TripAdvisor is the latest to put travellers into groups according to behaviour.
As part of the company's ongoing TripBarometer, it commissioned Ipsos to identify different traveller profiles. The research firm came up with six:
- Value seekers are predominantly aged 25 to 34, are often travelling with children and like beach holidays. This segment wants to make the most of holidays and carries out research via smartphone.
- Luxury travellers, as the name suggests spend big, are mostly aged 25 to 49 and like beach holidays and city breaks.
- Social travellers fall into the 25 to 49 years old age group and often go away with others. The income for this segment is medium to high and they are said to be influenced by word of mouth and recommendations. They, too, like beach holidays.
- Independent travellers like to travel alone and are looking for adventure. The segment is aged between 25 and 49, relies heavily on online research and is seeking culture.
- Researchers, again fall into the 25 to 49 age group, and devote a lot of time to researching where to go, where to stay and what to do in a destination. They are often high earners and prepared to part with a bit more money for something special.
- Habitual travellers can be aged anywhere between 35 and 64. They return to the same place again and again and want things easy. This segment is said to be mostly male, low earners who go away by themselves.
A further part of the study looks at booking patterns to identify four different scenarios.
Flight bookers book their flight first before planning the rest of the trip while hotel bookers start their planning by researching and booking their accommodation.
Balanced bookers research both elements before booking either while mavericks move straight to the booking phase. The behaviour of the mavericks is somewhat explained in the fact that 52% of them are business travellers.
This is not the first time travel companies have looked to try and segment customers by behaviour with airline technology specialist SITA identifying four passenger groups to help highlight different sources of stress and frustration at airports.
Further findings in the TripAdvisor/Ipsos study reveal how different age groups start the trip planning and booking process.
And, why they choose a particular destination.
And, the sources of information used to decide on a destination.
The TripBarometer study was conducted for TripAdvisor by research firm Ipsos via an online survey in June and July with more than 36,000 participants.