THE RESORT GUEST

RESORT MANAGEMENT
Learning outcomes
• Relate the reasons on why a guest chooses a resort
• Understand the factors that lead to guest preferences as to the activities the
establishment offers
• Establish a frame of mind regarding the many needs of the resort guests
Recreational
guest
• Very demanding in
many aspects
• What drives the guest
to go to recreational
establishments such as
resorts?
Motivation
• Friends and relatives (Non-active visitors) – look for familiar surroundings where they visit
friends and relatives. They tend not to participate in activities
• Friends and relatives (Active city visitors) – seeks out the familiar when they visit friends
and relatives. However, they are more inclined to see the sights, shop and engage in
cultural activities
• Family sightseers – they look for new vacation places that would entertain and enrich
their children
• Outdoor vacationers – they want clean air, rest and quiet and beautiful scenery.
Recreation facilities are important for the numerous campers who are part of this
segment
Motivation
• Resort vacationers – driven by the image, name and prestige of the resort. They usually
go to the place, because the resort itself is already an attraction. They are primarily
interested in water sports and good weather. Popular places with a big-city
atmosphere are preferred
• Foreign vacationers – consist of people who seek destinations they have never visited.
A foreign atmosphere offering an exciting and enriching atmosphere with beautiful
scenery is important. Good accommodation and service are more important than the
cost
Behavior
• Getaway/family travelers – similar to the non-active friends and relatives, family
sightseers and outdoor vacationers. They tend to visit places that are:
• A good place for children
• Where friends and family live
• Scenic
• Places they can rest and relax
• Full of friendly residents
• Within driving distance
• Places where they can learn new things
• Safe
• Good mountain areas
• Congestion-free
(It is unimportant to them that the vacation destination is popular, that inclusive packages are
available, or that variously priced accommodations are available)
Behavior
• Adventurous/educational travelers – similar to the foreign vacationers. Adventurous
travelers tend to engage in cultural activities such as visiting museums, galleries, opera
and theater. These guests visit places that:
• Someone else they know had been to
• Offer a number of things to see and do
• Are famous cities or places
• Have elegant dining
• Offer a full range of hotel accommodations
(They are less concerned with rest and relaxation, friendly locals, crime, congestion, clean air and
cost)
Behavior
• Gamblers/fun travelers – are linked to the resort vacationers. They want a highly
popular place where they can gamble, participate in recreation or sport, and enjoy a
good night-life and fine dining. They are also concerned about price, availability of
good beaches, sunbathing and good weather.
(They are less concerned about cultural activities, being close to friends and relatives while on
vacation, and the presence of amusement parks)
Guest activities
• Guests could also be classified based on the different guest activities that they enjoy
during the time that they are in the resort
• Travelling for different guest activities are usually linked with adventure travel
• According to the U.S. based Adventure Travel Trade Association, adventure travel may
be any tourist activity, including two of the following three components:
• A physical activity
• A cultural exchange or interaction
• Engagement with nature
Adventure
tourists
They may be motivated
to achieve mental states
characterized as rush or
flow, resulting from
stepping outside of their
comfort zone

This may be from

experiencing culture
shock or through the
performance of acts, that
require significant effort
and involve some degree
of risk (real or perceived)
and/or physical danger
Adventure
Travel

HARD ADVENTURE

SOFT ADVENTURE
HARD ADVENTURE
Backpacking
• Generally an extended journey or walk
with a backpack
• In North America, it describes a multi-
day hike that involves camping,
though occasionally it may involve the
use of simple shelters or mountain huts
• In New Zealand, its called tramping
• The British call it hill walking though they
make use of all kinds of
accommodation
Whitewater rafting
• Recreational outdoor activity using an
inflatable raft to navigate a river or
other bodies of water.
• Often done on white water or different
degrees of rough water, in order to thrill
and excite the raft passengers
Kayaking
• A boat where the paddler faces
forward, legs in front, using a double-
bladed paddle
• Distinguished from canoeing by the
sitting position of the paddler and the
number of blades on the paddle
Hot-air ballooning
• The activity of flying hot air balloons
with the use of gas
Rock climbing
• An activity in which participants climb
up, down or across natural rock
formations or artificial rock walls
• The goal is to reach the summit of a
formation or the endpoint of a usually
pre-define route without falling
Mountain climbing
• One of the finest outdoor opportunities
for the lover of high places
• It is all about challenge and
perseverance, about putting hands
and feet onto rocks and ice and snow
and finally reaching a summit
Off-road biking/mountain biking
• Riding bicycles off-road, often over
rough terrain, using specially designed
mountain bikes.
• Mountain bikes are designed to
enhance durability and performance
in rough terrain
Hang gliding
• An air sport in which a pilot flies a light,
non-motorized foot-launch aircraft
called hang glider
• Pilot is ensconced in a harness
suspended from the airframe and
exercises control by shifting body
weight
Parasailing
• A recreational kiting activity where a
person is towed behind a vehicle
(usually a motor boat) while attached
to a specially designed canopy wing
that reminds one of a parachute,
known as a parasail wing.
Windsurfing
• A surface water sport that combines
elements of surfing and sailing
• It consists of a board usually 2 to 3
meters long, with a volume of about 60
to 250 liters, powered by wind on a sail
Parachuting/skydiving
• The action sport of exiting an aircraft
(on flight) and returning to the ground
with the aid of gravity, then slowing
down during the last part of the
descent by using a parachute
Skateboarding
• An action sport which involves riding
and performing tricks using a specially
designed Maplewood board
combined with a polyurethane coating
used for making smoother slides and
stronger durability
Snowboarding
• A winter sport that involves descending
a slope that is covered with snow while
standing on a snowboard attached to
a rider’s feet.
Roller hockey/Ice hockey
• A form of hockey played on a dry
surface using roller skates or skates with
wheels.

