Consumer Travel Insights by STR Perceptions of Destinations
Introduction Seeing new places, having original and authentic experiences, and simply relaxing, were identified as key factors influencing the decision to undertake leisure breaks in STR s inaugural Consumer Travel Insights report. But, where do today s increasingly discerning travellers choose to go on their international breaks? And, what perceptions do these travellers have of tourism destinations, be it major global destination magnets like London, Paris and New York or up-and-coming destinations in further flung corners of the globe? In this second Consumer Travel Insights report, STR explores the perceptions and attitudes of consumers on a multitude of destinations. Our research also identifies, through our traveller segmentation model, the types of visitors who are more compelled to visit emerging or developing destinations and those who are attracted to visit well-established and internationally renowned tourism destinations. Whilst not one of the recognised four P s of marketing product, place, price and promotion perceptions, and the need to understand them, is crucial to enable effective destination marketing. Indeed, the foundations of any successful marketing campaign is predicated on a sound understanding of consumer perceptions.
Methodology The research was conducted by the Tourism Consumer Insights team of STR our tourism and hospitality researchers and analysts, based in Edinburgh, Scotland. An online survey was conducted in November 2017 using our STR Traveller Panel a unique community of more than 25,000 travellers from across the globe. Nearly 2,000 panellists were recruited to take part in the research. Respondents were asked to provide feedback on their holidaying behaviour during the Q3 (July to September) 2017 period. In addition, they were asked about their general holiday preferences. Respondents also gave their views on key issues influencing tourism and shared their perceptions of international destinations. In this report, we focus on travellers thoughts and attitudes on destinations nearly 50 cities in total were evaluated in the survey. In addition, we discuss trends between travellers previous and future behaviour in choosing holiday destinations. Detailed analysis of the results was conducted to enable an understanding of the views and behaviour of different audiences, including U.S., U.K. and European travellers as well as previous visitors and non-visitors to a range of destinations. Understanding warmer and cooler segments is critical for successful destination marketing campaigns. Our segmentation analysis identifies audiences who demonstrate high and low engagement with particular destinations.
Traveller Profile 41% Male Respondents were more likely to be female than male. 9% 16-24 18% 25-34 59% Female 19% 35-44 22% 45-54 All age groups were well represented in the research, although the key segment was those aged 35-54 (41%). 20% 55-64 12% 65+ Nearly 2,000 respondents known to have undertaken a leisure experience within the last 12 months were selected to take part in the research. The survey canvassed opinion among a broad range of audiences as shown on the left. Our analysis identified five distinct types of travellers. These segments, plus additional analysis identifying contrasts and similarities among visitors in terms of origin, age, and traveller behaviour, are shared and discussed throughout the report. 26% Seeking it All 20% Experience Seekers 22% Value Seekers These travellers are interested in a complete experience, in particular: experiencing new places and cultures, finding things to do, and enjoying food and drink options. Seeking it All travellers tend to be female and reside in North America, with an average age of 47. Experience seekers want to find things to do, absorb the history and ambiance of the places they visit and expand their understanding. Mostly female, and tending to reside in both North America and in Europe, but less so in the U.K., these travellers are younger than average age (44). Value seekers are focused on finding things to do and enjoying their travels at an affordable price. These travellers, who are equally likely to be male or female, tend to live outside of Europe and North America. They have an average of age of 46. 20% U.K. 21% Europe 37% North America 21% Rest of World Almost 90 countries were represented in the research, from Albania to Venezuela. 19% Relaxation Seekers 14% Go with the Flow Relaxation seekers are focused on relaxing and unwinding, in particular by seeking out enjoyable food and drink options. These travellers are almost equally likely to be male or female, and tend to reside in the U.K.. They have an older average age (48) compared with the other segments. These travellers have no particularly strong motivations for travelling, rather, they seem willing to go with the flow. They are most likely to be male and are commonly from Europe and the U.K.. They are a comparatively younger segment (average age: 44) and are more open to new experiences.
