UNIT 4 MOTIVATION, TRENDS, TYPES AND FORMS

Structure

4.0 Objectives
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Travel Motivators
4.3 Travel Motivators and Marketers
4.4 Tourism Trends and Marketing
4.5 Marketing Trends and the Tourism Industry
4.6 Types and forms of Tourism and its Marketing
4.7 Let Us Sum Up
4.8 Clues to Answers

4.0 OBJECTIVES
After reading this Unit you will be able to:

• know about the various travel motives,

• learn how tourism markets can be understood by analysing present day trends,

• appreciate the relationship between travel motivators and tourism marketing, and

• have and understanding of travel trends.

4.1 INTRODUCTION
Without a tourists motivation to travel there would be no travel industry. It is very important for the
industry to understand what motivates tourists to visit a particular destination or attraction. For the
industry manager/authorities it is also imperative to seek out the new and emerging trends of tourist’s
behaviour, their tastes and the kind of touristic activity they are interested in. In this Unit we will try
and understand travel motivators and how can a country/Industry managers utilise them optimally.
We will also try and look into the present day and emerging trends of tourism markets and how they
can be made best use of in marketing country or a destination.

4.2 TRAVEL MOTIVATORS

Any kind of research on human motives is a very difficult task. More so, when an intangible aspect
like travel motive is concerned. The underlying motive for almost any type of tourist activity is
escape – sometimes physical, sometimes mental. However, tourists can have multiple motives for
travel. For example, a business traveller extends his trip to visit his conference destination to get rid of
the stress he underwent. In this case escape is coupled with work. In fact, one destination can see
different travel motivation by different groups. For example, one group of tourists can be visiting
Guwahati for spiritual purposes to visit Kamakhya Devi temple, another group can be visiting it for its
tea gardens and yet another to shop for Assam silk. It is this multi-facetedness of destinations that has
to be realised and used by marketers for increasing sales keeping in view the motivators.

There are destination related motivations and non-destination related motivations. In other words,
there are motivators that are not affected or related to the destination. Tourists either have no choice in

49
choosing it or they are bound to it. In such situations, the cause of travel, rather than the destination, is
the determining factor.

1) Non-Destination Motivators
Some of the non-destination related travel motivators are listed below.
a) Business: This is one of the most important and all pervasive of tourism motivators. According
to Coltman, M.M. (Introduction to Travel and Tourism, An International Approach, 1989, VNR)
about 85% of all air travel is business related. Business travel is not all location/destination
specific. It is also one demand that will seldom change to circumstances except in cases of wars
etc.
b) Visiting friends and Relatives (VFR): This is perhaps the most important of non-destination
motivators after business travel. In India, this accounts for a large share in the domestic travel
market. It provides a major escape to an entire chunk of middle class whose concept of holiday
still means visiting relatives.
c) Educational Travel: This is also largely not a destination specific motivator. For the developing
countries, US, UK and Australia are major educational markets and for the underdeveloped
countries, even India can be major a educational centre. A student though is not a tourist in the
perfect sense of the word but as long as she or he does not work at a job, they are contributing to
the economy the way tourists do.

2) Destination Specific Travel Motivators

These motivators are those that give the tourist the liberty to choose the destination they want to visit.
Destination can be compared, analysed and chosen from at there own will.
Destination related travel could have a lot casual factors. They include things as curiosity about other
cultures, places, people, religion, cultural, social, natural and manmade environment and other such
things. It can also include search for adventure, romance or even self-identit y through spirituality like
for example visiting Rishikesh etc. The category of motivators related to destination is very large and
very difficult to classify. In fact, as more and more ideas of tourism are developing, this category is
becoming more complex.
In 1983, Beach and Ragheb (Journal of Leisure Research, 15 (3), 219-28) developed a model
called the Leisure Motivation Scale, which sought to classify motivators into four types based on the
work of Maslow. The four types were as follows:
a) The intellectual component, which assesses the extent to which individuals are motivated to
engage in leisure activities which involve – mental activities such as learning, exploring,
discovery, thought or imagery.
b) The social component, which assesses the extent to which individuals engage in leisure activities
for social reasons. This component includes two basic needs - the need for friendship and
interpersonal relationships, while the second is the need for the esteem of others.
c) The complete mastery component, which assesses the extent to which individuals engage in
leisure activities in order to achieve master, challenge and compete. The activities are usually
physical in nature.
d) The stimulus avoidance component, which assesses the desire to escape and get away from over
stimulating life situations. It is the need for some individuals to avoid social contact, to seek
solitude and calm conditions; and for others it is to seek rest and to unwind themselves.

