Travel Motivation

Knowing why tourists travel is the most fundamental

question among the study of tourists’ behavior.
Although it is the most basic question, knowing the
wants and needs of tourists in traveling is a complicated
task. The wants and needs of tourists are often regarded
as travel motivations. As per dictionary’s definition,
motivation is something that stimulates interest or
causes a person to act in a certain way.
Cook (1999) simply explained travel
motivation as the drive to travel. Weaver and
Lawton (2000) stated that travel motivation is
different from travel purpose in that indicates
the intrinsic reasons why the individual is
embarking on a particular trip.
 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
• Over the years, many theories were developed to
explain tourist motivations for traveling. One very
common theory used in the study of travel motivations
of tourist is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. This theory
by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 work, “A Theory of
Human Motivation,” explains that as humans meet
basic needs, they seek to satisfy successively higher
needs that occupy a set of hierarchy.
This pyramid of five levels represents human
needs which Maslow further grouped into two
as deficiency needs and growth needs.
Deficiency needs are related to physiological
needs while growth needs are related to
psychological needs. Table 4 summarizes the
different human needs identified by Maslow.
 Description of the Different Human Needs
by Moslow
 Physiological needs : Need to breathe, need for
water, need to eat, need to dispose of bodily wastes,
need for sleep, need to regulate body temperature,
and need for sexual activity, body comfort and
exercise, etc
 Safety : Need for security of employment, revenues
and resources; need for physical security (safety
from violence, delinquency, aggression); need for
moral and physiological security; need for familial
security; need for security of health
 Love/belonging : Need for friendship, sexual
intimacy, having a family and need to belong
in a group
 Esteem : Need to be respected, need for self-
respect and need to respect others; need for
recognition, need for activity that gives the
person a sense of contribution and self-value
 Actualization : Need to make the most of one’s
unique abilities and need to strive to be the
best
 Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs & Tourist
Needs
 Physiological
• Tour packages that offer frequent rest stops
• Easily accessible food outlets in theme parks
• Sleeping shelters strategically located
 Safety
• Reservation service provided at government-approved
agencies or location
• Cruise ship lines providing medical facilities and
doctors
• Tour guide services provided in exotic or unfamiliar
locations
 Belonging
• Group tours with people having similar interests and/ or
backgrounds
• Group recognition gained by membership in frequent
user programs provided by airline
• Trips to explore one’s ancestral roots
 Esteem
• Elite status in frequent-user programs such as gold,
silver or bronze
• Incentive travel awards for superior company
performance
• Flowers champagne and other tokens provided to
guests in recognition of occasions
 Self-actualization
• Educational tours and cruises
• Theme parks providing educational opportunities and
glimpses of other cultures
• Learning the language and culture before traveling to
another country.
 Leisure Ladder Model
• Philip Pearce (Roy,1999). It attempts to explain
individual behaviors on the basis of stages in a tourist
life cycle which is said to be similar to an individual’s
experience of work.
 Relaxation & bodily needs
• Need for basic services (food, space, toilets) for
restoration and personal maintenance and repair
 Stimulation
• Need for excitement and safety (fun & thrill of rides,
experience of the unusual, out of the ordinary settings
and different foods and people)
 Relationship
• Need to build and extend personal relationships
(tenderness, affection, joint fun, joint activities,
altruism and being directly involved)
 Self-esteem & development
• Need to develop skills, knowledge and abilities (how
others see a person and one’s desire to be competent, in
control, respected and productive)
 Fulfillment
• Need to feel peaceful, profoundly happy (magical as if
transported to another world, spiritual and totally
involved in the setting)
 Crompton’s Push-and-Pull Model
• This model emphasizes that the choice of destination of a
tourist driven by two forces: push and pull. The first force,
push, pushes a tourist away (from home) and the second one,
pull, is a region-specific lure that pulls a tourist towards a
destination. The push refers to a general desire to go and be
somewhere else, without specifying where that may be. Kozal
pointed out that these are intangible, intrinsic desires of a
tourist to go on vacation (Hansal and Eiselt, 2004). Pull, on
the other hand, refers to the tangible characteristics or
attributes of a destination that are primarily related to its
perceived attractiveness.
 Tourists’ Decision-Making Process
• Another way of understanding tourists is knowing how
they decide on tourism product/services and
destinations. Their decision-making process would
provide tourism business insights to effective
marketing and advertising techniques to effectively
reach their target markets. There are a number of
frameworks that explained this process. The following
discussions show the works of Schmoll, Matheison and
Wall, and Hansal and Eiselt.
 c
 Schmoll
• The Schmoll model emphasizes four successive fields
which he believe exert influences on the decision of
tourists (Cooper and Fletcher, 1993)
 Factors Influencing the Decision of Tourist
(Schmoll)
Field 1. Travel stimuli : These comprise external stimuli that can
awaken an individuals desire or need to travel in the form of
promotional stimulation, personal and trade recommendations.
Examples : advertising and promotion, travel literature, suggestions,
reports from other travelers, travel trade suggestions and
recommendations.

