Leisure Tourism: Theory And Application
Blanca14
TouristBehaviourandTouristExperience.pptxWho is the tourist?
All tourists are different – therefore their behaviour and experiences differ greatly.
Indeed, an individual tourist behaviour and experience may differ depending on a number of variables.
In what we discuss today we must ensure against generalisations and stereotypes
The behaviour of the tourist will impact on their experience – and the experience of others
Tourist Behaviour
Clawson & Knetsch (1966) identified 5 distinct phases of tourists behaviour :-
An anticipation of pre-purchase
A travel to the site segment
An on-site experience
A return travel component
An extended recall and recollection stage
Still valid today?
Another difference between tourist behaviour and normal consumer behaviour is the public/social nature of it.
Crang (1997) states that hotels, airlines, attractions, host communities are all performers on the tourism stage. I would suggest that tourists are also performers.
How does this affect tourist behaviour? (And experience?)
Emic and Etic Concepts (Comes from Research in Anthropology)
Emic – the viewpoint from the perspective of the insider or participant
how would a tourist (backpacker in India, luxury shopper in New York, family in The Algarve) see their own behaviour?
Etic – the viewpoint from the perspective of the outsider
how would another backpacker in India, a shop worker in New York, a family of Portuguese living at The Algarve) see the behaviour of the tourist?
The same behaviour, but seen and experienced from two very different perspectives
The Motivation to Travel – Why do we go on holiday?
Not going to look at in detail here – can be linked to wider consumer behaviour motivation theories and concepts
Intrinsic
Extrinsic
Travel career approach (Pearce & Lee, 2005)
tourists have different stages in their travel “career”
Influenced by previous travel experience, demographics, contingency factors
Some motivation factors are of similar importance no matter the career “stage” (e.g. escape, relaxation, self-development)
Some are of more importance to more experienced travellers (e.g. experiencing different cultures, nature related)
Some are of more importance to less experienced travellers (e.g. stimulation, self-actualisation, romance)
Motivation Factors
Numerous studies into tourist motivation.
Some “broad” factors which have been identified within these studies
| Motivation Factor | Specific Items |
| Novelty | Having fun; experiencing something different; special atmosphere of a place |
| Escape/Relax | Resting; getting away from stress; giving mind a rest |
| Relationships | Spending time with family & friends; meeting new people with similar interests; casual relationships |
| Autonomy | Being independent; being obliged to see no-one; doing things your own way; enjoying isolation |
| Nature | Viewing or interacting with scenery and wildlife |
| Self-development | Learning new things; experiencing different cultures; developing personal interests; gaining self-confidence |
| Stimulation | Feeling excitement; having unpredictable experiences; exploring the unknown |
Adapted from Pearce, 2005,
pp. 59-60
What motivates you in your holiday choices?
The Social Role of a Tourist
Role – sociological term for the position that a person occupies in society (Bales & Slater, 1955)
Deviation from expected role – how do others respond?
Role ambiguity – not clear what is expected or how to behave
Role distance – expressing individuality by flaunting conventional role behaviour
Altercasting – manipulated/persuaded to take on a specific role due to the strong presence/behaviour of another
Lots of research done in the area of “tourist roles”; from a variety of perspectives.
Some linked to motivations
Some focused on stereotypes of types of tourist
Some specifically linked to ethical behaviour
Some linked to how educated/intelligent a tourist is!
