Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly-2001-Plog-13-24

TRAVELERS’ PSYCHOGRAPHICS CORNELL QUARTERLY CLASSIC

JUNE 2001 Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly 13

On October 10, 1972, I gave a speech to the Southern Cali-fornia chapter of the Travel Research Association (now theTravel & Tourism Research Association) that examined theunderlying causes for why destinations rise and fall in popu-larity. Based on a psychographic system that we had devel-oped at my first market-research company (BASICO), the speechpointed out that destinations appeal to specific types of peopleand typically follow a relatively predictable pattern of growthand decline in popularity over time. The reasons lie in thefact that the character of most destinations changes as a resultof growth and development of tourist-oriented facilities. Asdestinations change, they lose the audience or market seg-ments that made them popular and appeal instead to an ever-shrinking group of travelers.

Although I had used the concept in our work with travelclients, this was the first public presentation of the ideas to abroad audience. Considering the limited nature of the venue,the response was surprising. Requests for copies of the speechcame from around the United States and from countries inEurope and Asia. Apparently someone forwarded the speechto the editors of Cornell Quarterly, because it appeared as anarticle in 1974.1

Since that time I have further refined the concept and thequestions that make up the psychographic scale used to dif-

ferentiate traveler types. In the second market-research com-pany I founded (Plog Research, Inc., now NFO/Plog Researchand a subsidiary of Interpublic Group/IPG), we have prob-ably included the scale in more than 200 studies and consult-ing assignments, and have reported on it in journals andspeeches at conferences.2 Thus, a large experience base sup-ports those early observations about destination developmentand life-cycle stages. In addition, academic researchers haveexplored the scale’s conceptual base.3

Why Destination AreasRise and Fall in Popularity

An Update of aCornell Quarterly Classic

Travel is more popular than ever, so why should destination managers worry?Because their location’s attractiveness may be spinning away even as they watch.

BY STANLEY PLOG

© 2001, CORNELL UNIVERSITY.

1 Stanley C. Plog, “Why Destination Areas Rise and Fall in Popularity,” CornellHotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, Vol. 14, No. 4 (February 1974),pp. 55–58.

2 See: Stanley C. Plog, “Where in the World Are People Going and Why DoThey Want to Go There?,” a paper presented to Tiangus Touristico annual con-ference, Acapulco, Mexico, 1979; Stanley C. Plog, “UnderstandingPsychographics in Tourism Research,” in Travel, Tourism, and Hospitality Re-search, ed. J.R.B. Ritchie and C.R. Goeldner (New York: John Wiley & Sons,1987), pp. 203–213; Stanley C. Plog, “A Carpenter’s Tools: An Answer toStephen L.J. Smith’s Review of Psychocentrism/Allocentrism,” Journal of TravelResearch, Spring 1990, pp. 43-46; Stanley C. Plog, “A Carpenter’s Tools Re-visited: Measuring Allocentrism and Psychocentrism Properly the First Time,”Journal of Travel Research, Spring 1990, p. 50; Stanley C. Plog, Leisure Travel:Making It a Growth Market…Again! (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1991);Stanley C. Plog, “Leisure Travel: An Extraordinary Industry Facing SuperordinaryProblems,” in Global Tourism: The Next Decade, ed. W. Theobold (Oxford,England: Butterworth-Heineman Ltd., 1994), pp. 40–54; and Stanley C. Plog,Vacation Places Rated (Redondo Beach, CA: Fielding Worldwide, Inc., 1995).

3 For example, see: D.A. Griffith and P. J. Albanese, “An Examination of Plog’sPsychographic Travel Model Within a Student Population,” Journal of TravelResearch, Spring 1996, pp. 47–51; N.P. Nickerson and G.D. Ellis, “TravelerTypes and Activation Theory: A Comparison of Two Models,” Journal of TravelResearch, Winter 1991, pp. 26–31; and P. Tarlow and M.J. Muehsam, “NewViews of the International Visitor: Turning the Theory of the Plog Model IntoApplication: Some Initial Thoughts on Attracting the International Tourist,” apaper presented to the Travel & Tourism Research Association, InternationalConference, Minneapolis, MN, Spring 1992.

at University of Indonesia on March 10, 2016cqx.sagepub.comDownloaded from

http://cqx.sagepub.com/

CORNELL QUARTERLY CLASSIC TRAVELERS’ PSYCHOGRAPHICS

14 Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly JUNE 2001

Feature articles on the travel habits of the dif-ferent travel personalities have appeared in popu-lar magazines (e.g., Condé Nast Traveler, EndlessVacation, Car & Travel, AAA World, Mature Out-look). Various college tourism texts review theconcept, and I have explained it further in twotravel books I wrote.4

How destinations grow and decline has beenpart of the advanced training program offeredfor travel agents for more than 20 years by theInstitute of Certified Travel Agents (ICTA), andall trainees must answer questions aboutpsychographics and the tourism life cycle beforereceiving their Certified Travel Counselor certifi-cate. Other training materials for travel agentsusing the basic ideas include those of Semer-Purzycki and Starr.5 On-line exposure has oc-curred with training sites established by HarcourtLearning Direct and Education Systems LLC—for instance, the Weissmann “Travel Corner” andPuerto Rico’s tourism web site for a time allowedconsumers to take a shortened version of the testand read their own profiles.

