MICROPERSPECTIVE IN

T&H
CHAPTER 1. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF TOURISM
At the end if this chapter, you should be able to:

• Discuss the factors that motivate people to travel;

• Elucidate the relationship of needs, wants and motives to tourist
motivation;
• Describe the push/pull model;
• Explain the relation between Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and the
travel motivations listed in travel literature;
• Describe the characteristics of travelers based on purpose of travel;
and
• Analyze the travel constraints.
IMPORTANT KEY POINT:
• The Psychology of Tourism
• Maslow’s Theory of Motivation and Travel Motivations
• Tourist Motivations
• Classification of Travelers Based on Purpose of Travel
• Travel Constraints
The Psychology of Tourism

A. Motivation for Travel

B. Travel as a Means to Satisfy a Need and Want
C. Relationship of Needs, Wants, and Motives
A. Motivation for Travel
• Escape; • Convincing oneself of one’s
• Relaxation; achievements;
• Showing one’s importance to others;
• Relief of tension;
• Status and prestige;
• Sunlust;
• Self-discovery;
• Physical
• Cultural;
• Health; • Education;
• Family togetherness; • Professional/business;
• Interpersonal relations; • Wanderlust;
• Roots or ethnic; • Interest in foreign areas; and
• Maintaining social contacts; • Scener
Basic travel motivators can be divided into
four classes:
• Physical motivators
• Cultural motivators
• Interpersonal motivators
• Status and prestige motivators
PHYSICAL MOTIVATORS
• Include those related to physical rest, sports participation, beach
recreation, relaxing entertainment, and other motivations directly
connected with health;
CULTURAL MOTIVATORS
• Include the desire to know about other countries – their music, art,
folklore, dances, paintings and religion;
INTERPERSONAL MOTIVATORS
• Pertain to the desire to meet other people, visit friend or relatives,
escape from routine, from family, and neighbors
STATUS AND PRESTIGE MOTIVATORS
• Concern ego needs and personal development. Included in this group
are related to business, convention, study and pursuit of hobbies and
education. Travel would one’s recognition and good reputation.
B. 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
vacations just to their children; they take vacations in the belief that
these vacations will satisfy, either completely or partially, various
needs and wants.
 C. Relationship of Needs, Wants, and
Motives
The difference between a need and a want is awareness. It is the
duty of people involved in marketing to convert needs into wants by
making the individual aware of his need deficiencies. This awareness
must be accompanied by motivation. A motive enables a person to
do something. Motivation occurs when an individual wants to
satisfy a need. To enable a person to be motivated to buy a product
or service if he perceives that the purchase of that product or
service will be beneficial in satisfying the need of which he is now
aware. Thus, it is the role of marketing to suggest objectives such as
vacations, cruises, or flights to satisfy needs, an awareness of which
has already been created.
Push/Pull Model
The push/ pull model explains the push and pull forces in
human motivation. According to the push/pull model,
there are push and pull forces in human motivation.
Internal factors or personal needs “push” people to
travel, while external forces or attractions “pull” them to
certain destinations. Much travel is motivated by both
push and pull factors. For example, a college student has
begun to the feel the “push” to get away from college for
rest and relaxation and the “pull” to travel to a sunny
beach for escape, self-discovery, and scenic beauty.
Maslow’s Theory of Motivation and Travel
Motivations • This hierarchy suggests that lower
needs demand more immediate
satisfaction than the satisfaction of
higher needs. The first need is physical;
the other four are psychological. To this
original list, two intellectual needs were
added.

These are:
• To know and understand – acquiring
knowledge; and
• Aesthetic – appreciation of beauty.
 Need Motive Tourism Literature Reference

Table 1. Maslow’s
Physiological Relaxation Escape
Relaxation
Needs and Relief of tension
Sunlust

Motivations Listed
Physical
Mental relaxation of tension

in Travel Literature
Safety Security Health
Recreation
Keep oneself active and healthy for the future
Social Love and Affection Family togetherness
Enhancement of kinship relationship
Companionship
Facilitation of social interaction
Maintenance of personalities
Interpersonal relations
Ethnic roots
Show one’s affection for family members
Maintain social contacts
 
Self-esteem Achievement Status Convince oneself of one’s achievement
Show one’s importance to others
Prestige
Social recognition
Ego enhancement
Professional/business

Self-actualization   Personal fulfillment

Tourist Motivations
A. The Need for Escape or Change
B. Travel for Health
C. Sports
D. Social Contact
E. Status and Prestige
F. Travel for Education
G. Personal Values
H. Cultural Experiences
I. Shopping and Bargaining Hunting
J. Professional and Business Motives
K. Search for Natural Beauty
Classification of Travelers Based on
Purpose of Travel
The two major classification of travelers based on travel are the
business travelers and the pleasure/personal travelers.
A. Business Travelers
B. Pleasure/Personal Travelers
A. Business Travelers
They are divided into three categories, namely:
• Regular business travelers;
• Business travelers attending meetings, conventions and congress; and
• Incentive travelers.
Regular business travelers
• Among business travelers, the cost of the trip is shouldered by a
company, hence, travel is not influenced by personal income. The
volume and rate of growth business travel is not greatly affected by
the cost of travel. This means that business travelers will continue
even if the price of travel services increases.
Business travelers attending meetings,
conventions and congress
• Travel pulse surveys indicate that 20% of all business travel trips are
for the purpose of attending meetings, conventions and 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 adhoc basis.
Incentive travelers
• Incentive travel is a special type of business travel. It is travel given by
forms to employees as a reward for some accomplishment or to
encourage employees to achieve more than what is required.
 B. Pleasure/Personal Travelers
• This group consists of people travelling for
vacation or pleasure. They are also called Pleasure/personal travelers are
nonbusiness travelers. Experiences and classified into the following
research have shown that nonbusiness categories:
travelers have different spending patterns
from business travelers. In general, the • Resort travelers;
demand for travel services by nonbusiness • Family pleasure travelers
travelers is elastic with respect to prices.
This means that nonbusiness travelers are • The elderly; and
very much concerned with the increase in • Singles and couples.
the price of travel services since the cost
of travel is usually shouldered by the
traveler himself. The traveler likewise
chooses the vacation area.
Resort travelers
• This are better educated, have higher household incomes and are
more likely t have professional and managerial positions. It is also
notable that majority of resort travelers have families with children.
Family pleasure travelers
The family pleasure travelers can be divided into three groups, namely:
junior families, midrange families and mature families. These are
defined according to ages of the husband and wife and the educational
stages of their children as follows:
• Junior Families. With parents aged 20-34 having preschool and/grade
school children only;
• Midrange Families. With parents aged 25-44 with grade schools
and/or high school children only; and
• Mature Families. With parents aged 45 or over with children who are
of high school age and older.
The elderly
At present, there are many people who are fifty years of age and over,
including a greater number 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 or people with the money and the
desire to travel extensively. Active affluents generally search for
learning experiences, cultural enrichment, socialization, and activities
which lead to self – fulfillment.
Singles and couples
• Another important segment of pleasure travel consists of single and
couples. They take their vacation to fulfill their psychological,
intellectual, and physical needs by giving the opportunity to rest,
relax, escape the routine of pressures of daily living, enjoy the
naturalness of life, and to express total freedom.
Travel Constraints
• Lack of money
• Lack of time
• Lack of safety and security
• Physical disability
• Family commitments
• Lack of interest in travel
• Fears of travel
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