How do Australians choose a holiday destination?

Here are some interesting facts on how people choose their holiday destination (December 2011) from a report How do Australians choose holiday destinations and experiences. The Cooperative Research Centre for Sustainable Tourism looked at consumer choice behaviours for choosing domestic and overseas destinations for holiday experiences. They suggest that the most important decisions made by people choosing a holiday are:

• whether to travel
• where to travel and what to do
• when to travel
• how long to stay
• how much to spend

While travel businesses are interested in how consumers make these holiday decisions, the most significant one is how they choose their holiday destination.

Most marketing activity is aimed at persuading tourists to choose a particular holiday location. However when a tourist’s buying behaviour relates strongly to what the travel motives are it is important to look at these motives. The five strongest motives in choosing a holiday destination were:

• to have fun
• to visit new places
• to relax mentally
• to get away from everyday life
• to experience something new

The five weakest motives for travelling on holiday were:

• to master a skill
• to engage in challenging physical activities
• to improve self-confidence
• to engage in nature-based activities
• to engage in non-challenging physical activities

There are seven key motives involved in tourism consumer behaviour:

1. Nature
2. Social and self enhancement
3. New experiences and knowledge
4. Health, exercise and skill
5. Relaxation and escape
6. Adventure and excitement
7. Family, friends and fun

So when you are thinking about marketing your holiday destination you need to focus on one or more of these key motivations.