This article reintroduces the psychographicscale and updates what has been learned sincemy last article appeared in Cornell Quarterly, in-cluding how travel has changed and where manydestinations currently fit on the destination-life-cycle chart. To review how destinations rise andfall in popularity, it is necessary first to provide adescription of the research basis for developmentof the concept and the relationship between travelpersonalities and destination selection.

Psychographic StudyA group of 16 travel-industry clients supportedthe original study, which was initiated in 1967.6

Sponsors included 10 major airlines, the threecommercial airframe manufacturers of the day(Boeing, Douglass, and Lockheed), and threelarge print-media companies (Reader’s Digest,Time/Life, and R.H. Donnelly). The genesis of

the project was the fact that only 27 percent ofthe population had flown in a commercial air-plane at that time. With the jet age just begin-ning, seat capacity was growing at more than 20percent per year, while passenger growth was just8 percent. Thus, the airlines had to encouragemore people to fly.

The sponsors’ basic questions centered on whodoes not fly, why they don’t fly, and what couldbe done to get them to fly. All of this is hard tobelieve today, given that over 80 percent of thepopulation has flown, and about a third take tothe skies every year. What a change in a relativelyshort period of time! Travel has become a hugebusiness, growing from about the twelfth-largestindustry at the time of the original research tothe largest in the United States and the world,according to the World Tourism Organization(WTO).

The original study provided several researchluxuries that are not common in today’s fast-paced, skinnied-down research environment, andthose factors facilitated the development of newideas. We had the freedom to pursue offbeat ideas,the time and money to be as thorough as weneeded in testing concepts, and the opportunityto employ several research approaches to ensurethat our conclusions were justified. My associateat the time (Kenneth B. Holden) and I decidedthat we had to understand the psychology oftravel—why some people travel and others donot—to provide recommendations to our travel-industry sponsors on how to get more people intothe air. Therefore, we conducted an extensive lit-erature review on what was known about whypeople don’t fly (little, at the time) and investi-gated a number of psychological theories to de-termine their applicability to our research needs.

More important, we completed over 60 in-depth, two-hour interviews with people who didnot fly but had sufficient income to travel when-ever they wished. We explored their life historiesfrom childhood to the present to determine com-mon patterns or psychological characteristics.Then our team monitored 200 telephone callsto airline-reservations centers from naïve travel-ers to learn about the kinds of questions thosenovices asked of reservations agents. Some of thequestions from first-time flyers are humorous inretrospect and showed people’s lack of under-standing of the dynamics of air travel. For ex-ample, they asked: If I feel sick, can I open thewindow?, Are there bathrooms on board?, andDo I tip the stewardess? We began to develop apsychological concept from this exploratory re-

4 As cited earlier: Stanley C. Plog, Leisure Travel: Making It AGrowth Market…Again! (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1991);and Stanley C. Plog, Vacation Places Rated (Redondo Beach,CA: Fielding Worldwide, Inc., 1995).

5 J. Semer-Purzycki, The Travel Professional, Study Unit I(New York: Harcourt Learning Direct, print and on-line, 1999),J. Semer-Purzycki, Travel Vision: A Practical Guide for the Travel,Tourism and Hospitality Industry (New York: Prentice Hall,2000); and N. Starr, Viewpoint: An Introduction to Travel, Tour-ism & Hospitality, Third Edition (New York: Prentice Hall,2000).

6 Stanley C. Plog, New Markets for Air Travel: Executive Sum-mary, Vol. I (Panorama City, CA: Behavior Science Corpora-tion, 1968).





search, along with a psychographic scale thatwe tested on a nationwide random sample of1,600 households through intensive in-homeinterviews.

Based on this 1967 study, we concluded thata constellation of three primary personality char-acteristics defines the non-flyer personality:(1) Generalized anxieties. Classic non-fliers feel

a continual low-level feeling of dread thatcan consume much of their psychic energy.These anxieties play out daily to inhibitthese persons from reaching out to explorethe world around them with comfort andself-confidence. This is not to be confusedwith those who suffer from a specific pho-bia that can be treated through behavioraltherapy. When a person has generalizedanxieties and non-focused self-doubts, theworld seems to be a dangerous place.

