Studies Examine What Travelers Really Want

How much do you like to travel? Where do you like to go? And what do you like--and hate--once you get there?

In a recent American Express study of 200 developing--and developed--countries, travel and tourism were found to be the biggest industry.

If you look at travel and tourism as a country, its gross national product ranks fifth--after the United States, Soviet Union, Japan and West Germany. And as an industry it is one of the largest employers: One of every 16 jobs worldwide is held by someone in the travel business.

When it comes to airlines, the numbers are growing. Airline passengers totaled nearly 1.1 billion last year and the number is expected to double by the end of the century.

Thus hotels, airlines and related travel businesses spend millions of dollars each year trying to discover what travelers want, and millions more trying to deliver the goods.

In some cases the research dollars are spent trying to anticipate the psychology of travel.

They’ve been doing it for years.

For example, psychologists were consulted before the interiors were designed for the supersonic Concorde. It was believed that high-speed travel would produce high levels of tension and stress. As a result, the airline interiors were designed to be subdued instead of flashy.

Psychiatrists are continually consulted as to travel habits, what makes us happy when we hit the road and angry when it seems the road hits us.

Responsive Environment

According to a study of resort vacations commissioned by Marriott, resort vacationers “want to experience a responsive environment that allows them to do what they want, when they want to do it.”

An American Express survey on American vacation attitudes is particularly intriguing. In the 25 to 34-year-old group, while 80% said that their top reason for going on a vacation was for “rest and relaxation,” the No. 2 reason (nearly 76%) they went was to “escape stress.”

The average American takes a day and a half to unwind once on vacation. But one in 10 Americans say they never unwind.

And what about vacation “afterglow”? According to the American Express survey, the average vacation afterglow lasts six days. But again, nearly one in every 10 Americans reported that it lasts less than a day.

Recently, Hyatt used Harvard psychiatrist Dr. Barrie Greiff to interpret a study of 700 business travelers.

One of the major findings of the Hyatt Travel Futures Project: People have a love-hate relationship with travel. “They enjoy the experience,” said Greiff, “but find it hard to cope with separation from home and family and the stress of life on the road.”

That is not a particularly surprising finding. But there is more: “We discovered that today’s travelers take their business trips too seriously,” Greiff said. “They tend to make the trip the focus of their lives, instead of accepting business travel as part of their normal routine.

“They struggle with the fact that while they may enjoy traveling on business, it really isn’t socially acceptable for them to admit they like being away from the home or office.”

Frenzied Skies

Many times the frenzied skies conspire to contribute additional stress to the business trip. The Hyatt survey indicates that many travelers suffer when they feel a lack of control over their travel schedules.

But those who cope best are “those who have learned to anticipate and handle uncertainties, have a good sense of humor and are realistic about the business world and its limitations.”

In addition: “The best travelers don’t look at time away from the office as time subtracted from life. They are genuinely happy people who have learned to work within hectic schedules to benefit from and enjoy the travel experience.”

Who is the business traveler? According to the U.S. Travel Data Center, the image of the older male salesman is nothing more than a false stereotype.

Almost a third of today’s business travelers are under 34 and 71% are under 45. And 38% of all business travelers are women. And how many are salesmen? Less than 15%. The majority are professionals, managers and self-employed.

The Hyatt survey found that business travelers fall into four distinct groups: tightrope walkers, eagles, family ties and road warriors.

Tightrope walkers are inexperienced women travelers “who report high levels of stress and feel they lose a part of their private lives while on the road.”

Eagles are those folks who enjoy business travel “but at the same time admit high levels of stress.”

Family ties are married travelers who say that business travel “puts a lot of stress on their spouses . . . causing a conflict between career and family.”

Road Warriors

Road warriors travel a lot “but report lower levels of stress than other business travelers and are more likely to feel like a hero or warrior on the road.”

What do these different groups want? Clearly, less stress. Psychiatrist Greiff suggests the following: Don’t just pack suits, but include sweat pants and tennis shoes. If you’re single, buy an answering machine and call home every night for messages; keeping in touch helps to reduce stress.

“Know yourself,” Greiff said. “If you’re on the road, don’t overwork, overeat or over-drink just because someone else is buying.”

It’s essential to “develop a sense of humor, and plan for things to go wrong. Remember, you’re dealing with variables over which you have little or no control,” Greiff added.

But travelers clearly want more control over both their business and vacation travel.

According to a recent study commissioned by the Fairmont hotels, the No. 1 priority is location.

The second-most important consideration is quality of personal service. But a guaranteed room scored highest when those surveyed were asked what hotel benefit they wanted the most as a frequent traveler.

Name recognition--identifying and recognizing the guest by his or her name--went a long way toward guest satisfaction with the overall travel experience.

Name recognition of guests is almost a trademark of top Asian hotels. Frequently, a guest who has had basically an adequate travel experience at an Asian hotel reports an outstanding experience, simply because someone at the front desk, or the doorman, or the maid called the guest by name.

Taking More Risks

Demographic trends have a significant effect on travel psychology. For example, the aging U.S. population has been traveling more and taking more risks. And in the process they have been rewriting the vacation calendar.

Off-peak travel is booming, and more frequent weekend and mini-vacations are on the rise. “More and more people are turning to short vacations as a stress-reducer,” said a corporate psychologist. “And we find that by encouraging these little vacations, our employees have a better work attitude and their productivity improves dramatically.”

It’s not surprising to note that many hotels now advertise getaway vacations for couples and families.