Travel style or nationality – which is more useful to differentiate tourists?

1. Travel style or nationality – which is more useful to differentiate tourists? Susanne Becken, Landcare Research Jürgen Gnoth, Otago University Presented at: Presented at ‘Taking Tourism to the Limits’, International Interdisciplinary Conference, University of Waikato, Hamilton, 9–11 December 2003.

2. Segmentation To understand the market better and to make marketing, planning and management more efficient and effective. Market segmentation by • Nationality • Demographics • Information search behaviour • Psychographics (e.g. benefits, motivation etc.) • Travel style • Market segmentation by • Nationality • Demographics • Information search behaviour • Psychographics (e.g. benefits, motivation etc.) • Travel style

3. Research questions • Do nationality or travel styles indicate the use of or preference for certain information sources? • Are nationality or travel styles linked to the different values and benefits sought? • Are travel styles stable across different nationalities? • Which of the two ways of segmentation is more useful to understand tourist behaviour?

4. Sample used in this study • A carefully designed survey was mailed to tourists who had visited New Zealand. • Sample sizes were: - USA 1122 (1999); - Germany 559 (2000); - Australia 794 (2001). • All samples were representative compared with IVS data. • Tourists reported their main mode of transport and type of accommodation=> this information was used to assign tourists to a specific travel style.

5. Tourist types Tourist types and decision rules were initially derived by means of cluster analysis using 2000 IVS data (see Becken & Gnoth, in press, Tourism Management)

6. Dependent variables/ scales • Length of stay • New Zealand as a single destination • Expenditure • Information sources used/preferred • Months planned ahead • Previous travel experience • Planned items when going on holiday • Items important for this holiday • Holiday benefits • Values in daily life

7. Etc. MANOVA MANOVA Eyeball MANOVA

8. Key results – overview • There is an association between nationality and preferred travel style. • Typically, travel styles manifest themselves in similar ways for different nationalities, although in some cases nationality slightly modifies the travel style-specific behaviour. • Both ways of segmentation result in significant differences between segments for the tested variables.

9. Example: length of stay

10. Example: information sources • Both nationality and travel styles are significant discriminators for preferred information sources. • The greatest differences in rankings are between the different countries;differences between travel styles are also significant, e.g. coach tourists use brochures and travel agents. • The greatest differentiation was found when comparing travel styles for different nationalities (e.g. backpackers across the three markets).

11. Example – benefits sought • Significant differences between travel styles, e.g.- ‘Cosiness and familiar atmosphere’ and ‘being spoilt’ is most important for coach tourists.- ‘Having everything organised’ is most important for coach tourists and least for backpackers and campers.- Backpackers want to ‘exert physically’ and ‘realise creativity’. • Few differences between nationalities, e.g.- US tourists overall score lower on ‘rest and relaxation’, while all Germans rank ‘free and easy going’ very highly.

12. Example – Values (LOV) • Scale with 9 items. • Clear patterns for travel styles, e.g.- Coach tourists prefer ‘security’, and rank ‘excitement’ low. They have a high ‘sense of belonging’. • Clear differences between nationalities, e.g.- US visitors rank ‘being well respected’ highly and have a higher need for security than the other markets. Germans rank ‘self-fulfillment’ lower than the other markets. • ‘Warm relationships’ important to every tourist.

13. Conclusions • There is a link between travel style and information sources, values, and benefits => deeper understanding of each travel style. • Predictability of certain behaviors following key travel choices made at the destination. • Nationality is an important factor, especially in terms of organizational or logistical background parameters (e.g. annual leave, distance etc.), and also in terms of values. • Nationality has the least influence on benefits sought – these are linked to travel style. • Overall, travel style is a very useful segmentation basis because it provides cues how, when and by what means tourists can be addressed both for marketing and management purposes.

14. Thank you for your attention!