Attitudes to Destinations The first section of the research set out to determine attitudes around visiting major global destinations. We asked our panel about their previous trips and current plans (in the next 12 months) to go to 40 of the most visited cities across the globe. The data captured enables an assessment of travellers future holiday plans alongside an understanding of their existing holiday behaviour. Among other insights, these results identify the important role of a previous visit to a city in encouraging a future visit. Based on our research, which evaluated engagement with 40 major destinations, a traveller was almost twice as likely to be planning a trip to a city destination if they had visited that destination before. The table below shows the cities from our research that are most successful in converting visitors in to repeat visitors: City % of panellists planning another trip to the city within the next 12 months London 28.1% New York 16.7% Tokyo 15.7% Orlando 12.3% 6.8% Travellers planning a visit to major city they ve visited before Paris 12.0% Amsterdam 10.5% 3.7% Travellers planning a visit to major city they ve never visited The above result highlights the importance of trust in influencing where consumers plan to go on their holidays and short breaks. A previous enjoyable visit is the most powerful method of garnering trust. From a destination perspective, this insight emphasises the benefits of converting visitors to loyal repeat visitors, which can enable the development of a more sustainable visitor economy. London was, by some distance, the most appealing destination for a repeat visit, which was a reflection of the research sample being comprised of a large U.K. audience (of c. 20%). Looking beyond the U.K., there was significant interest in revisiting New York, Tokyo, Orlando, Paris and Amsterdam, with each of these cities cited by 10% or more of previous visitors as a destination they were planning to visit again in the next 12 months. Exploring somewhere new Can t wait to get back
Attitudes to Destinations The previous analysis demonstrates that travellers are more likely to visit a destination they are familiar with and already know. This result highlights the importance of destinations achieving high visitor satisfaction. Without this there is no trust that crucial factor influencing holiday decisions. There are a variety of other factors which also contribute to attract (and deter) audiences to destinations. Our traveller segmentation model enables an overall assessment of the types of visitors who demonstrate warmer and cooler attitudes to particular destinations. A few key findings of our analysis are illustrated below. Seeking it All an audience that appreciate complete experiences, including undertaking new activities and enjoying food and drink demonstrated high engagement with most of the 40 destinations evaluated. This result itself highlights the typical needs and behaviours of a city break visitor. They showed particularly strong engagement with New York, Amsterdam and Orlando. A reflection of their underlying motivation to see new places and experience new cultures, Experience Seekers also showed strong engagement with the global destinations, and, in particular, London, Paris and Rome. Understanding the profile of holidaymakers, who are more likely to be planning international city break trips, is powerful intelligence to inform destination marketing campaigns. As shown below, millennials (those between the ages of 16-34) are the most active group in planning holidays, whilst baby boomers (those between the ages of 55-74) and the silent generation (those typically 75 years or older) are the least active groups. Number of trips planned to 40 major global destinations by age group (next 12 months): 1.9 16-34 1.5 55+ Meanwhile, as shown below, panellists from Europe (excluding U.K.) were identified as the key segment in planning trips to these international destinations. Number of trips planned to 40 major global destinations by residency (next 12 months): $ Meanwhile, Value Seekers a price conscious type of traveller and Relaxation Seekers were less likely than the above two segments to visit or to plan a visit to these 40 destinations. Often having more specific needs, for example, good weather and beaches for relaxation seekers, these types of travellers demonstrated a cooler attitude towards some of the world s most visited destinations. 1.6 North America 1.5 U.K. 2.0 Europe 1.9 Rest of the World
