THE

PSYCHOLOGY
OF TRAVEL
 Learning Objectives

 To show awareness of the factors motivating people

to travel
 To clarify the relationships of needs, wants and
motives to tourist motivation
 To explain the relation between Maslow’s hierarchy
of needs and the travel motivations listed in travel
literature
 To describe the characteristics of psychocentrics
and allocentrics
 To get acquainted with the characteristics of
travelers based on purpose of travel
 To analyze the travel constraints
MOTIVATION
FOR TRAVEL
1. Escape 1. Show one’s importance
2. Relaxation to others
3. Relief of tension 2. Status and prestige
4. Sunlust 3. Self discovery
5. Physical 4. Cultural
6. Health 5. Education
7. Family togetherness 6. Professional/business
8. Interpersonal relations 7. Wanderlust
9. Roots or ethnic 8. Interest in foreign areas
10. Maintain social 9. Scenery
contacts
11. Convince oneself of
one’s achievements
4 Classes of
Basic Travel Motivators
 Physical motivators- related physical test: sports
participation, beach recreation, relaxing
entertainment, etc.
 Cultural motivators- desire to know about other
countries/places
 Interpersonal motivators- desire to meet other
people
 Status and prestige motivators- concern ego
needs and personal development
Travel As Means To Satisfy A Need
And Want
 Tourists go on vacation not only to relax and
have fun, experience other culture, and be
educated, but also of the belief that vacations
will satisfy either completely or partially, various
needs and wants.
Relationship of Needs,
Wants, and Motives
 The difference between a need and want is
awareness.
 This awareness must be accompanied by
motivation.
 To enable person to be motivated, an objective
or goal must be present.
 Thus, it is the role of marketing
to suggest objectives.
Maslow’s Theory of Motivation and
Travel Motivations
 The hierarchy suggests that lower needs
demand more immediate satisfaction than of
higher needs.
 Intellectual needs were added:
1. To know and understand- acquiring knowledge;
and
2. Aesthetics- appreciation of beauty
Maslow’s Needs and Motivations Listed
in Travel Literature
TOURIST
MOTIVATORS
The Need for Escape or Change
 The greatest reason for travel can be summed
up in one word, “escape”.
 According to Russ Johnston, a marketing
research director, everyone is searching for
change.
 Travel can provide diversity.
Travel for Health
 Development in the field of medicine have
influenced travel for centuries, giving rise to the
concept of health tourism.
 The search for health and long life has
popularized the spas, seaside resorts, as well as
sun resorts.
 The mineral water of different springs were
believed to cure different ailments.
Sports
 Interest in sports, either as participant or
spectator, is attracting large segments of the
population.
 People demand activity and excitement during
their leisure hours to relieve them from the
boredom of their work.
Social Contact
 Much travel grows out of the social nature of
people. Human beings are social animals.
 According to Charles Metelka, travel increases
the sociability resources of individuals.
Status and Prestige
 Travelprovides the means for ego or self-
enhancement.
 Being well-traveled enhances one’s status in
society.
Travel for Education
 The search for knowledge and truth is inherent
in every individual.
 Advertising generates interest in a destination
but much more persuasive in the interest
created by a good book, a movie, or a television
program.
 Students combine travel with learning and
receive academic credit for doing so.
 Personal Values
 Many people are urged to travel to satisfy
personal values.
 Such as the search for spiritual experience,
patriotism, and wholesomeness.
Cultural Experience
 Cross-cultural exchanges, experiencing how other people
live, and fostering international understanding are some
of the reasons to satisfy curiosity about other cultures,
lifestyles, and places.
 Studies conducted among travelers abroad reveal that
seeking a new cultural experience is a primary reason for
international travel.
Shopping and Bargain Hunting
 To many people, the joys derived from buying
certain goods may be the major reason for
travel.
 Bargain hunting or being able to get special
merchandise at low cost is a travel motivator.
