In the common sense a tourist is a person who travels, from point A to point B, this is what is basically called a tourist. However, a tourist always travels for a particular reason, and you need to find out what the reasons for the trip are...
Whether you have already set up your tourism business or are planning to do so, you cannot afford to rely on this information. If you want your projects to develop, you will have to target the customer(s) you are targeting.
It is important to know that there are many ways to travel, but there are mainly 2 main types of trips which we will see in detail now. So what are the reasons for the trip?
For work...
The business clientele includes all customers who travel as part of their business. Business trips can be of various types; business trips, incentives, meetings, conventions, etc... These trips are used to acquire new customers, visit suppliers, or travel to work on other sites.
- Business trips: these trips are generally organized in the middle of the week, so there is a high concentration from Tuesday to Thursday. Mainly for accommodation and transportation. Given the increasingly international nature of trade, business trips are more numerous. The needs are simple: a free wifi connection, comfort for transportation, a quick checkin&out...
- Incentives, seminars: these trips are more generally made to bring together people from different or the same company. Incentives are designed to motivate and refocus employees on the objectives of a company but also to renew ties. Part of the stay is dedicated to leisure activities in a group, and the other part is dedicated to meetings, challenges in the form of games.
Incentives and seminars generally take place in hotels, centres usually linked to leisure activities. Due to the crisis, these trips are now made to nearby destinations. Expectations in this segment are based on the facilities available in the establishments (various leisure activities, meeting rooms, etc.).
- Congresses: these events generally serve to bring together a certain number of professionals from a sector around themes or problems encountered by the profession. Expectations focus on a diversification of the offer (special places or organizing events, museums, schools, etc...).
The incentive and seminar segment is quite sensitive to the environment (political and financial crisis, etc...) which can be replaced by video-conferencing during crises.
Just for fun...
The leisure clientele concerns all customers who travel as part of their holidays. We note that this segment has changed its purchasing behaviour; nowadays, reservations are mostly made online. There are also more short stays.
As a general rule, this is a price-sensitive clientele that is more interested in low cost, who travel abroad and are also looking for all-inclusive holidays. However, the leisure clientele can be divided into several types of categories, including the following:
- Visit family and friends: this category (about 20% of the leisure segment) contains customers who travel to visit their families, mainly expatriates. They are mainly looking to travel at a lower cost given the frequency of travel.
- Seniors: customers over 65 years old who travel a lot, they have the particularity of having time and a good budget for travel (savings and retirement). Their expectations are mainly focused on travel comfort (air conditioning, comfortable bedding).
- Family: Customers who travel with children, looking for advantageous rates and discounts for the family in terms of price, facilities, leisure facilities for children (clubs, day-care centres, games) and rooms equipped to accommodate everyone.
- Couple: Customers who have a certain budget for travel, looking for quiet places, without children or not very frequented by families, booking on distant destinations or short stays not very far away.
There are many reasons for traveling, so you will need to determine which clientele you want to address and what type of segment you are positioning yourself for. You will be able to draw up your market research beforehand to answer all these questions.