What this lesson teaches
I can explain how tourists' personalities, from dependable to venturer, affect the places they visit.
Syllabus K335, Topic 2.1, Key Question 4. How do different personality characteristics of tourists affect tourist destination regions?
Make a guess
A quiet beach is first visited by a few backpackers. Ten years later it has big hotels and package tours. Who is most likely to stop coming?
- Families, because they want places that few people know.
- Nobody, because a popular place keeps its visitors.
- Adventurous travellers wanting somewhere new.
- Package tourists, because hotels drive them away.
Show the answer
Adventurous travellers wanting somewhere new.
Venturers seek discovery. As facilities grow and the place becomes familiar, it suits Dependables more, and some early visitors move on.
Few travellers are fully Dependable or fully Venturer; most mix both, and their choices can change from trip to trip.
The Dependable-Venturer model describes a range of travel preferences, with Dependables at one end and Venturers at the other. Few people sit at the extremes. Most tourists fall somewhere between, combining traits from both.
Dependables tend to spend carefully, trust advice from reliable or official sources, prefer a planned structure and enjoy travelling with familiar people. A familiar destination with good services reduces uncertainty for them.
Venturers tend to spend more freely on experiences, trust their own judgement and seek variety or independent activities. They may travel alone. Unfamiliar destinations appeal to them because they offer discovery. These are tendencies, not judgements about which kind of traveller is better.
Early adventurous visitors influence later travel. By sharing their experiences, they make a place better known and less uncertain for others. As facilities grow, the place attracts travellers nearer the Dependable end. Some of the early visitors may move on to less familiar places.
One person can also want different things on different trips. Budget, companions and purpose may lead the same person to choose an independent trek one year and an organised family holiday the next.
- Dependables
- Careful spending, trusted advice, routine, familiar company.
- Venturers
- Free spending, own judgement, novelty, often alone.
- Most people
- Somewhere in the middle.
Step by step
Find preferences
Structure, novelty, advice, spending and company.
Place on the spectrum
Most people mix traits.
Link to change
Venturers go first; Dependables follow as facilities grow.
Worked example: Same person, different trip
A traveller goes on an independent trek one year and an organised family holiday the next. The purpose and companions changed, so the choice changed.
Watch out for this
Venturers are better tourists than Dependables.
The terms describe preferences, not good or bad behaviour.
Check your understanding
A traveller wants a new destination but books an organised tour. What is the best interpretation?
- They combine preferences from across the spectrum.
- They do not really enjoy unfamiliar places, so they are Dependables.
- They must be pretending about wanting a new place.
Show the answer
They combine preferences from across the spectrum.
Yes. Most travellers mix traits.