(2) Sense of powerlessness. These individualsusually believe that what happens to themin daily life is largely out of their control.The good that comes to them and themisfortunes encountered result mostly fromchance happenings and events. Individualscannot control their own destinies, theybelieve.

(3) Territory boundness. Not only do thesepersons not travel much as adults, but theydid relatively little traveling as children.Their lives have been restricted for decadesin a number of ways, and they make noattempt to expand their horizons.

At the time, we called these nonflyersPsychocentrics, to reflect the fact that they lavishso much personal energy on life’s small events.These people have little time to face up to andmanage the larger problems we all encounter. I’vesince developed a more user-friendly term,Dependables, since they try to make so much oftheir daily lives predictable and dependable.

Through a series of follow-on studies, it waspossible to outline the personality at the oppo-site end of the spectrum. These individuals reachout and explore the world in all of its diversity.Self-confident and intellectually exploring, theymeasure low on all measures of personal anxiety.They make decisions rather quickly and easily,without worrying greatly whether each choice iscorrect (since life involves taking small risks ev-ery day). They have varied interests and a strongintellectual curiosity that leads to a desire to ex-plore the world of ideas and places. Though Ioriginally called them Allocentrics, I have sincerelabeled them as Venturers. A more complete

definition of the personality profile of each isuseful since travel patterns flow directly fromthese characteristics.

Personality ProfilesThose labeled as Dependables (originally,Psychocentrics) have a constellation of personal-

ity characteristics in common. Granting that noperson is a perfect examplar of any personalitytype, if one could isolate persons with the arche-typal Dependable personality, one would findthat typically they:

• Are somewhat intellectually restricted, in thatthey do not seek out new ideas and experi-ences on a daily basis. Compared to mostpeople, they read less, watch TV more, andrestrict the variety of contacts they mighthave with the world around them. In brief,they are less venturesome and less exploringthan most persons.

• Are cautious and conservative in their dailylives, preferring to avoid making importantdecisions rather than confront the choicesthat face everyone daily.

• Are restrictive in spending discretionary income.Uncertain about the future, they don’t wantto overcommit and become financiallystretched. Although frugality is a good habit,they choose it from a basis of fear, rather thanbeing motivated by good planning.

• Prefer popular, well-known brands of consumerproducts because the popularity of such itemsmakes them safe choices. (That is, everyonelikes these so they must work, or theywouldn’t be so popular.)

• Face daily life with little self-confidence and lowactivity levels. Some might call them morelethargic than other people.

• Often look to authority figures for guidance anddirection in their lives. Because of uncertain-ties about their own decision-making abili-ties, they may follow the advice or imitate theactions of public personalities. Thus, using

Self-confident and intellectually curious,Venturers have a strong desire to explorethe world of ideas and places.





well-known movie or television stars andsports figures in advertising and promotionalmaterials is more likely to influence this audi-ence than other groups.

• Are passive and non-demanding in their dailylives. They often retreat when encounteringproblem situations, rather than aggressivelytaking charge to handle the difficulties.

• Like structure and routine in their relativelynon-varying lifestyles. As a result, they makewonderful, trusted supervisors in many com-panies because of the predictability and rou-tine nature of the lifestyles they lead. Theyserve as the flywheels of society, making cer-tain that things run according to plan wher-ever they work, a good reason to label themas Dependables.

• Prefer to be surrounded by friends and family,because the warm friendship and supportprovided in intimate circles make them feelcomfortable and secure.Venturers. At the opposite end of the spec-

trum are the archetypal Venturers. As their nameimplies, they:

• Are intellectually curious about and want toexplore the world around them in all of itsdiversity. They continually seek new experi-ences and enjoy activity. They watch TV littleand prefer what is novel and unusual.

• Make decisions quickly and easily, since theyrecognize that life involves risks, regardless ofthe choices made, and you learn to live withthose choices.

• Spend discretionary income more readily. Theybelieve that the future will be better than thepast and they want to enjoy the fruits of theirlabors now.

• Like to choose new products shortly after intro-duction into the marketplace, rather than stickwith the most popular brands. The thrill ofdiscovery overrides disappointments that cancome from a new product that doesn’t live upto its promise.

• Face everyday life full of self-confidence andpersonal energy. They eagerly venture out toinvestigate what might be new and interest-ing to learn more about the latest technolo-gies, or explore exciting concepts and ideaswith others.

• Look to their own judgment, rather than au-thority figures, for guidance and direction intheir lives. They are relatively inner-directedand believe they can make the best choicesfor themselves, rather than relying on theopinions of experts.