Spotlight on Mega Destinations According to Euromonitor International s Top 100 City Destinations Ranking 2017 edition, the most popular destination for international visitors in 2015 was Hong Kong, attracting nearly 26.7 million visitors, despite seeing a 3.9% decrease in visitors compared with the previous year. The average overall perceptions score for each destination is shown below with 1 being the least positive and 5 being the most positive. Our research sought opinions from panellists on a selection of the world s most visited destinations. These destinations included the location of STR s international headquarters, London, our Asian Pacific HQ, Singapore, our Middle East base, Dubai, as well as Paris, New York and Bangkok destinations which attracted over 10 million international staying visitors according to Euromonitor International s report. 4.29 4.28 4.23 3.93 3.72 3.64 We asked our traveller panel for their views on the following four attributes of each destination: world-class visitor experiences on offer, the energy and atmosphere, importance of the destination s people and culture, and the perception of how fashionable the destination is to visit. New York London Paris PARIS LONDON NEW YORK SINGAPORE BANGKOK DUBAI Dubai Bangkok Singapore Overall, Paris, London and New York were more positively perceived than Singapore, Bangkok and Dubai in our research. But how did these key cities compare in terms of the attributes evaluated: the visitor experience, atmosphere, culture and visit fashionability? And, were there any significant differences in perceptions of previous visitors to the destination and those who had never visited? Source: https://blog.euromonitor.com/2017/01/top-100-city-destination-ranking-2017.html
Spotlight on Mega Destinations The overall perceptions of visitors and non-visitors to these cities is illustrated below. As can be seen, there were contrasting associations of destinations among the two different types of travellers. Generally, there were less positive perceptions among those who had not visited the city compared with those who had previously visited. For those who had visited the destination, New York was rated most positively among the six destinations evaluated, followed closely by Paris. Meanwhile, among non-visitors, Paris was perceived most advantageously. This finding highlights the important role of marketing, promotion and branding in shaping attitudes towards destinations. Visitors and non-visitors tended to identify the same key feature of particular cities. For example, both groups identified Paris as being the most fashionable to visit, whilst New York was considered by both visitors and non-visitors to offer the greatest atmosphere and buzz. This is an encouraging finding for destinations in their (expensive) efforts to reach new audiences. Despite the above similarity, there were significant variances in the overall perceptions of visitors and nonvisitors for the attributes evaluated as shown below. Non-visitors were most likely to underestimate the atmosphere and energy of a destination and the benefit of engaging with local people and cultures. This is particularly relevant as it highlights the need for destinations to draw attention to more than just their physical assets to most successfully promote their cities. 4.35 4.33 4.31 4.06 4.17 3.91 4.09 3.86 NEW YORK PARIS LONDON SINGAPORE 3.90 3.87 3.57 3.65 DUBAI BANGKOK Overall Visitor Score Overall Non-Visitor Score Non-Visitor Perception Difference Atmosphere & Energy 4.06 3.69-10.0% People & Culture 3.85 3.55-8.5% World-Class Experiences 4.45 4.19-6.2% Visit Fashionability 4.21 4.04-4.2% Visitor Non-Visitor
Spotlight on Up-and-Coming Destinations In STR s latest Global Hotel Study, Africa and Europe were identified as two of the fastest growing regions of the world in terms of RevPAR (Revenue Per Available Room a key hotel performance metric), but what destinations across the globe are seeing spikes in demand? Diving deeper in to our hotel performance data, our analysis has identified a number of up-and- coming destinations across the globe that performed strongly in the context of the market or saw significant growth in 2017. In this section, we explore consumer awareness and attitudes to visiting a selection of these destinations. Salt Lake City 84% 16% Buenos Aires 92% 8% Casablanca 90% 10% Baku 59% 41% Abu Dhabi 92% 8% Hanoi 84% 16% Average 84% 16% Place Aware Not Aware Salt Lake City 54% 46% Buenos Aires 65% 35% Casablanca 67% 33% Baku 35% 65% Abu Dhabi 57% 43% Hanoi 55% 45% Average 56% 44% Place Visited / Interested Not Interested in Visiting As can been seen above, the vast majority of our panellists were aware of the six destinations evaluated. Buenos Aires and Abu Dhabi were the most well known destinations whilst Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, was the least recognised by some distance. Looking specifically at those who were aware of the cities, the city with the highest appeal (based on the highest incidence of previous visits or an interest in visiting) was Casablanca two-thirds of those who were aware of Casablanca had either visited the city before or were interested in visiting the city in the future. Meanwhile, Baku was the least appealing destination with only around a third of our panellists warm to the prospect of visiting this city.