Professional and Business Motives
A great number of people travel for professional
and business motives.
 More than one-half of airline travel is done by
business travelers.
Search for Natural Beauty
 Travelcan satisfy one’s search for beauty in the
environment and in the scenery.
 Natural beauty is usually pleasurable to the
viewer.
THE LEARNING
PROCESS OF A
TOURIST
 An individual will buy a vacation package if he has
learned that the purchase will satisfy an important
need.
 The tourist compares various alternatives with a list of
criteria to determine which alternatives will most likely
satisfy a particular motive.
 The number of alternatives
will vary according to the
characteristics of the
travelers.
Tourist’s Learning Process
A destination will be included as an alternative if
the destination has previously satisfied the
traveler.
 The level of actual experience must be equal or
greater than the level of expectation.
 Serving as bridge between the motives of an
individual and the perceived alternatives are the
criteria used for making decision among these
alternatives.
EFFECT OF CONSISTENCY
AND COMPLEXITY ON
LEISURE TRAVEL
 Individuals differ in the amount of psychological
tension they can handle.
 This explains why a tourist, who for many years spent
his vacation in a particular spot, will either change the
destination or the method of reaching it.
 Similarly, too much complexity may result in more tension
than a person can endure.
 To reduce the level of tension, he will introduce
consistency into that experience:
A Filipino tourist in Europe may find find the different
language and culture (complexity) need to be balanced by
staying in a hotel chain with which he is familiar
(consistency).
 Thetraveler who experiences a great deal of
consistency in everyday life may compensate by seeking
vacations which offer variety. The opposite is also true.
CLASSIFICATION OF
TRAVELERS BASED ON
PERSONALITY
Psychocentrics
 People centered on self
 Inhibit and unadventuresome
 Strong desire for consistency and the familiar
 Prefer safe destinations
 They do not like to experiment or try new things
 Look for experiences that will not result in
personal stress or involve unusual situations
 The low-energy psychocentric is quite content to
stay at home, the high-energy psychocentric will
take a tour that is completely arranged.
 Usually indulge in activities with low activity level
such as golf using a golf cart.
Allocentrics
 People having interest and attention on other
persons
 Highly curious and thrive on simulation and
change
 Have strong need for variety and new
experiences
 Seek destinations that will offer them an
opportunity to experience totally different
cultures and environment.
 Accept challenges, meet the residents, tryout
local food and drinks, and stay in native
lodgings.
 Want to explore, discover, and go on their own
rather than buy package tours.
 The low-energy allocentric is still curious and
adventuresome, but foregoes the more
demanding schedule.
 The high-energy allocentric is the hiker, the
biker, the driver; he prefers activities with high
activity level.
Midcentrics
 Not particularly adventurous, yet they are not
afraid to try new experiences as long as these
are neither too odd nor too challenging.
 Constitute the mass market or the bulk of the
population.
CLASSIFICATION OF
TRAVELERS BASED ON
PURPOSE OF TRAVEL
Business Travelers
 Divided into three categories:
1. Regular business travelers
2. Business travelers attending meetings,
conventions, and congresses
3. Incentive travelers
Regular Business Travelers
 Among business travelers, the cost of the trip is
shouldered by a company; hence, travel is not influenced
by personal income. This means that business travelers
will continue even if the price of travel services increases.
 Results of studies and surveys say that business travelers
are well-educated, rich, have high level jobs, and tend to
fly often.
 More recent surveys have shown that the ratio
of women business travelers to men business
travelers has grown rapidly.
 Women business travelers are slightly
younger
 They tend to stay longer at their
destinations
 They are more apt to be unmarried than
males
 They are more likely to attend a meeting or
convention
 They are more likely to book through a
travel agent
 They have a greater preference for
downtown accommodation facilities closer
to work
 They are more concerned with security
aspects of accommodation facilities.
 Many airlines and hotels are exerting efforts to cater to the business
executive travelers.
