THE NATURE OF DEMAND IN DIFFERENT

SEGMENTS OF THE TOURISM

MARKETChapter 10

OBJECTIVES To illustrate the diverse nature of the

Tourism markets and the Tourism products & services which are varied

Within this Chapter, The nature of demand in different market

segments of the tourism market will be discussed

To study the difference in demand characteristics of each market segment

DIFFERENT MARKET SEGMENTS IN TOURISM Family market Hedonistic tourists The backpacker market Visiting friends and relatives (VFR) Excursionists or Day-Trippers Educational tourist Religious tourist The ‘snowbird’ market Ethnic minority tourists Social tourism The short-break market

THE FAMILY MARKET The nature of the family varies dramatically from

one country to another In USA and Northern Europe, the family usually means the

‘nuclear family’ – - with two parents and not more than three children

However, In many Asian countries ,The Middle East, Southern Europe,

the family usually means the ‘ extended family ‘- - with a higher number of children and might have an inclusion of other relatives in the holiday party and/or their involvement in the purchase decisions

It should be noted that in the developed economy countries, there is also the growing phenomenon of ‘ the single-parent family’ - - the family unit which consists of one parent and the children. This is due to higher rate of divorce, in some cases, another partner is passed away

Our focus will be on ‘nuclear family’

Nuclear familyRepresents the core market for many tour

operators and types of products, including camping and caravanning trips, self – catering holidays and theme parks

Because there is an existence of children many families choose holidays that meet the needs of their children

AGE OF CHILDREN …

These needs will be varied depending on the age of the children :1) Babies (Less than 2 year-old child)

Holidays are chosen primarily based on baby’s safety and comfort. E.g. parents could avoid countries with poor hygiene standards and choosing airlines and hotels offering special services for babies, e.g. free baby food

2) Infants (2-5 y.o.) : short journey to the destination can be the priority as a child may get bored on log journey. Safety is still a concern, in this case parents will choose the place to ensure that young children who are practicing their walking will not get into danger on balconies or near swimming pools

3) Early school-age children (from around 5-12 y.o.)

Children at this age often want to play with children of a similar age and may be content with the simple pleasures of play areas and swimming pools

4) Teenagers (from 13-18 y.o.)At this age, they want to be more independent and enjoy more adult activities

When the young person wants to take a holiday separately from their parents, it could take the form of : An educational trip organized by their

school An organized children camp An activity based trip or a farm-based

vacation A single sex holiday with a group of

friends(Note : More details will be mentioned after Mid-term)

Number of children in a family has an impact on demand

Families with several children may need to look for an economically priced holiday camping , caravanning holidays, self-catering holiday

The Tourism industry works hard to attract this lucrative market by providing discounts for children and free children places

However, not enough emphasis on single parent families

HEDONISTIC TOURIST A tourist whom travel because of the desire

to seek for pleasure Usually associated with younger people and

brand names such as Club 18-30 in UK It is the development of the original four‘s

concept of sun, sea, sand, and sex and also the 5th, ‘sangria’ which is the consumption of alcohol

The main motivator is the desire for physical pleasure and social life, fashion

In recent years , there is a growing number of people joining distinctive night life and partying in ‘Ibiza’

In terms of daily life style , very different from family marketThey tend to wake up late and then

spend their time around swimming pool

They will usually then go out partying and not get to bed until the following morning

Often travel in a single sex group of friends

Prefer the freedom and economy offered by simple, self-catering accommodation

Criticisms on Hedonistic touristsHeavy drinking can lead to fights

and problematic with host community – the so-called ‘ lager lout ‘ phenomena

The risk of spreading HIV or AIDS

THE BACKPACKER MARKET Another form of tourism which appears to

appeal mainly to a younger market is backpacking

Tourists use a rucksack or backpack rather than suitcase to carry all their need for their trip

Some more characteristics are : It is an independent travel rather than

packaged travelA desire to keep expenditure to minimumA tendency to try to get off the beaten

tourist trackAn extended stay more than the usual

duration of one to two weeks of a normal holiday

Most of the backpackers are usually students, who can have long vacations

This can involves people taking a year out from their education

Before they begin their college or after completing a college

Backpacking was usually popular amongst young people from developed economies, e.g. US, UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Australia, and Japan

Backpacker is an early example of truly global touristAs their behavior tend to be the same,

regardless of their nationality E.g. same source of travel media, such as

guidebooks namely ‘ lonely Planet’ and ‘ Rough guide’ staying in same types of accommodation and visit the same attractions

In Europe, ,a well-known phenomenon calling backpackers who travel across Europe by rail is ‘ Inter-railer’

These tourists utilized discounted rail-fare packages offered to young people

This market is likely to grow more in the future, because of : The rise in students number across the

world

However, unlikely to become popular within other groups of the society, due to most working people are unlikely to get more paid holiday

In the future, it could begin to appeal more of early retired people who have the time and want to be more adventurous while travelling

EXCURSIONISTS AND DAY-TRIPPERS Traveling for one day or less for leisure

purpose Generally, they are domestic tourist Is the core market for most visitor attractions,

many seaside resorts, and some rural areas Day trippers usually do not plan for their trips

but rely more on spontaneous decision (e.g. deciding in the morning where to go)

Largely a car-based market, also coach excursions

Day trippers are major consumers of food an drink services and leisure shopping facilities, but not a major market for accommodation

In some cases, this market can be international, e.g. a shopping trip from Switzerland to Milan (4 hours by train), Thai or Malaysian people go shopping in SG or HK

THE ‘SNOWBIRD’ MARKET Climate or weather change is the main

motivator Started from Northern Europeans travelled to

Southern Europe in the summer to get the suntan People travels to warmer place to escape the

cold weather at home Some characteristics of this market:

Long duration trip , from 4 weeks up to four months Normally are older, retired people who have the time to

take such a long vacation Motivations of these older people are :

Escape the cold weather Reduce their expenditure on heating at home To improve their health Make new friends and have more socialize lifestyle than they

might in their own community

ETHNIC MINORITY TOURISTS Ethnic minority groups are some small

group of different nationalities that live and based their family in one particular country

In many developed economies, just only few people from this group are regular purchasers of the majority of Tourism Industry

E.g. Asian in Western, Black American in US

Ethnic minority communities grow in various countries and become more integrated and gain greater economic power

THE SHORT-BREAK MARKET Usually, it is a travelling from 2 – 5 days Can be both International and domestic A growing phenomenon in the newly developing

economies in Asia It is considered to be an additional holiday ( not a

main annual holiday Examples of the short-break market

Romantic weekends for couple Shopping trips, e.g. Russian tourists flying to Paris to

buy luxury products, Singaporean people visiting Indonesia to buy some hand made furniture

Visiting friends and relatives trip Health spa breaks for relieving stress and improve

tourist’s health

Unlike day trippers market, short-break tourists tend to:

- Planned and booked well in advance to rise the sense of anticipation OR

- Last minute planning and booking as a reaction to stress from the working life, or celebration of some good news

In a developed world, this market is likely to grow as work pressures arising from the competitive environment