EXHIBIT 1

Psychographic personality types

VENTURER

(ALLOCENTRIC)

DEPENDABLE

PSYCHOCENTRICMID-CENTRIC

NEAR-VENTURER

(NEAR

ALLOCENTRIC)

NEAR

DEPENDABLE

(NEAR

PSYCHOCENTRIC)

CENTRIC-DEPEND-

ABLE

CENTRIC-VENTURER

DIRECTION OF INFLUENCE

The personality scale helps to explain why desti-nations rise and fall in popularity. In particular,tourists’ personality characteristics determinetheir travel patterns and preferences.





• Are active and relatively assertive in their dailylives. If something does not go their way (aflight is cancelled at an airport, a productthey bought has flaws), they will actively andforcefully attempt to get the wrong corrected.

• Prefer a day filled with varying activities andchallenges, rather than routine tasks. Althoughthey can have great new ideas in business orcultural life, they may not be good at imple-mentation since they don’t like the tediousdetail work that comes with bringing ideas tofruition.

• Often prefer to be alone and somewhat medita-tive, even though they may appear to befriendly and outgoing. Trusting their ownideas, and often feeling that people aroundthem are somewhat dull and slow thinking,they may avoid social situations and parties.

Personality DistributionAs I said, the archetypes of the two personalitiesare rare. In national samples, based on the ques-tions developed from the original research, thedimensions of venturesomeness and dependabil-ity distribute on a normal curve, with a slightskew to venturesomeness (as shown in Exhibit1). About 2 1/2 percent of the population can beclassified as Dependables and slightly over 4 per-cent as Venturers. The remainder falls into thegroups in between, such as near-Dependables,near-Venturers, or the largest group, Centrics, theextensive middle group comprising people whohave a mixture of personality characteristics thatmay lead an individual one way or the other.

The implications of this distribution are con-siderable. Parametric statistics can be used in mostof the research, and the personality scale helps toexplain why destinations rise and fall in popu-larity, as will be seen. In particular, these person-ality characteristics determine travel patterns andpreferences. Examining the two groups at the op-posite ends of the normal curve once more al-lows an easier explanation of the concept. ForDependables, research over the past three decadespoints out that (compared to the average per-son) they:

• Travel less frequently.• Stay for shorter periods of time when they

travel.• Spend less per capita at a destination.• Prefer to go by the family car, camper, or

SUV, rather than by air, because they cantake more things with them, and that makesthe trip seem more homey and less anxietyproducing.

• Prefer to stay in their mobile homes, withfriends and relatives, or in the lowest-costhotels and motels.

• Prefer highly developed “touristy” spots, onthe logic that the popularity of these sitesmeans that they must be great places to visitor else so many people wouldn’t go there.Also, heavy development supports fast-foodrestaurants and convenience stores, whichoffer the comfort and familiar feeling of whatthey experience back home.

• Tend to select recreational activities at thesedestinations that also are familiar—videogames for teenagers, and movies and minia-ture golf for the family.

• Rate sun-and-fun spots high as destinations,because they offer the chance to relax andsoak up the warmth on a beach or around apool, consistent with a preference for lowactivity levels.

• Typically select well-defined, escorted toursto the best-known places for their infrequentinternational trips, rather than make inde-pendent travel arrangements.

• Purchase plenty of souvenirs, tee-shirts, de-cals, and other strong visual reminders ofwhere they have been.

• Are likely to return to a destination again andagain once they try it because it was a goodchoice.Having reviewed what pleases the Depend-

able personality type, picturing the preferencesof their polar opposites is not difficult. Comparedto the people in the mid-point of our scale, theVenturers:

• Travel more frequently because travel is animportant part of exploring the world aroundthem.

• Take relatively long trips.• Spend more each day per capita.• Take to the air more often than do other

groups (although they use all modes oftravel), because they will pay extra for theconvenience of getting there sooner to enjoya destination longer.

• Strongly prefer unusual, underdevelopeddestinations that have retained their nativecharm. More important, they avoid crowded,touristy places.

• Gladly accept inadequate or unconventionalkinds of accommodations because these be-come an integral part of a unique vacationexperience.

• Prefer to participate in local customs andhabits and tend to avoid those events that





seem too common or familiar, or those stagedfor tourists.

• Prefer to be on their own (FIT travel) oninternational trips, even when they don’tspeak the language, rather than be part of aregimented escorted tour. Give them a car,and they’ll get around. Their self-confidence

and venturesome character makes them feelcomfortable in a wide variety of situations.

• Are active when traveling, spending most oftheir waking hours exploring and learningabout the places they visit, rather than soak-ing up the sun (or tequila).

• Purchase mostly authentic local arts andcrafts, rather than souvenirs. They avoidtraditional tourist traps that sell replicas oflocal cultural artifacts.