Spotlight on Up-and-Coming Destinations As discussed previously, of the six cities evaluated, our panel of travellers were most aware of Abu Dhabi and Buenos Aires, whilst Casablanca and Buenos Aires were the two most appealing destinations among those who were aware of the cities. It is interesting to see from the chart below a correlation between awareness and propensity to visit these destinations. By further assessing this relationship, a deeper understanding of the respective appeal of the cities can be gained. As can be seen, despite achieving a similar overall level of awareness, there was a significantly higher level of interest in visiting Casablanca as opposed to Abu Dhabi. This result implies that Abu Dhabi is not fully capitalising on its awareness profile to entice visitors in the same way as Casablanca. Associations with the destination along with a host of other factors and barriers will be influencing this result. 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% BAKU HANOI SALT LAKE CITY CASABLANCA ABU DHABI BUENOS AIRES Aware Visited / Interested in Visiting As our analysis above shows, increased awareness of a destination can certainly help to raise the interest in visiting a destination. We looked at a host of other factors and values that influence the propensity to visit these destinations. One key factor, as to be expected, is residency. Those who lived closest to the up-and-coming destinations demonstrated higher levels of interest in visiting. Baku was the exception to this rule as visitors from within and outside of Europe were equally likely to have visited or be interested in visiting. This result was also likely to be a reflection of the city being on the edge of Europe and Asia.
Spotlight on Up-and-Coming Destinations Our analysis earlier identified Seeking it All and Experience Seeker travellers as the two segments keen to engage with major global destinations. Meanwhile, Value Seekers and Relaxation Seekers, and, in particular, Go with the Flow travellers were much less inclined to visit these destinations. Did these results hold true when comparing their interest in visiting the six up-and-coming destinations discussed thus far? As shown below, the answer was yes. These results further highlight the importance of segmenting audiences to identify key target markets. They also show the competition that exists between destinations to attract the engaged traveller segments who are interested in experiencing major or up-and-coming destinations. Average visit incidence / interest in visiting 6 destinations 54% 60% 57% AVERAGE SEEKING IT ALL EXPERIENCE SEEKERS Activity & Adventure Things to see and do 50% $ 52% 44% VALUE SEEKERS RELAXATION SEEKERS GO WITH THE FLOW
Conclusions Our second Consumer Travel Insight series explored panellists attitudes on nearly 50 destinations of varied scale and profile across the globe. The following key takeaways are identified: The importance of trust in the destination decision making process Travellers generate a relationship with the destinations they visit. A previous visit, assuming it achieved a high level of satisfaction, garners trust and is a powerful driver for future holiday decisions. Of the 40 major international city destinations evaluated, a previous visitor was almost twice as likely than a first-time visitor to plan a trip to any of the cities. Destinations can benefit greatly from building trust with their visitors. Be it investing in facilities and infrastructure, or making streets cleaner and safer, such measures can help to improve the visitor experience and strengthen the bond with visitors. Identify the key segments Our traveller segments, Seeking it All and Experience Seekers, demonstrate a warm attitude to visiting mega and up-and-coming destinations. This observation highlights not just that travellers vary the types of experiences and destinations with which they seek to engage, it also highlights that city destinations appeal to particular segments and are not of universal appeal. With the opening of new tourism infrastructure in cities around the world, there is a growing choice of holiday options for these engaged consumers. As a result, destination marketing, promotion and branding are increasingly important as is market and audience insights. Perceptions of visitors and non-visitors vary Those less aware of major destinations tend to have less positive associations than previous visitors. In particular, culture and atmosphere were the two most underestimated attributes associated with visiting mega destinations among non-visitors. These findings highlight that methods to promote, not just the visitor experiences, but the atmosphere, vibe and culture may help to bolster perceptions among cooler audiences, who demonstrate low engagement and familiarity with a destination.
Contact us Key contacts Nigel Donnell ndonnell@str.com Sean Morgan smorgan@str.com Thank you for your interest in this Consumer Travel Insight report series. Please look out for our third and final edition to this series. This report will evaluate travellers use of OTAs and assess engagement with Airbnb. If you have not done so already, you can sign up here to receive our Consumer Travel Insight reports straight to your inbox!