Report on ten socio-psychological motivations that can be satisfied by a tourist visiting

Before we proceed any further let us first understand what the definition of tourism is. As per Guyer Feuler “ Tourism is a collection of activities, services and industries which deliver a travel experience comprising of transportation, accommodation, eating and drinking establishments, retail shops, entertainment businesses and other hospitality services provided for individuals or groups travelling away from home”. As per UNWTO definition “ Tourism comprises of the activities of persons travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes”. For tourism to happen people must travel i. e. there have to be displacement outside the usual environment? The purpose of travel may be manifold other than being remunerated from within the place of travel. As regards the duration of travel, no minimum limit has been fixed but the maximum limit has been pegged at one consecutive year.

Without motivation people will not travel and there will be no tourism. So, it is very much necessary to understand the socio-psychological motivations which influence people to travel. Also, for people connected with tourism industry it is imperative to analyze the current trends of tourists’ tastes and behavioral patterns, their choice of activities while on tour so as to render optimal services to the tourists. Now, human mind is very complex. While it is true that for any tourist activity the underlying motive is escape – physical or mental – there may be different reasons of touring a certain place for different people. For instance, some people may visit Rome for pilgrimage while others may tour for sightseeing. Then again, people may visit some place for business purpose and then extend their trip to unwind themselves of stress.
There may be destination-related and non-destination related motivations. In the later category following motivators may act : 1) Business, 2) Visiting friends and relations, 3) Educational travel. The destination-related motivators could be many which we will discuss in later paragraphs. As per Beach and Ragheb, a model called the Leisure motivation scale classified motivators into four types e. g. the Intellectual component involving mental activities such as learning, exploring, discovery thought or imagery, the Social component involving need for friendship and inter-personal relationship and need for esteem of others, the Complete Mastery component involving individuals in physical leisure activities and the Stimulus Avoidance component urging individuals to get away from social contacts, and to seek solitude and peaceful conditions to unwind themselves.

Then again discussions for motivation for tourism mostly revolve around the “ pull” and “ push” factors. The “ push” factors are socio-psychological motives i. e. certain motives or certain reasons “ push” a person to undertake a pleasure vacation while the “ pull” factors are motives which the destination place arouses within the traveler. Thus, the “ pull” motives determine the choice of the place for the tourist.

There are different types of tourism like Indulgent tourism which comprises of getaway packages and mainly talks of complete relaxation, play, romance et. al. In the New tourism escape and relaxation may be combined with other motives like, say, educational opportunity and self-fulfillment, In Special Interest tourism people choose a particular destination as they can pursue their interests there like caving, parachute jumping, ecotourism, trekking, bird-watching, rain forest, pilgrimages, honeymoon, island vacation etc. Nature tourism or Alternative tourism as it is sometimes called focuses on tourists who are more interested in natural environments like Reef tours and cruises, theme parks, zoos, sanctuaries etc. Ecotourism is a nature-based tourism involving ‘ education and interpretation of the natural involvement’. Then there is Cultural tourism interaction of the tourists with people and culture of other places stimulated by performing arts, visual arts, festivals, cuisines , history and others. Industrial tourism involves tours to industrial sites where facilities have been developed for use of the tourists. Indigenous tourism includes all forms of participation by indigenous people like investors, employees, employers, joint venture partners like the culture of the Aboriginal peoples of Australia.

Now coming back to the socio-psychological motivations which control tourism Ryan in 1991 enumerated the following factors as the socio-psychological motivators :

Strengthening family bonds
Prestige
Social interaction
Romance
Educational opportunity
Self-fulfillment
Wish-fulfillment

As an example we could cite Fiji islands as the ideal destination place which is likely to satisfy almost all the above factors. From the discussions given below we will see how the above-mentioned motivations are fulfilled.

Escape : This is perhaps the greatest motivation factor for tourism. Often people get stressful with their routine life and they yearn to break free from the daily grind to a quiet, peaceful environment where they could unwind themselves from all tensions and worries for few days and get refreshed in the process. In this case the biggest motivation is to escape, to run away from the usual mundane lifestyle in quest of peace and serenity. There is a temporary change in environment. Even if one resides in the best locations one can get bored with the same surroundings if he does not undertake such breakaway tours time to time.

In Fiji islands which is located in the tropical South Pacific you can find an ideal holiday destination place. Consisting of 333 islands most of which are not inhabited you can find the perfect recipe for unwinding yourself. With the white sandy beaches, undulating blue oceans and waterways this tropical island is a paradise on earth.

Sau Bay is a resort that offers the perfect retreat. Set in ninety-nine acres of virgin rainforest, this resort claims to let you escape from it all. And it is quite understandable. Ninety-nine acres is huge space in which to get lost. Going to Sau Bay would offer the right escape for someone looking for it.

Relaxation: Relaxation is an important socio-psychological motivation factor for undertaking a tour. However, much one may find leisure time at his home he can never relax fully since he has to attend to so many duties pertaining to this office or business as well as his family. Relaxation means pursuing one’s hobbies and activities of interest. Even during tour if a number of places are clubbed together for visits people cannot find time for proper relaxation as too much travel can cause fatigue.

