1. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF
TRAVEL
CHAPTER 3

2. MOTIVATION FOR TRAVEL
1. Escape
2. Relaxation
3. Relief of tension
4. Sunlust
5. Physical
6. Health
7. Family togetherness
8. Interpersonal relations
9. Roots or ethnic
10. Maintain social contacts
11. Convince oneself of one's
achievements
12. Show one's importance to
others
13. Status and prestige
14. Self-discovery
15. Cultural
16. Education
17. Professional/business
18. Wanderlust
19. Interest in foreign areas
20. Scenery

3. 4 Basic Travel Motivators:
1. Physical motivators
– include those related to physical rest, sports participation beach
recreation, relaxing entertainment and other motivations directly
connected with health.
2. Cultural motivators
– include the desire to know about other countries - their music, art,
folklore, dances, paintings and religion.
3. Interpersonal motivations
– pertain to the desire to meet other people, visit friends or relatives,
escape from routine, from family and neighbours.
4. Status and prestige motivation
– concern ego needs and personal development. Included in this
group are trips related to business, conventions, study and pursuit
of hobbies and education. Travel would enhance one's recognition
and good reputation.

4. Travel as a means to satisfy a need and
want
 The key to understand tourist motivation is to view vacation
travel as a vehicle to satisfy one's needs and wants.
 Tourists do not go on vacation just to relax and have fun, to
experience another culture or to educate themselves and
their children.
 They take vacations in the belief that these vacation will
satisfy, either completely or partially, various needs and wants.

5. Relationship of Needs, Wants and Motives
NEEDS WANTS
AWARENESS
MARKETING
OBJECTIVES
SUGGESTS

6. Maslow's Theory of Motivation and Travel
Motivations

7. NEED MOTIVE TOURISM LITERATURE REFERENCES
Physiological Relaxation a. Escape
b. Relaxation
c. Relief of tension
d. Sunlust
e. Physical
f. Mental relaxation of tension
Safety Security a. Health
b. Recreation
c. Keep oneself active and healthy for the
future
Social Love and Affection a. Family togetherness
b. Enhancement of kinship relationships
c. Companionship
d. Facilitation of social interaction
e. Maintenance of personalities
f. Interpersonal Relations
g. Ethnic Roots
h. Show one's affection for family
members
i. Maintain social contacts

8. NEED MOTIVE TOURISM LITERATURE REFERENCES
Self-esteem Achievement Status a. Convince oneself of one's achievement
b. Show one's importance to others
c. Prestige
d. Social recognition
e. Ego enhancement
f. Professional/business
Self-
actualization
a. Personal fullfillment
 The need to know and understand is motivated by the
desire for knowledge. Many people travel to learn the
cultures of other countries. Other motivations are
education, wanderlust and interest on foreign parts.
 The need for aesthetics is shown in those who travel for
environmental reasons - to view the scenery.

9.  Relating travel motivations with Maslow's need theory whill
produce two tangible benefits:
1. The traveler is better understood and better motivated if
she is recognized as a person consuming products and
services.
2. If one accepts Maslow's idea that the lower-level needs
should first be satisfied before higher-level needs, we
would expect that products and services, including
vacations, which are aimed towards the satisfaction of
lower-level needs, would be regarded as a necessity rather
than a luxury.

10. The Need for Escape or Change
 The greatest reason for travel can be summed up in one
word, “escape” - escape from the dull daily routine; escape
from the familiar, the commonplace, the ordinary; escape
from the job, the boss, the customers, the house, and the
accelerated pace of modern life.
 Travel can provide diversity. It removes person from
familiar surroundings to something that is new and
exciting.

11. A. TRAVEL FOR HEALTH
 Development in the field of medicine have influenced travel for
centuries, giving rise to the concept of health tourism.
 The search for health and long life has popularized the spas, seaside
resorts as well as un resorts.
 The mineral water of different springs were believed to cure different
ailments such as rheumatism, heart and circulation disorders,
diabetes and problems of the kidneys and gall bladder.
 Reducing ranches attract middle-aged women with weight problems.
Americans suffering from different maladies go to China or Hong Kong
to undergo acupuncture or to the Philippines to consult faith-healers.

12. B. SPORTS
 Interest in sports, either as a participant or a spectator is
attracting large segments of the population.
 People demand activity and excitement during their leisure hours
to relieve them from the boredom of their work.
 They indulge in activities such as hiking, surfing, scuba diving,
mountaineering and skiing.
 An example of an event that attracts millions of tourist is the
Olympic Games which is held every four years.