Field 2. Personal & Social determinants : These determine customer

goals in the form of travel desires and expectations and the objective
and subjective risks thought to be connected with travel.
Examples : Socio-economic status, personality features, social
influences and aspirations, attitudes and values, motivations, desires,
needs and expectations.
 Field 3. External Variables : These involve the prospective
travelers confidence in the service provider, destination image,
past experience and cost and time constraints.
 Examples : confidence and travel trade intermediary,
destination service, previous travel experience, assessment of
objectives, subjective risks, constraints in time, cost, etc.

 Field 4. Characteristics and features of the service : These also

have a bearing on the decision and its outcome.
 Examples : cost/value relations, attractions/amenities offered,
range of travel opportunities, quality/quantity of travel
information, type of arrangement offered.
 Matheison & Wall
• A five-stage model of travel-buying behavior was
developed by Mateison & Wall. Similar to the Schmoll
model, their model also identifies four interrelated
factors.
 Tourist profile
• age, education, income, attitudes, previous experience
and motivations.
Travel awareness : image of destinations, facilities and
services which is based upon the credibility of the
source
Destination resources & characteristics : attractions and
features of the destination
Trip features : distance, trip duration, and perceived risks
of the area visited
 Stages of the Buying Behavior of Tourists
 Felt need or travel desire : A desire to travel is felt and
reasons for and against that desire are weighed.
 Information & evaluation : Potential tourists utilized
travel intermediaries, brochures and advertisements as
well as friends, relatives and experienced travelers. This
information is evaluated against both economic and time
constraints and factors such as accessibility and
alternatives
 Travel decision : Stage advancement occurs with
destinations, mode of travel, accommodations and
activities being selected.
 Travel preparations & travel equipment :
Travel takes place once bookings are made and
confirmed, budgets organized, and clothing
and equipment are arranged.
 Travel satisfaction evaluation : During and
after travel the overall experience is evaluated
and the results influence subsequent travel
decisions.
 Hansal & Eiselt
 Hansal & Eiselt (2004) provided a simple
explanation of the decision-making process of
tourists. This process is divided into two
phases which are described as:
• Planning phase – where travelers decide on the basic
parameters concerning their trip. Decisions in this
phase are made at home, usually over a significant
amount of time prior to the trip.
• Modification phase – during which details are decided.
This phase covers modification made during the trip.
 Market Segmentation
 Market segmentation is similar to tourist
typology. It is another way of classifying
tourists and understanding them.
 Segmentation is sort of grouping people with
the same characteristics such as geographic,
demographic, psychographic and product-
related characteristics.
 Tourist Market Segmentation
 Geographic segmentation : Grouping of
potential tourists is based on their location.
 Demographic segmentation : Grouping is
based on the tourists gender, age, ethnicity,
occupation, education, income, household size,
and family situation.
 Product-related : Grouping of tourists is based
directly on what they want and need in a
particular good or service.
Samples of Tourist Market Trends
 Japanese
• Market is focused on women in their 30s, 50s and 60s.
• Senior market is increasing.
• Can travel to Asian destinations
• Top five activities of Japanese tourists: observing
natural and scenic beauty; cultural and historical sites,
visits museums and art galleries.
• Most Japanese go to destinations for rest and relaxation
and are particularly attracted to spa treatments.
 Koreans
• Their favorite travel destinations are China, Japan,
Thailand, the Philippines and Hong Kong
• Natural sceneries and local culture attract tourists.
Relaxation and shopping are gradually becoming two
other important destination factors in travel.
• Prefer package tours
 Chinese
• Outbound passengers from the cities of Beijing,
Shanghai and Guangzhou are experienced tourists and
are often repeat outbound travelers.
• They are matured and many of them take an outbound
trip every year as part of their lifestyle.
• Prefer sightseeing and city travel
• Chinese tourists go to ADS ( approved destination
sites)
 Indians
• There are 28 million passport holders in India who are
potential travelers.
• Leisure groups are largely family oriented that looks
for family fun.
• Travel in groups.
• Source market is wide and complex because of its size
and variety.
• Indians are also very price-sensitive.