Demographic Factors
Like all studies of consumers, tourist behaviour can be linked to demographic factors
| Key Factor | Description |
| Belongingness | Travelling in groups and seeking comfort in togetherness |
| Hierarchical Acknowledgement | Behaving in accordance with social status |
| Concept of Kinen | Collecting evidence of travel to prestigious destinations |
| Risk Avoidance | Avoiding adventurous leisure pursuits |
| Concept of akogare | Respect for fashionable Western products and lifestyle |
Adapted from Ahmed & Kron, 1992
Classifying Tourists Involved in Tourism Products
| Pre Travel Experience and Commitment | On-site Style (Behaviour) | Post Experience Outcomes | Tourist Classifications |
| High, Committed, Planned | Active | Achievement | Specialists |
| Immersed | Knowledge | Serious | |
| Interpretation | Skills | Interested | |
| Effortful | Social Capital | Generalists | |
| Low, Casual, Opportunistic | Visual | Rejuvenation | Incidental |
| Passive | Satiation | Dabblers | |
| Receiving | Boredom | Amateurs | |
| Mindless routine | Recognition | Disinterested |
In this model, no defined link between 2nd and 3rd categories. E..g Active does not necessarily lead to achievement
Adapted from Pearce, 2005 p.46
In this model, no defined link between 3rd and 4th categories. Eg. Achievement is not necessarily experienced by specialists
Social Contact
Social contact with others is core element of this :-
How tourists interact with and see other tourists
How tourists interact with service personnel
How local communities treat and are treated by their visitors
In all these aspects of contact there is potential for harmony or conflict, depending on behaviours and impacting on experience
REMEMBER THE LINK BETWEEN BEHAVIOUR & EXPERIENCE
“Tourists, like other social actors, are not passive bodies pushed from place to place and from group to group by mechanistic internal forces and external factors. Rather, they are best viewed as organisers of their social world and experiences, acting out roles, communicating their identities and purposefully structuring their time” (Pearce, 2005)
Social Contact – The multiple perspectives tourists may have of other tourists (Pearce, 2005)
| Other tourist seen as | Behaviours | |
| Positive Views | Potential close friend | Friendly (intimate) contact; learn about them; learn about new culture |
| Travel companion | Partner for activities, socialise, company | |
| Helper | Source of information; share costs; lend a hand | |
| Security guard | Look after possessions; prevent unwanted contacts | |
| Stimulation | Improve atmosphere; excitement | |
| Neutral Views | Background scenery | Just there; no impact |
| Negative Views | Stranger | Minor discomfort; something unfamiliar |
| Disturber | Noise source; adds to crowd; invades privacy; causes conflict | |
| Competitor | Competitor for space, access to people, views etc |
Tourist-tourist encounter reactions in diverse tourism contexts
Glasson et al (1995)
For example, in a temple, booze cruise, wilderness setting etc
This view is heavily linked to tourist numbers within a setting or experience
Links to Urry’s concept of “the tourist gaze” (Urry & Larsen, 2011)
The romantic gaze – those who appreciate settings/experiences alone or with very small groups of like minded companions
The collective gaze – those seeking socially rich recreational experiences where the presence of others is a positive rather than negative attribute
Tourist Experience
A long established debate regarding what the “tourist experience” actually is
Considered from a number of viewpoints
I will introduce some ideas here – but only a selection!
Experiences, memories and emotions related to specific place (Noy, 2007)
Interaction between tourists and destinations (destinations being the site of the experience and tourists the actors) (Stamboulis and Skayannis, 2003)
An experience has to be significant enough to be stored in long-term memory ((Larsen, 2007)
The individual pursuit of identity and self-realisation (Selstad, 2007)
Everyone experiences activities/places in different ways so the tourist experience is subjective (Pine & Gilmour, 1999)
Tourist Experience
Experience includes all stages including planning, anticipation, the event itself, recollection and communication after the event (Clawson & Knetsch, 1966)
The role of others in the experience – e.g. other tourists and hosts (Mossberg, 2007)
“Influential realm” (elements beyond control of the tourist) AND “personal realm” which the tourist brings to the destination/event (includes motivation, perception, expectation, memory, emotion, self-identity, satisfaction/dissatisfaction) (Quinlan and Carmichael, 2010)
Cohen’s Modes of Tourist Experience (1979)
| Mode | |
| Recreational | A step outside the normal and ordinary in search of entertainment |
| Diversionary | A step outside the stress of everyday life and pressures |
| Experiential | Aware that everyday life lacks richness, so authentic experience of society, culture and nature is sought |
| Experimental | In danger of losing oneself and feeling alienated in everyday life, the tourist seeks to rediscover themselves in a new context |
| Existential | A feeling that they are living in the wrong time and place, so alienated from ordinary life they seek a better existence |
The Co-Creation of Tourism Experience
Strong argument that any experience is influenced by the role of the main actor and others
The experience does not actually exist until it is created when the tourist partakes in it?
In tourism the “others” are other tourists, hosts, ANYBODY present or involved
The “main actor” is the tourist who affects their own experience (and that of others) with
Their personality, expectations, etc
Their level of engagement
A tourist experience can be enhanced through planned opportunity for co-creation
Tourism – The search for “self” or “the other?”
