When you think of it, it might seem like an obvious question: what motivates people to travel on holiday and what are they looking to gain from the experience?
And yet, historically there has been surprisingly little industry research into this area. Partly because we would think that the answers are self-evident (though this misses the difference in influences that affect an individual’s decision to travel) and partly it is because the link between guest motivation and the bottom line is less obvious.
Who cares why people travel, as long as we know what they want when they get here?
NB: This is a viewpoint from Helen Egan, head of industry relations for TripAdvisor.
In fact, as our recent TripBarometer study into the Psychology of Travel shows, that is where some UK hoteliers may be missing a trick. For many travellers, the experience of travel doesn’t begin when they leave the front door, it begins at the point of researching and booking– whether that be while sitting in front of their computer, at a travel agent or on their mobile device.
Research firm Ipsos surveyed more than 53,000 travellers and hoteliers around the world as part of the biannual TripBarometer study. What we found was that the main emotion for a majority (54%) of global travellers is excitement when they make the actual booking.
Yet, by comparison, nearly two thirds of UK hoteliers (62%) said their main priority at that stage in their guests’ travel journey was simply to ensure a smooth and efficient process at booking. Only one-in-eight (12%) said their priority was to make guests feel as though the holiday had already begun.
This could be an opportunity for hoteliers to begin developing a lasting relationship with their guest; build the excitement right from the start, create a ‘countdown to the holiday’ and go some way towards making that guest a repeat customer for the future.
When it comes to guests’ psychological needs and motivations, again, there are some important lessons for hotel businesses.
We explored holiday-goers’ motivations and feelings from both a personal experience perspective as well as how they would like to be perceived by others. Using this established methodology, Ipsos found that the number one worldwide motivation to travel is the desire to ‘enhance our perspective’ (cited by 71% of global travellers).
Yet, nine-out-of-ten UK hoteliers (86%) say they want to provide their guests with a sense of ‘harmony’. In fact, this is actually the joint least influential motivation for most travellers going on holiday, along with a sense of ‘order’.
Even with UK travellers more likely than most to be in search of harmony (29% versus the global average of 21%), it is still relatively low down on the list of their motivating influences. Hoteliers who are doing more to cater for travellers searching for a perspective enhancing experience will have a chance to gain an edge on the competition.
When we analysed motivations across different traveller types, interestingly UK holiday-goers are remarkably similar. In fact, the motivational profile of a UK millennial has more in common with a UK retiree than with their millennial peers elsewhere in the world. The only significant difference is in their desire for excitement. UK Millennials are nearly twice as likely (23%) to feel motivated by feelings of excitement and adventure as UK retirees (12%), but are still notably less adventurous than others their age around the world.
Ultimately, the benefit of research like this is to really understand what drives and influences traveller behaviour at every stage of the travel journey. In such a competitive industry as this, these insights can offer hoteliers a real edge in differentiating their offer, upping their game in all-round customer service from booking to staying, and ultimately in securing customer loyalty.
NB: This is a viewpoint from Helen Egan, head of industry relations for TripAdvisor.
NB2: Online experience image via Shutterstock.