• Tend to seek new destinations each year,rather than return to previously visited places,to add to their treasure of rich experiences.Their travel experiences enhance their feel-ings of self-confidence and self-worth, lead-ing them to take even more unusual trips infuture years.

A Destination Life CycleHaving seen how personality determines travelpreferences, it is possible to apply those conceptsto the topic of this article—that is, to explainwhy destination areas rise and fall in popularity.Most destinations follow a predictable, but un-controlled development pattern from birth tomaturity and finally to old age and decline. Ateach stage, the destination appeals to a differentpsychographic group of travelers, who determinethe destination’s character and success.

As I will explain below, my psychographicstudy shows that an ideal age or stage exists formost destinations—namely, what might be calledyoung adulthood, which is an early stage of de-velopment appealing to Venturer-types. If adestination’s planners understand the psycho-graphic curve, it is possible for them to control

development or progress along the curve and tomaintain an ideal positioning. Few places do this,however, because local authorities don’t under-stand the dynamics of what contributes to suc-cess and failure. Even if they do, they often lackthe power to enforce desirable changes and pre-vent undesirable changes. Although I suggestmaintaining a destination’s appeal to Venturer-type travelers, that positioning is not the onlypossibility. Destination planners who understandthe psychographic curve can intentionally posi-tion their destination anywhere along the curve—including the Dependable side. As I will also ex-plain below, that strategy can be successful if thepositioning is carefully considered.

The searchers. Just as Venturers are most in-terested in trying new products and services, theylike to seek out new places to visit—the forgot-ten, the undiscovered, the passed over, and theunknown. Requiring few support services (suchas hotels and restaurants, organized sightseeingactivities, or “things to do”), Venturers wouldrather go out on their own and discover what aplace has to offer. Whether the destination isprimitive or refined doesn’t matter, because theyare interested in having a new experience of what-ever kind.

When the Venturers return home from a trip,they talk with friends and relatives about the bestnew spots that they have discovered. Friends andco-workers usually are quite curious about thelatest travels of acquaintances who take such in-teresting vacations. Some of those friends can beclassified as near-Venturers, who soon decide thatthey might like to visit the intriguing places thatthey have just heard about. Their more venture-some friends also provide tips on how to get there,what to do while there, and generally how tomake the trip possible, if not easy.

When near-Venturers visit the destination (inconsiderably greater numbers than the Ventur-ers), they initiate the destination’s developmentcycle, because they not only ask for more ser-vices than did the Venturers, but they also telltheir friends, relatives, and associates about theirgreat experiences in this new place. More peoplevisit the destination, and they are also lookingfor more services, because near-Venturers don’tlike to rough it in quite the manner that Ventur-ers do. Thus, local people develop hotels, restau-rants, shops selling “native” items, and otherservices.

In the middle of this growth-cycle stage, whennear-Venturers constitute the majority of touristarrivals, the travel press also will likely “discover”

Most destinations follow a predictable,but uncontrolled development patternfrom birth to maturity and finally to oldage and decline.





will add to the tax base, the larger number ofwhich fall in the mid-price range and a few inthe luxury category. Moreover, politicians quicklydiscover that tourists (and even vacation-homeowners) don’t vote locally, so they levy taxes andfees on the lodging, airline, and rental-car indus-tries. Tourist shops, some representing largechains, sprout up around town. Fast-food chainsmake their appearance and help to make the placeseem more like the hometown that the visitorsjust left. Moreover, with these familiar restau-rants, tourists don’t have to guess about whatthey’re eating.

To deal with the what-to-do issue for thosewho need activities beyond enjoying the desti-nation itself, video arcades, movie theaters, andother entertainment facilities arise. Gradually theplace takes on a more touristy look. Construc-tion has either sprawled or high-rise hotels beginto dominate the original architecture—built be-cause land values near the center of the destina-tion have risen so much that only high-densitybuildings “pencil out” for developers. Local plan-ning to control the spread of tourist sprawl hasbeen woefully inadequate because elected offi-cials have seen no need to regulate a business thatthey believe is a great benefit to their commu-nity. Then, when the realization finally dawnsthat regulation is necessary, the officials have noexperience with such land-use planning. Theyallow small businesses of all types to spring uparound town in an uncontrolled manner (e.g.,t-shirt shops, beach or ski shops, pseudo-nativestores, bars). The place begins to look like manyother overdeveloped destinations, losing its dis-tinctive character along the way.

Seeds of decline. Throughout this entireprocess, the seeds of the destination’s almost-inevitable decline are already sown in the midstof its success. Just when most people at the desti-nation seem happiest about the success of theirefforts to grow the tourism base year after year,unseen forces have started to move against themthat will spell trouble in the future. At some point,the type of visitor the destination attracts tiltstoward the Dependable side of the curve. Withcontinued favorable publicity and increasingpopularity for a destination, Dependables alsobecome interested in taking a trip to this much-talked-about place (especially if it has become partof a package tour). Indeed, the greater its popu-larity, the more likely Dependables will visit, sincethey prefer to make safe choices.