Relaxation is another motivation for people to take a trip. They go abroad because they will know that the daily duties they have won’t be there at that new place. They would not have to think about anything but financial sufficiency to fulfill their traveling needs. Once they have it, they will just enjoy their time, sunbathing on some beach, or soaking themselves in some sauna, knowing that these few days that they have are just meant for luxury.

While in Fiji islands you can really have full relaxation in the lap of the pristine nature without a single care. You can take a stroll along the glimmering white beaches, dive, snorkel, surf, kayak the oceans, have a cruise in the ocean aroung the mainland, go for trekking in the rain forests. For instance, you can stay at Yaswa Island Resort Spa and immerse yourself in the wonderful isolation in the most unspoilt beaches and in compllete solitude and luxury.

Play: Well, during our normal routine life there is little time and inclination to pursue different games and sports, however much we may like them. At home we can only sit before the TV to watch such games and sports. But vacations especially in natural surroundings can make you uncoil yourself through participation in various games.

In Fiji, you have plenty of scope for different sports. Along with comfortable stay in the resorts and spas
lot of outdoor activities are also provided for your total entertainment. Apart from snorkeling and ocean cruises you can try Rugby, go for surfing or have a go at Golf.

Strengthening family bonds:

This is another motivating factor for tourism as the family ties which may tend to get loosened in the course of a routine life are strengthened. A vacation with the family in such a lush and green natural environment like Fiji helps in a better understanding between the family members. You can relax, roll, play and frolic along with your family members, thereby the sense of natural camaraderie between the family members increases and the family becomes united with a strong bond.

Prestige:

Though more often than not prestige does not play as an important factor in tourism yet at times people do tend to show off or display their money power. They might tend to hurt your sentiments by describing how many places they have visited how many times. They would be at great pains to explain to you how expensive tours they have undertaken for themselves and their families, what all they did during their tours etc. Such constant rapping might urge you to plan for a tour with your family, thus prestige also plays as a motivating factor for tourism.

Social Interaction:

This is also an important motivating factor. You get to interact with the local people, their culture, their dresses, their food habits and so on and so forth while on tour. For instance, when in Fiji you learn that if you say “ Bula” to the local people they feel very happy and they will tend to consider you as a friend. During business trips to new places while business deals are struck you get to know about the local people more closely. It’s quite a possibility that at the end of your tour you might land up yourself with some friends from the local people.

Romance:

Romance is definitely a very important factor for motivation in touring. Especially in case of newly married couples honeymoon travels have become so popular these days that one can’t think of a marriage without a honeymoon trip. Such trips do bring the couple very close to each other. Though during such tours the couple normally has little time to explore other things than themselves they understand each other much better at the completion of the trip. The exotic locales in Fiji actually foster conjugal relationship more. Couples can enjoy their trips with desired level of privacy.

Educational opportunity:

Educational opportunity also provides a motivation factor for tourism. People in various fields of education naturally wish to broaden their outlook through tours to different countries or places through interaction with the local people. For instance, in Fiji one can learn about the eco-system. Lots of flora and fauna in Fiji make it an ideal place for persons interested in environmental science. Even educational conventions and seminars provide channels of interaction with similar people of the place where such meetings are organized.

Self-fulfillment:

This is a motivation factor which comes to play when people yearn to see or enjoy some particular place. We do often feel that urge within ourselves. There may not be very definite reasons for such behavior but often people have a long-standing desire to tour some place. Circumstances and other factors might prove to be impediment to achieving his wish. But the desire lingers in his mind and at the very first opportunity he sets on his tour, thus fulfilling his long-standing wish. Similar things happen when people plan a pilgrimage which they had been thinking of undertaking for a long time but could not do so.

Wish fulfillment:

This factor is akin to the previous one viz. self-fulfillment. A person might have a long-standing wish to see, visit or to experience some sights. So, that wishes acts as an influencing and motivating factor in his mind to complete the tour and fulfill his wish.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we can say that the ten motivating factors as enumerated by Ryan act singly or jointly as reasons why people tour. We have to remember that the motivation is more internal than external i. e. these factors act in the mind of people and influence them to undertake tours. Fiji Islands of which we have given references above are perfect getaway destinations for vacation tours. Because of the soothing balm of the nature a tour to Fiji will definitely refresh you and ease all your tensions. Natural beauty abounds in Fiji and along with that you can participate in a host of sports activities.

References :

1. Definition of Tourism (UNWTO definition of Tourism) – what is tourism ?
www. tugberkugurlu. Com
2. Unit4: Motivation, Trends, Types and Forms
www. egyankosh. ac. in/bitstream/123456789/36049/1/9-04. pdf
3. Beach and Ragheb, Journal of Leisure Research, 15(3), 219-28, 1983
4. Understanding and Managing Tourism By Richardson and Fluker

5. Motivations for Pleasure Vacations. JohnL. Crompton
www. sp. uconn. edu/~yian/CROMPTON. htm