Tourists travel mainly to discover themselves (Moscardo, 2014)
People who don’t travel explain that home gives them everything the need so no need to travel (Pennington-Gray & White, 2001)
Western society puts pressure on people to travel, even if they don’t want to (McKercher, 2009)
People travel because there are alienated from their social groups (MacCannell, 1976)
The tourist self is changed very little by the tour, while the consequences of tourism for the native self are profound (Bruner, 1991)
All tourism experiences are selfish (Moscardo et al, 2014)
Final Thoughts on Tourist Behaviour & Tourist Experience
Behaviour impacts on the experience
Behaviour affected by who travelling companions are?
Culture shock may affect behaviour
Why does a tourist behave the way they do? (Why does anybody behave the way they do?!)
Haven’t covered much here but remember the behaviour of tourists towards host population – and vice versa
Familiar strangers – In a group of strangers in a tourism setting, who would you gravitate to? Consider when you joined the course initially!
References….
Ahmed, Z. and Kron, F. (1992). Understanding the unique consumer behaviour of Japanese tourists. Journal of Travel and Tourism Marketing. 1(3), 73-86
Bales, R.F. and Slater, P.E. (1955) Role differentiation in small-decision making groups. In T.Parsons and R.F.Bates (eds) Family Socialization and Interaction Process (pp.259-306). Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
Bruner, E. (1991). Transformation of Self in Tourism. Annals of Tourism Research. 18. 238 – 250.
Campos, A, C., Mendes, J., Oom do Valle, P., & Scott.N. (2015). Co-creation of tourist experiences: a literature review. Current Issues in Tourism.
Clawson, M. and Knetsch, J.L. (1966). Economics of Outdoor Recreation. Baltimore: John Hopkins Press.
Cohen, E. (1979). A Phenomenology of Tourist Experiences. Sociology: The Journal of the British Sociological Association. 13(2), 179-201.
Crang,P. (1997). Performing the tourist product. In C.Rojek and J.Urry (eds) Touring Cultures (pp. 137-154). London: Routledge.
Cutler, Q., and Carmichael, B., (2010). The dimensions of the tourist experience. In Morgan, M., Lugosi. P., and Ritchie. B (eds) The Tourism and Leisure Experience: Consumer and Managerial Perspectives (pp.3-26). Bristol: Channel View Publications.
De Botton, A. (2003). The Art of Travel. London: Penguin Books.
Glasson, J., Godfrey, K and Goodey, B. (1995). Towards Visitor Impact Management: Visitor Impacts, Carrying Capacity, and Management Responses in Europe’s Historic Towns and Cities. Aldershot: Avebury.
Larsen, S. (2007). Aspects of a psychology of the tourist experience. Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, 7(1), 7-18.
Lengkeek, J. (2001). Leisure Experience and Imagination: Rethinking Cohen’s Modes of Tourist Experience. International Sociology. 16(2) 173-184.
MacCannell, D. (1976). The Tourist. New York: Schocken.
McKercher, B. (2009). Non-travel by Hong Kong Residents. International Journal of Tourism Research. Vol.11, 507 – 519.
Moscardo, G., Dann. G., and McKercher., B. (2014). Do Tourists Travel for the Discovery of “Self” or Search for the “Other”?. Tourism Recreation Research. 39(1), 81-106.
References
Mossberg, L. (2007). A marketing approach to the tourist experience. Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, 7(1), 59-74.
Noy, C. (2007). The poetics of tourist experience: An autoethnography of a family trip to Eilat. Journal of Tourism and Cultural Change, 5(3), 141-157
Pearce, P, L. (2005). Tourist Behaviour: Themes and Conceptual Schemes. Clevedon: Channel View Publications.
Pennington-Gray, L. and White, E. (2001). The Leisure Behaviour Paradox. Journal of Teaching in Travel and Tourism. 1(4), 77-87.
Pearce, P, L. and Lee, U, I. (2005). Developing the Travel Career Approach to Tourist Motivation. Journal of Travel Research. 43(3), 226-237
Pine, B. J., and Gilmore, J. H., (1999). The Experience Economy: Work is Theatre & Every Business a Stage. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.
Urry, J. and Larsen, J. (2011). The Tourist Gaze 3.0. London: Sage.
Selstad, L. (2007). The social anthropology of the tourist experience. Exploring the “Middle Role”. Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, 7(1), 19-33.
Stamboulis, Y. and Skayannis, P. (2003). Innovation strategies and technology for experience-based tourism. Tourism Management, 24(1), 35-43.