The psychographic curve portends severalunfortunate consequences. The destination can

If a destination’splanners under-stand the psycho-graphic curve, itis possible forthem to controltourism develop-ment and tomaintain an idealpositioning.

the place. Always searching for new material (inpart because they have difficulty finding newthings to say about back roads in England, inNew England, or in Sedona, for that matter),these writers visit the places to see for themselveswhat they have to offer. Finding the places to bedifferent, they write ecstatically about their newfinds.

Having been discovered, the destination soonconfronts the pressures arising from rapid growthand development. Not only has the press startedto put out the good message, but near-Venturersalso talk about their exciting vacations with theirmid-Centric friends who have Venturer leanings.These people want to visit, too, especially becausethe destination now has developed a reasonableinfrastructure. Growth rates can be high duringthis period, since there are far more Centrics withventurer leanings than there are near-Venturers.

Up to this point, everyone seems happy at thedestination. Tourism growth continues unabated,property values rise as hotels continue to pop up,more local residents have jobs, tax receipts haveincreased, some rundown areas have been cleanedup, and most residents believe that they have dis-covered the perfect industry. No ugly, smoke-belching factories need to be built; unskilledworkers find good-paying jobs that require littletraining in the new hotels and restaurants; anddevelopers are not asking for tax concessions,unlike the situation for manufacturing industries.Local politicians and tourism officials congratu-late themselves because they think they are prettysmart to have attracted or created what appearsto be a neverending, expanding business.

Stealthy erosion. The fly in the ointment isthat this happy growth picture has rested on thefact that the base of prospective tourists has thusfar been steadily increasing. That is, near-Venturers outnumber Venturers, and Centricswith Venturer leanings constitute a much largergroup than do the near-Venturers. The growthin the prospect base continues until the mid-point of the curve. That growth rests on the factthat the influence direction on Exhibit 1 alwaysmoves from right to left and not the other way.Whatever their leanings, Centrics seldom swaythe opinions of those who have Venturer bloodin their veins.

During this time, development continues al-most unabated. Elected officials, who recognizethe contributions of tourists to their area and theirconstituencies, happily proclaim their support oftourism and all of its benefits for their commu-nity. So they approve plans for more hotels that





light. The first new hotels that appear in a desti-nation generally attempt to capture the charmof the place (e.g., the former Rockresorts). Newwealth has improved the living conditions formany people, especially because tourism causesancillary businesses to develop that serve tour-ism workers. Most people feel better off, whichis why most people never suspect at this pointthat tourism growth should be planned andcontrolled.

Planning and control is, of course, imperativeat this stage. Many unplanned destinations facea declining future because uncontrolled growthhas discouraged Venturer-type travelers. Discounttravel packages abound to lure budget-mindedDependable types, and those packages usuallyinclude air and accommodations, possibly meals,and frequently golf privileges. When 30 percentor more of a destination’s travel bookings comefrom reduced-price package vacations, that des-tination probably will continue to go downhillover the next couple of decades.7 Confirmationof problems can come from a simple walk aroundtown. The greater the number of fast-food res-taurants, video-rental stores, bargain-shoppingoutlets, and abundant nighttime entertainment,the greater the probability that those will nevergo away and will continue to contribute to thedecline of the area (by discouraging Venturer-typetravelers). Store owners pay taxes and vote forlocal politicians, and they have a vested interestin keeping things the way they are.

Remaining true. Proper positioning rests ontwo pillars, namely, (1) the true qualities of adestination (what it actually offers) and (2) itsperception in the eyes of the traveling public.Maximum success usually occurs when localplanners recognize that they must protect thosefeatures that attracted people to their commu-nity in the first place and continue to emphasizethose aspects and the destination’s other quali-ties in their marketing and promotional pro-grams, and in their planning efforts. Savvy plan-ners won’t allow hotels and other buildings togrow taller than the trees, for instance, and they’llrestrict the kinds of businesses that can come inand regulate where those are placed. Such desti-nations protect and preserve open areas and en-sure that local residents participate fairly in thearea’s financial success. The natives also don’t wantto lose what they like about where they were born

EXHIBIT 2

Psychographic positions of destinations (1972)

ALLOCENTRIC

(VENTURER)PSYCHOCENTRIC

(DEPENDABLE) MID-CENTRIC NEAR

ALLO-CENTRIC

NEAR

PSYCHO-CENTRIC

ConeyIsland

MiamiBeach

Mostof

U.S.