13. C. SOCIAL CONTACT
 Much travel grows out of the social nature of people. They need
contact and communication with others.
 They feel comfortable in a tour group. In the group, the traveller
may develop friendships that may last for years.
 According to Charles Metelka, travel increases the “sociability
resources” of individuals. It makes them more interesting to
themselves and to others.

14. D. STATUS AND PRESTIGE
 Travel provides the means for ego or self-enhancement. Travel to
poor country can provide the traveller with a feeling of superiority.
 Travel can also provide a means of mingling with the wealthy and
social elite.
 Much travel is done to keep up with the Joneses and to appear
knowledgeable about foreign places. Being well-travelled enhances
one’s status in society. A trip to an out-of-the-ordinary destination
adds glamor o one’s personality.

15. E. TRAVEL FOR EDUCATION
 Travel offers an opportunity to satisfy the urge to learn. Once an
interest has been developed in a destination area, the urge to see
that area emerges and the interest grows as knowledge increases.
 When a person reads a book about a place, sees a television
program with that place as backdrop, he (tourist) suddenly
discovers desperate desire to go there.
 E.g. College students go in large number either on their own or as
part of study groups sponsored by universities. Students combine
travel with learning and receive academic credit for doing so.

16. F. PERSONAL VALUES
 The notion of personal values is an important travel motivator.
Many people are urged to travel to satisfy personal values such as
the search for spiritual experience, patriotism and wholesomeness.
 Pilgrimages to religious sites or holy places such as the Vatican,
Lourdes, Jerusalem, Mecca are undertaken for spiritual reasons.
 Trips to Disneyland are made to satisfy personal values of
wholesomeness environment and patriotism.

17. G. CULTURAL EXPERIENCE
 Cross-cultural exchanges, experiencing how other people live and
fostering international understanding are some of the reasons to
satisfy curiosity about other cultures, lifestyles, and places.
 Studies conducted among travellers abroad reveal that seeking a
new cultural experience is a primary reason for international
travel.

18. H. SHOPPING AND BARGAIN HUNTING
 The joys derived from buying certain goods may be the major
reason for travel. Millions of travellers go to Hong Kong, Singapore
and other tax-free ports to shop.
 Bargain hunting or being able to get special merchandise at low
cost is a travel motivator. Tourists are looking for place that are
inexpensive.

19. I. PROFESSIONAL AND BUSINESS MOTIVES
 Conference and conventions about education, commerce and
industry increase annually. More than one-half of all airline travel
is done by business travellers.
 A great portion of business travel is mixed with pleasure. For
example, a tourist may be attending a convention in Las Vegas but
may spend half of his time gambling in a casino.

20. J. SEARCH FOR NATURAL BEAUTY
 Travel can satisfy one’s search for beauty in the environment and in
the scenery. Natural beauty such as the sunset, trees, mountains,
waterfalls, flowers, beaches, valleys, bays, rivers, lakes is usually
pleasurable to the viewer.
 Most people are inspired by the beauty of nature. The trips of city
dwellers to the rural areas on weekends show man’s need to see
the beautiful scenery – trees, grass, streams and the open sky.

21. The Learning Process Of A Tourist
Commercial
Social
Information
Same
Vacation
Similar
Vacation
Previous
Vacation
Purchase
Inclination
Combination AlternativesMotives
Combination

22.  An individual’s learning input based on past experience, is derived
from having experienced the same thing that is being considered or
having experienced something similar.
 E.g. if a person stayed in a particular destination, the factors that
accounted for his satisfaction such as good weather and friendly
service will be the criteria by which he determines where to take his
next vacation. Thus, decision criteria are developed or modified from
actual experiences.

23. Effect of Consistency and Complexity on
Leisure Travel
 Edward J. Mayo and Lance Jervis in The Psychology of Leisure travel,
believe that individuals differ in the amount of psychological tension
they can handle.
 Too much repetition or consistency results in boredom and a
corresponding amount of psychological tension greater than he
could handle.
 Similarly, too much complexity may result in more tension than a
person can endure. To reduce the level of tension, he will introduce
consistency into that experience.
 For example, a Filipino tourist in Europe may find the different
language and culture (complexity) need to be balanced by staying in a
hotel chain with which he is familiar (consistency).