One has to recognise that the motivators that make people travel are not universal in nature, as said
earlier, the marketers have to realise this aspect and then optimally utilise their skills to tap the
components. It is this aspect we will seek to understand in the next Section.

50
In their work on Consumer Behaviour in Tourism (1999) Swarbooke and Holmer discussed the
typology of motivators in tourism. There classification is as follows:

i) Cultural iv) Tourist

Sight-seeing Status

Experiencing new culture Exclusivity

ii) Physical Fashionability

Reservation Obtaining a good deal

Sun Ostentatious spending opportunities

Exercise and Health v) Personal Development

Sex Increased knowledge

iii) Emotional Learning a new skill

Nostalgia vi) Personal

Romance VFR

Adventure Make new friends

Escapism Need to satisfy others

Fantasy Search for economy if on limited income

Spiritual fulfilment

Fig. I: A Typology of Motivators in Tourism

Source : Swarbooke and Holmer – Consumer behaviour in Tourism, 1999.
Butterworth – Heinemann

Here, one must remember that pilgrimage is a very strong motivator for travel, and from the most
ancient times the char dham yatra can be cited as an appropriate example. It is still the strongest
motivator in domestic travel and in many cases, like Haj, for international travel also. Similarly, for
inbound travel to India Buddhism offers a big tourist market for the industry in South-East Asia and
Sikh pilgrimage destinations for the NRI Sikhs settled abroad. Destinations like Varanasi, Haridwar or
the temple towns in Southern India are strong motivators for Hindus settled abroad or the people from
Nepal.
Jost Krippendorf in his paper “The Motives of the Mobile Leisureman – Travel Between Norms,
Promise and Hope (published in Sustainable Tourism, edited by Lesley France, 1997) mentions
that “many things remain hidden in the sub-consciousness and cannot be brought to light by simple
questions”. Dealing with the research in this area he states that “many of the quoted motives are
nothing but empty boxes, which every individual may fill with quite different contents”. According to
him:
“Subjective wishes are thus condensed, simplified, registered and presented in the given
answer formulas and statistics. Though this is probably the only way of measuring holiday-
makers’ motives, the reality is much more complex than appears from the results of various
studies. There are always several motives that prompt a person to travel.”
In fact, he uses the results of German studies in this area because “the travel motives and behaviour of
the German population have been systematically studied for over twenty years” and “such a
comprehensive body of information” is not found for any other country. Table 1 list certain motives
for travel and the answers.
The overlaps in the Table, according to Krippen dorf are because “the same person could name
several reasons” and hence “the total percentage is over 100”. Krippen dorf lists eight motivators
behind travel. According to him travel is:

51
a) recuperation and regeneration,
b) compensation and social integration,
c) escape,
d) communication,
e) freedom and self -determination,
f) self-realisation,
g) happiness, and
h) for broadening the mind.
Travel motives also depend on the social status, attitudes and the monetary situation.