Florida Honolulu& Oahu

Caribbean CentralEurope,GreatBritain

NorthernEurope

Hawaii OuterIslands

CentralMexico

SouthernEurope

Japanand Asia

Africa

draw only from shrinking segments of the popu-lation after its psychographic positioning passesthe magical mid-point on the chart. Fewer near-Dependables exist than mid-Centrics with De-pendable leanings, and there are fewerDependables than near-Dependables. Thus, thebase of potential tourists is diminishing, as thosewith Venturer leanings desert this now-tawdrydestination for the next new, unspoiled place. Notonly are there fewer people in the base, butDependables travel less than their Venturer coun-terparts, they stay for shorter periods of time, andthey spend less while they are there. Since theyprefer to drive rather than fly, Dependables payfewer taxes (e.g., arrival taxes, rental-car taxes).All of this compounds the misery now felt at thedestination. Nothing has changed, the locals be-lieve, so they can’t understand why fewer visitorscome each year and spend less while they’re intown.

Maintaining AppealBased on the above scenario, the ideal psycho-graphic positioning for most destinations liessomewhere in the middle of the near-Venturersegment. A destination at this point has thebroadest positioning appeal possible because itcovers the largest portion of the psychographiccurve. The destination usually has a reasonablelevel of development, but it hasn’t gotten out ofhand. In the early stages of growth at most places,the area has improved much to everyone’s de-

7 See, for example: Leo Paul Dana, “The Social Cost ofTourism: A Case Study of Ios,” Cornell Hotel and RestaurantAdministration Quarterly, Vol. 40, No. 4 (August 1999),pp. 60–63.

SouthPacific





and grew up.8 Crowds, traffic congestion, pollu-tion, high prices for just about everything, and avanishing friendliness among neighbors make thelocals want to return to a simpler life. In such asituation, tourism and its ill effects on local cul-ture become a controversial topic of discussion,rather than being viewed as a boon to the area.9

Sea Pines Plantation on Hilton Head Island,South Carolina, for instance, has maintained itsallure and charm far better than surroundingcommunities at Hilton Head. By maintainingopen spaces, strictly adhering to planning guide-lines, and placing restrictions on property use,its planners have retained the resort’s strength asa tourism destination and a second-home area.Bermuda is another destination that continuesto draw strong tourism crowds, in spite of beingexpensive, because of the commitment of localcitizens and politicians to preserving its distinc-tive beauty and culture. Bermuda was one of thefirst ports to limit the number of cruise ships that

• Branson• Atlantic City

• Myrtle Beach• Orlando

• beach resorts• Indian casinos

• Hollywood• Las Vegas

• theme parks• Honolulu• Florida

• the Dakotas• Ohio

• Kansas• Mexico (border)

• Caribbeancruises

• escorted tours(U.S. and Europe)

• New Mexico• Arizona

• New England• Hawaii (outer is.)• Washington State

• Oregon• Colorado• Wyoming• Montana

• San Francisco• New York City

• Quebec• Bermuda

• Brazil• Mexico (interior)

• Hong Kong• England

(countryside)• Scandinavia

• Paris

• Russia• Tahiti

• New Zealand• China (big

cities)• Poland

• Costa Rica• Egypt• Jordan

• Thailand• Australia• Ireland

• Scotland• Kenya• Africa

• expedition travel

• Alaskanwilderness

• Guam• Fiji

• hard adventuretravel

• Vietnam• Antarctica• Amazon

• China (interior)• Tibet• Nepal

DEPENDABLE NEAR-DEPENDABLE CENTRIC-DEPENDABLE CENTRIC-VENTURER NEAR-VENTURER VENTURER

EXHIBIT 3

Psychographic positions of destinations (2001)

can visit, and to select upscale lines to ensure thatit gets the kind of crowd that it wants.

A Map of the WorldWith this in mind, destinations can be placedon the psychographic curve, based on the typesof people who visit there the most. Exhibit 2 pre-sents the positioning of some destinations as weanalyzed them in 1972, while Exhibit 3 summa-rizes where various destinations fit today. Place-ment on the psychographic curve comes fromthe American Traveler Survey of Plog Research,the annual study of travel habits of over 10,000households. Exhibit 3, obviously, although moreinclusive than the original graph (Exhibit 2),serves only as a representative list since it is im-possible to cover all destinations in this article.

In comparing Exhibits 2 and 3, note how vari-ous destinations have relocated from their formerVenturesome spot toward a more Dependablepositioning. For instance, Miami Beach hasmoved from a near-Dependable positioning tothe Dependable column. Florida now places inthe near-Dependable portion of the curve, ratherthan in the Centric area, and Honolulu hasfollowed a similar path. Portions of the SouthPacific currently appeal to near-Venturers, ratherthan Venturers (a relatively enviable position).Southern Europe has especially slipped, withEngland and parts of central Europe going in thesame direction. The amount of movement typi-cally relates to the degree to which the desti-

8 See, for example, John E. Taylor, “Tourism to the CookIslands: Retrospective and Prospective,” Cornell Hotel and Res-taurant Administration Quarterly, Vol. 42, No. 2 (April 2001),pp. 70–81.

