: Mathieson, A.; Wall, G. “Tourism - economic, physical, and social impacts”.
Longman Group. Essex. (1993). pg.27.