• Ice hockey is played on an indoor

hockey court with a thick ice surface
Bungee jumping
• Involves jumping from a tall structure
while connected to a large elastic
cord. The tall structure is usually a fixed
object such as a building, bridge or
crane.
Base jumping
• An activity where participants jump
from a fixed object and use a
parachute to break their fall
• BASE is an acronym that stands for four
categories of fixed objects from which
one can jump ‘building’, ‘antenna’,
‘span’, and ‘earth’.
Zip lining
• Enable a user propelled by gravity to
travel from the top to the bottom of
the inclined cable by holding on to, or
attaching to, the freely moving pulley
Cave exploring
• Traditionally known as ‘spelunking’ in
the US and Canada and ‘potholing’ in
the United Kingdom and Ireland.
• The recreational pastime of exploring
wild (generally non-commercial) cave
systems
Snorkeling
• The practice of swimming on or
through a body of water while
equipped with a diving mask, a
shaped tube called a snorkel, and
usually fins
Scuba diving
• A form of underwater diving in which a
diver uses a self contained underwater
breathing apparatus (SCUBA) to
breathe underwater
Survival games (airsoft)
• A sport in which participants eliminate
opponents by hitting each other with
spherical non-metallic pellets launched
via replica firearms called Airsoft guns
SOFT ADVENTURE
Camping
• An outdoor recreational activity
• The participants (known as campers)
leave urban areas, their home region,
or civilization and enjoy nature while
spending one or several nights
outdoors, usually at a campsite
• May involve the use of a tent, caravan,
motorhome, sporting camp etc
Biking
• The sport of riding a bicycle
• Persons engaged in cycling are
referred to as “cyclists”, “bikers” or less
commonly as “bicyclists”
Gentle hiking
• In Canada and the USA is the preferred
term for a long, vigorous walk, usually
on trails, in the countryside, while the
word walking is used for shorter,
particularly urban walks.
• The word hiking is also sometimes used
in the UK, along with rambling,
hillwalking and fell walking.
• In New Zealand, a long, vigorous walk
or hike is called “tramping”
Bird watching
• Sometimes called birding
• A form of wildlife observation in which
the observation of birds as a
recreational activity.
• It can be done with the naked eye,
through a visual enhancement device
like binoculars and telescope, or by
listening for bird sounds.
Sailing
• The sport of managing a boat, as for
racing
Horseback riding
• Referring to the skill of riding, driving,
steeple chasing or vaulting with horses
• This broad description includes the use
of horses for practical working
purposes, transportation, recreational
activities, artistic or cultural exercises
and competitive sport
Snow skiing
• Recreational activity and competitive
sport in which the participant uses skis
to glide on snow
• Many types of competitive skiing
events are recognized by the
International Olympic Committee and
International Ski Federation
Water skiing
• A surface water sport in which an
individual is pulled behind a boat or a
cable ski installation over a body of
water, skimming the surface on two skis
or one ski
Canoeing
• Is a paddle sport in which you kneel or
sit facing forward in an open or closed-
decked canoe and propel yourself
with a single-bladed paddle under
your own power
Photo safari
• An overland journey, usually a trip by
tourists to Africa
• In earlier years, the trip was a big-game
hunt, but today, safari often refers to
trips to observe and photograph
wildlife or hiking and sightseeing
Wilderness tours
• The activity of touring on natural
environment that has not been
significantly modified by civilized
human activity
• A guest is required to have a
command of survival skills (such as
making shelters, fire-making, navigation
and first aid) and an understanding of
the ecology and history of the location