24. Classification of Travellers Based on
Personality
Psychocentrics Midcentrics Allocentrics
 People centered on self,
are inhibited and
unadventuresome.
 Have a strong desire for
consistency and the
familiar.
 Prefers to visit “safe”
destinations.
 Do not like to experiment
with accommodations,
food and entertainment.
 Look for experiences that
will not result in personal
stress or involve unusual
situations.
 Indulge in activities with
low activity.
 Not particularly
adventurous, yet they are
not afraid to try new
experiences as long as
these are neither too odd
nor too challenging.
 Constitutes the mass
market or the bulk of the
population.
 People having interest and
attention on other persons,
are highly curious and
thrive on stimulation and
change.
 Have a strong need for
variety and new
experiences.
 They seek destinations that
offer them an opportunity
to experience totally
different cultures and
environments.
 Accept challenges, meet the
residents, try-out local food
& drink, stay in native
lodgings.
 Want to explore & discover
& go on their own rather
than buy package tours.

25. Classification of Travellers Based on
Purpose of Travel
1. BUSINESS TRAVELLERS
A. Regular Business Travellers
 The cost of the trip is shouldered by a company. Travel is not
influenced by personal income.
 The volume and rate of growth of business travel is not
generally affected by the cost of travel.
 This means that business travellers will continue even if the
price of travel services increases.
 According to a survey, business travellers are well educated,
have high-level job and tend to fly often.

26. B. Business Travellers attending meetings, conventions, and
congresses
 According to a survey, 20% of all business travel trips are for
the purpose of attending meetings, conventions, congresses.
 A congress, convention or conference is a regular formalized
meeting of associations or body or a meeting sponsored by an
association or body on a regular or ad hoc basis.
 Conventions are classified into 4 kinds namely: international,
continental, national, and regional conventions.
C. Incentive Travellers
 Is a special type of business travel given by firms to employees
as a reward for some accomplishment or to encourage
employees to achieve more than what is requires.

27.  Experts say that these incentive trips last for five days and usually
include spouses.
 The increasing popularity of incentive travel has led to the
establishment of incentive travel organizations.
 Incentive travel organizations negotiate with suppliers such as
hotels and airlines to determine the cost of incentive travel trips.
 They act as specialized types of tour wholesalers. To their prices,
they add a mark-up of 15%-20% for their services and costs in
packaging the incentive travel trip.

28. 2. PLEASURE/PERSONAL TRAVELLERS
 Consists of people travelling for vacation or pleasure and also
known as “non-business travellers”.
 The demand for travel services by non-business travellers is elastic
with respect to prices.
 Traveling for pleasure is the largest segment of the international
market and the fastest growing.
A. Regular Business Travellers
 Resort travellers are better educated, have higher house-hold
incomes, and more likely to have professional and managerial
positions.
 Majority of resort travellers have families with children.

29. B. Family Pleasure Travellers
1. Junior families – with parents aged 20-34 having pre-
school and/or grade-school children only.
2. Mid-range families – with parents aged 35-44 with grade
school and/or high school children only
3. Mature families – with parents aged 45 or over with
children who are of high school age and older.
 Family pleasure travel trips are motivated by these 3 objectives:
1. Use travel as an educational experience for their children.
2. To do something different.
3. Use travel to bring the family closer together.

30.  Hindrances to family pleasure travel:
1. Cost of travel particularly the cost of transportation,
accommodation, food.
2. The ability of the parents to have privacy from their children.
3. The problems of organizing and coordinating family pleasure
plans.
C. The elderly
 There are many people who are fifty years of age and over,
including greater numbers of people in the retirement age
category.
 These population shifts have made the elderly persons a
lucrative target for tourism destination areas.
 Persons in the “50 plus” age bracket are called active affluents

31.  or people with the money and the desire to the travel
extensively.
 Active effluents generally search for learning experiences,
cultural enrichment, socialization and activities which lead to
self-fulfilment.
D. Singles and Couples
 They take their vacations to fulfil their psychological,
intellectual and physical needs by giving them the
opportunity to rest, relax, escape the routine of pressures of
daily living, enjoy the naturalness of life and to express total
freedom.

32. Travel Constraints
1. Lack of money – it is the major travel constraint. Less money means less
travel.
2. Lack of time – another inhibiting factor to tourist travel. The desire to
travel and the financial ability to travel are insufficient if one does not
have the time to travel.
3. Lack of safety and security – lack of security in public places, hotels and
travel centers cause people to prefer to remain in the security of their
neighbourhood and home.
4. Physical disability – in the form of bad health or physical handicap may
keep people at home.
5. Family commitments – parents with young children find it inconvenient
and expensive to go on holiday.
6. Lack of interest in travel – due to preference to simply stay at home.
7. Fears – fear of flying is quite common; fear of the unknown; and afraid to
go to countries with different language.