Table 1: Main Reasons for Holiday Journeys

Question: What were the main reasons for your 1986 (main) holiday journey?
To switch off, relax 66%
To get away from everyday life, have a change of scene 59%
To recover strength 49%
To experience nature 47%
To have time for one another 42%
To get sunshine, to escape from bad weather 39%
To be with other people, to have company 37%
To eat well 36%
To have a lot of fun and entertainment, enjoy oneself, have a good time 35%
To do as one pleases, to be free 35%
To experience a great deal, to have a lot of change (diversity) 33%
To experience something entirely different, see new things 33%
Cleaner air, clean water, to get out of the polluted environment 32%
To get exercise, to engage in light sports and games activities 30%
To experience other countries, to see the world 30%
To rest a great deal, do nothing, little exertion 29%
To be pampered, go on a spree, enjoy oneself 26%
To make new friends 23%
To do something for one’s beauty, get a tan 23%
To travel a great deal, to move around 21%
To broaden one’s horizons, do something for one’s culture and education 20%
To pursue one’s own interests 19%
To do something for one’s health, prevent disease 18%
To refresh memories 18%
To see relatives and friends 16%
To have time for introspection thought 15%
To engage actively in sport, to get fit 12%
To go on exploration trips, to take a risk, to experience something out of the ordinary 10%
To have time for one’s hobbies 7%
(Source: “ The Motives of Mobile Leisureman – Travel Between Norms, Promise and Hope”, Jost Krippendorf ; “Sustainable
Tourism”, edited by Lesley France)

52
Check Your Progress 1

1) What do you understand by travel motivators?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

2) What is the difference between destination related and non-destination related motivators? Give
examples.
……………………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

4.3 TRAVEL MOTIVATORS AND MARKETERS

It is extremely important for the marketers to identify travel motivators and work on them. This helps
them guide their strategy to design, develop and market their product. For example, it is absolutely
essential for marketers to determine what motivated a group of people to visit a destination and then
advertise using that particular motive in their future promotional campaigns. This kin d of advertising
has two purposes:
• it helps induce repeat travel, and
• encourages new tourists.
Travel motivators are also related to an individual’s Socio-economic or psychological circumstances.
It is here that market research as discussed in an earlier Unit comes to the help of marketers.
Marketers, once they know the travel motivators, need to work on market segment development, i.e.,
selling existing products to new customers segments. They can also make use of the geographic
market development, i.e., selling at customers in a new location.
One must remember here that market segmentation takes into account travel motivators as its base for
profiling the tourists.

4.4 TOURISM TRENDS AND MARKETING

It is imperative for the marketer to understand, percept and carefully analyse the current tourism
trends. This is relevant because of a number of reasons:
a) It would help the marketers upgrade or add value to their product; e.g., tour operators need to
know the latest fads and likings of their markets. With more and more specialised tours coming
into the picture, the golden triangle tour circuit, e.g., would have to be made more viable and
profitable by adding new attractions. Similarly, with such special interest tours such as bird
watching tours, a tour to the national parks need to be further improved upon.
b) Understanding latest tourism trends would also mean enlarging the market segment that already
exists. For example, a hotelier in a remote corner of Cherapunji relying totally on biodegradable
items and environment friendly construction can tap the eco-tourists, who are an emerging
number in the west.
c) Older trends in themselves have new ideas. And being alert would mean that a marketer would be
able to create new trends. Holding of events comes in this category. With the populace being
more aware of exhibitions, festivals and fairs, event management organisations can come up with
new trends.
53
d) To motivate those who have not been to a particular destination or flown a particular airline or
visited a particular attraction also needs an understanding of the new trends. However, in this
regard marketers have to be very judicious and upright in their promotional campaigns.
In certain cases the tourism industry can initiate new trends. Heritage/eco hotels, palace on wheels,
healthcare and tourism, etc. can be cited as examples in this regard. In case of heritage
accommodation the hotel industry started this trend where as in case of eco-friendly accommodation
the industry was fast to incorporate this trend in business.

