1. Lecture # 4 The demand for international tourism

2. Lecture objectives  After studying this theme, you should be able to: 1.Distinguish between motivating and facilitating factors 2.Understand the nature of the psychological and sociological demands for tourism 3.Recognize how the product influences consumer demand 4.Be aware of some common theories of consumer behavior, such as decision making and risk avoidance 5.Be aware of the factors influencing demand and how demand is changing in the twenty-first century.

3. The tourist’s needs and wants If we ask prospective tourists why they want to travel to a particular destination, they will offer a variety of reasons, such as ‘It’s somewhere that I’ve always wanted to visit’ or ‘Some friends recommended it very highly’ or ‘It’s always good weather at that time of the year and the beaches are wonderful. We’ve been going there regularly for the past few years’. Interesting as these views may be, they actually throw very little light on the real motivations of the tourists concerned because they have not helped to identify their needs and wants.

4. People often talk about their ‘needing’ a holiday, just as they might say they need a new carpet, a new dress or a better lawnmower. Are they, in fact, expressing a need or a want? ‘Need’ suggests that the products we are asking for are necessities for our daily life, but this is clearly seldom the case with these products. We are merely expressing a desire for more goods and services, a symptom of the consumer- orientated society in which we live.

5. Occasionally, a holiday (or at least a break from routine) can become a genuine need as is the case with those in highly stressful occupations where a breakdown can occur there is no relief from that stress. Families and individuals suffering from severe deprivation may also need a holiday, as is shown by the work of charitable organizations such a the Family Holiday Association.

6. Let us start by examining what it is we mean by a need. People have certain physiological needs and satisfying them is essential to their survival: they need to eat, drink, sleep, keep warm and reproduce – all needs that are also essential to the survival of the human race. Beyond those needs, we also have psychological needs that are important for our well- being, such as the need to love and be loved, for friendship and to value ourselves as human beings and have others value and respect us. Many people believe that we also have inherently within us the need to master our environment and understand the nature of the society in which we live.

7. Abraham Maslow conveniently grouped these needs into a hierarchy, suggesting that the more fundamental needs have to be satisfied before we seek to satisfy the higher-level ones.

10. Some of our needs are innate – that is, they are based on factors inherited by us at birth. These include biological and instinctive needs such as eating and drinking. However, we also inherit genetic traits from our parents that are reflected in certain needs and wants. Other needs and wants arise out of the environment in which we are raised and are therefore learned, or, socially engineered. The early death of parents or their lack of overt affection being shown towards us may cause us to have stronger needs for bonding and friendship with others.

11. The process of translating a need into the motivation to visit a specific destination or undertake a specific activity is quite complex and can best be demonstrated by means of a diagram.

13. Segmenting the tourism market Geographic variables are determined according to the areas in which consumers live. These can be broadly defined by continent (North America, Latin America, Asia, Africa, for example), country (such as Britain, France, Japan, Australia) or according to region, either broadly (for instance, Nordic, Mediterranean, Baltic States, US mid- western States) or more narrowly (say, the Tyrol, Alsace-Lorraine, North Rhine-Westphalia, UK Home Counties). It is appropriate to divide areas in this way only where it is clear that the resident populations’ buying or behavior patterns reflect commonalities and differ from those of other areas in ways that are significant to the industry.

14. Demographic variables include such characteristics as age, gender, family composition, stage in lifecycle, income, occupation, education and ethnic origin. The type of holiday chosen is likely to differ greatly between 20–30-year-olds and 50–60- year-olds, to take one example. Changing patterns will also interest marketers – declining populations, increasing numbers of elderly consumers, greater numbers of individuals living alone and taking holidays alone or increases in disposable income among some age groups – all these factors will affect the ways in which holidays are marketed.

16. Psychographic variables are those that allow us to note the impact of aspirational and lifestyle characteristics on consumer behaviour.

17. Finally, behavioral variables allow us to segment markets according to their usage of the products. This is a much simpler concept and facts about consumer purchasing can be ascertained quite readily through market research. The frequency with which we purchase a product, the quantities we buy, where we choose to buy (from a travel agent or direct using company websites, for example) and the sources from which we obtain information about products are of great interest to marketers, who, armed with this knowledge will be able to shape their strategies more effectively in order to influence purchases.