 Airlines have been offering first-class seat service and first-class
passenger lounges in airport terminals to these travelers for many
years.
 Many hotel chains have begun to allocate whole floors of wings of
their buildings for those business travelers seeking greater luxury in
their accommodations.
 They have achieved great marketing successes.
Business Travelers Attending Meetings, Conventions, and
Congresses
 Travel Pulse surveys indicate that 20% of all business
travel trips are for the purpose of attending meetings,
conventions, and congresses.
 Conventions are classified into four kinds: international,
continental, national, and regional.
Incentive Travelers
 A special type of business travel, it is given by
firms to employees as a reward for some
accomplishment or to encourage employees to
achieve more than what is required.
 Incentive trips have risen sharply according to
Society of Incentive Travel Executives (SITE).
 The increasing popularity of incentive travel has
led to the establishment of incentive travel
organizations.
 Corporations usually 6. Bolster slow season
have the following 7. Help in sales training
objectives in buying 8. Sell slow items
incentive travel trips: 9. Obtain more store
1. Increase overall displays and support
sales volume consumer
2. Sell new accounts promotions
3. Improve morale and
good will
4. Introduce new
products
5. Offset competitive
promotions
 Companies who buy incentive travel trips are usually
those involved in insurance, sales,
electronic/radio/television manufacturing, automobile
and truck manufacturing, farm equipment
manufacturing, autoparts/ accessories/ tires,
heating/air-conditioning, electrical appliances
manufacturing, office equipment manufacturing, and
building materials manufacturing.
Pleasure/Personal Travelers
 This group consists of people who are traveling
for vacation or pleasure.
 Non-business travelers
 The demand for travel services by non-business
travelers is elastic with respect to prices.
 Traveling for pleasure is the largest segment of
the international market and the fastest
growing.
 Pleasure/personal travelers are classified into
the following categories:
1. Resort travelers
2. Family pleasure travelers
3. The elderly
4. Singles and couples
Resort Travelers
 Surveys have shown that resort travelers are better
educated, have higher household incomes, and are more
likely to have professional and managerial positions.
 It is also notable that majority of resort travelers have
families with children.
Family Pleasure Travelers
 Has three groups:
1. Junior families- with parents aged 20-34 having pre-
school and/or grade school children only
2. Mid-range families- with parents aged 35-44 with grade
school and/ or high school children only
3. Mature families- with parents aged 45 or over with
children who are of high school age and older.
 Family pleasure travel trips are motivated by three
objectives.
1. To use travel as an educational experience for their children
2. To do something different
3. To bring the family closer together
The Elderly
 At present, there are many people who are 50 years of
age and over, including greater numbers of people in the
retirement age category who are lucrative target for
tourism destination areas.
 Persons in the “50+” age bracket are called active
affluents.
Singles and Couples
 They take their vacations to fulfill their psychological,
intellectual, and physical needs by giving them the
opportunity to rest, relax, escape the routine of
pressures of daily living, enjoy the naturalness of life,
and to express total freedom.
TRAVEL
CONSTRAINTS
 Lack of money
 The major travel constraint.
 Less money means less travel.
Lack of time
 Thedesire to travel and the financial ability to
travel are insufficient if one does not have the
time to travel.
Lack of safety and security
 Lack of security in public places, hotels, and
travel centers cause people to remain in the
security of their neighborhood and home.
 Tourists don’t go to destinations which they
consider unsafe.
Physical disability
 In
the form of bad health or physical handicap
may keep people at home.
 Family commitments
 Family commitments of any kind, whether it be young
children, taking care of the sick, or looking after older
family member really affects travel.
 Travel is curtailed and more time is spent at home.
Lack of interest to travel
 Thisis due to preference of simply staying at home may
be due to a variety of factors, such as dislike of travel,
shyness in meeting people, dislike of changing routine,
and many more.
Fears
 Fear of flying
 Fear of the unknown
end of Chapter 3…