4.5 MARKETING TRENDS AND THE TOURISM INDUSTRY

Nothing in marketing remains steady. More so, if marketing is for the tourism industry which in itself
is very dynamic. In marketing the buzzword today is strategic marketing. It involves decisions
concerning the products and services that will be offered, the market or markets for which the firm
will compete and the timing of any new product/service introductions or market additions (both
customer segment and geographic markets).
According to Allen Z. Reich (Marketing Management for the Hospitality Industry, 1997), there
are three grand strategies that can be adopted by all/any firm(s). They are:
• Concentration or penetration: for existing products and services in existing markets, this
basically means selling more of present products or services (or slightly modified versions) to the
existing customer base, or simply doing a better job of what is currently being done. For the
tourism industry, this would mean a lot of things. Giving better service, better ambience by a
hotel, cleaner environment by a destination, etc.
• Product or service development: this category includes the development of new or modified
products or services for existing customers. For example, if a restaurant adds a few more items to
its existing menu, it would be a welcome addition for frequent eaters; or for example if in a small
museum a sound and light show is added on to a historical monument, the visitors would be
appreciative.
• Market development: this includes selling existing products to new customer segments and
enlarging the market. In very simple words, this would mean promoting oneself to a new market.
Another trend in the marketing field is that of adopting a direct marketing strategy. Direct marketing
for tourism industry means marketing directly to existing and prospective customers either through
the mail or by personal representation and customer contact. With the spiralling cost of advertising,
direct marketing is an inexpensive and novel way of reaching customers. Another advantage that it
has is that it reaches a defined target segment unlike a broad category that would know it through
advertisements. The important aspect of direct marketing, however, is to have a strong and a
constantly updated database. Direc t marketing, thus, has become a useful way of maintaining
exclusivity and reaching potential customers in an inexpensive way. Use of internet, web-sites and e-
mail is constantly increasing in this regard.
Another entry in the world of marketing particularly services marketing is of relationship marketing.
Relationship marketing is about building relationships with customers rather than creating a process
where monetary transaction is the sole agenda. In this case, customer contact is maintained after the
sale is over and the focus is on retaining customers rather than attracting only new ones. Thus, after
visitors have left for home from a destination, constant contact with them is maintained, they are
informed about the latest developments in the area and the attractions. Repeat travel is encouraged
through discounts, etc.

4.6 TYPES AND FORMS OF TOURISM AND ITS MARKETING

With such specialised tourism as art and heritage tourism, ethnic tourism, nature-based tourism, health
tourism, etc. emerging as the latest trends, one has to change one’s marketing outlook completely to
survive the competition.

54
Most of the special interest tourism has more of human and environment contact. Therefore, it
becomes important for the marketers to impress upon the customer s the value of this kind of holiday.
In these cases, high value – low volume is the best strategy. Marketers have to comprehend that
today’s well-informed and aware tourists are willing to pay extra for that little exclusivity that they
can get.
Another very important aspect of tourism marketing is entering into strategic alliances. It means
cooperation between companies. Tourism strategic alliances are most conspicuous within the air
carrier industry. Initially strategic alliances may be considered for many of the reasons (risk and cost
sharing). However, customer service and convenience is also a part of the equation.
Tourism marketing has also been transformed by technology. One major advantage of new
technology is the ability to transmit video and graphics. Thus, a potential customer now has the
opportunity to view different destinations through their home page, examine airline schedules, search
for discounted packages and sometimes, even package their own trip themselves. New 3D technology
has given the visitors the option to make the tourists view the destinations and even activity options
form different angles. For example, virtual reality systems will enable people to view the Taj from all
angles, sitting at home. Cyberspace marketing has arrived and it will become a part of almost every
tourism company’s marketing plan.

Check Your Progress 2

1) What are the various marketing trends and how are they utilised in the tourism industry?
……………………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

2) Do you think specialised tourism requires specialised marketing? Why?

……………………………………………………………………………………………………….
……………………………………………………………………………………………………….

4.7 LET US SUM UP

Tourism with its multifaceted activities requires multi-dimensional marketing. Tourism has emerged
as one of the fastest growing sectors of our economy and marketers need to realise its potential.
Successful marketing is dependent on knowing the customer and understanding the market. That is
why tourism marketers should realise and understand the various emerging trends of tourism and
unique ways to market each trend. On the flip side, tourism is also seeing the utilisation of latest
marketing trends which have earlier helped other tangible and intangible sectors. In the end,
marketers ought to realise the potentiality of the tourism markets and the travel motivators to help
develop the industry or to enlarge their market share.

4.8 CLUES TO ANSWERS

Check Your Progress 1
1) Destination and non-destination related motivators. Consult Sec. 4.2
2) Differentiate between the two – See Sec. 4.2.

Check Your Progress 2

1) Marketing trends and the tourism industry. See Sec. 4.5
2) Yes, because of its various forms. Consult Secs. 4.1 and 4.5.

55