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Do psychographics influence vacation destination choices? A comparison of British travellers to North America, Asia and Oceania

Department of Natural Resource Recreation and Tourism, Colarado State University

Joseph T. O’Leary

Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, Purdue Univeesity, West Lafayette

Alastair M. Morrison

Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management, Purdue University, West lafayette

Using national survey data on the long-haul pleasure travel market in the UK, this study compared British travellers bound for Asian, North American and Oceanic destinations on three different psychographic dimensions. Significant differences were found among the three travel groups in trael philosophies, travel benefits sought and destination attribute preferences. In contrast, demographic and socio-economic variables were found to be ineffective in differentiating the British travellers. The research findings provided further empirical evidence of the valuable role that psychographic factors, such as attitudes and preferences, can play in understanding travel decision making. The results also indicated that destination areas should identify the benefits and attributes that are most highly valued by travellers from key countryof-origin target markets. Furthe, the study suggested that there was good reason for closer marketing alliances among individual countries within a region. Within each of the three broad travel regions reviewed in this study there existed more homogeneity, while between regions there appeared to be more heterogeneity in the psychographic variables.

Key Words: destination attribue preferences • long-haul travel • psychographics • travel philosophies • travel benefits

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