9 For example, see: Susan Gregory and Kathy Koithan-Louderback, “Marketing a Resort Community: Estes Park at aPrecipice,” Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quar-terly, Vol. 38, No. 6 (December 1997), pp. 52–59; and Matt A.Casado, “Balancing Urban Growth and Landscape Preserva-tion: The Case of Flagstaff, Arizona,” Cornell Hotel and Restau-rant Administration Quarterly, Vol. 40, No. 4 (August 1999),pp. 64–69.

• Alaska cruises• U.S. Parks

• Illinois• Washington, D.C.

• the Carolinas• Michigan• Chicago• Georgia

• Kentucky• Hilton Head• Philadelphia• Los Angeles

• Caribbean (most)• Ontario• London• Rome• Israel• Italy





nation has become more touristy in character.Not apparent in Exhibit 3 is the diminishedproportion of destinations today that can be clas-sified as Venturesome in character. That is be-cause the 1972 chart presented only a limitednumber of destinations for illustrative purposesonly.

Broadband. Placement for each destinationon the chart is based on its dominant character-istic. An intriguing finding on the present-daygraph, however, is that a few destinations havemanaged to create a broad appeal across thetourist-type spectrum, attracting near-Venturersto near-Dependables. Such places offer a widerange of attractions, from adventurous activitiesto sitting on a sunny beach; and they have main-tained their original character (and popularity)over a long time. Hawaii, Colorado, Ireland, andScotland are examples of this desirable category.

Dependable destination. While an uncon-trolled drift across the psychographic spectrumis not usually desirable, a destination can stilldraw huge tourism crowds even though it ap-peals mostly to people with Dependable charac-teristics. Branson, Missouri, conforms to thatpattern—and was, in fact, conceived that wayby state planner William Boyd. Familiar with thePlog psychographic system, Boyd recognized thatBranson’s focus on country music and that itslocation as a driving destination positioned itsolidly on the Dependable side of the curve.Branson does well by being true to itself, eventhough it fails to follow my general rule that des-tinations have the greatest chance of success byappealing to near-Venturers.

EarthquakesIn a light-hearted (and probably derivative) dis-cussion of the destination life cycle that appearedin Cornell Quarterly, long-time hotelier MichaelLeven noted that a destination that reaches theend of the cycle needs an “earthquake” to reviveits prospects.10 As an example of an “earthquake,”he cited Atlantic City’s decision to open a board-walk full of casinos. Two entire travel segmentshave invoked earthquake-style changes since Ibegan my research more than 30 years ago. Thoseindustries are the cruise business and escortedtours.

Cruising becomes cool. At the time of theconcept’s original presentation, cruising attracted

primarily a Dependable audience. The primaryform of cruising consisted of Atlantic crossingson ships featuring activities and an ambience thatseemed stuffy, boring, and non-venturesome toactive travelers. Who wants to sit on deck chairsreading books or playing shuffleboard during thedaytime, only to be followed night after night bya formal dinner and dance? Those who chosecruise vacations tended to be Dependable typeswho also had wealth—an extremely narrow mar-ket segment. As a result, cruising declined inpopularity after WW II until the 1960s.

The market for cruising broadened with theadvent of Carnival Cruise Lines. It featured short(three- or four-day), low-cost cruises to the Car-ibbean from Florida. Carnival’s initial approach,however, reinforced cruising’s Dependable char-acteristics because the experience it offered washighly structured (trips to Caribbean sun-and-fun spots only, with heavy partying and socialevents on board). Carnival’s dramatic success inattracting travelers prompted others to enter themarket. Some operators copied Carnival’s basicformula, but others expanded into other niches.

Contrary to the usual psychographic move-ment, cruising was able to broaden its appeal“backward” across the psychographic spectrumto appeal to Centrics and those with Venturertendencies. Current itineraries take travelersaround the world, from remote Asian ports toAfrica, Latin America, the mid-East, and the Pa-cific region. Selections can be made from linesthat feature ships with sails (along with scubadiving and adventure activities when they pullinto isolated coves), small ships (300 to 500berths) that can enter small harbors of quaintvillages not accessible by large ships, huge vessels(over 2,500-berth capacity), and true adventurevessels that cut through ice floes in the Antarcticor that visit remote regions (e.g., those exploredby Darwin). By changing its character, cruisinghas enjoyed strong single-digit growth rates formost of the past decade. That trend should con-tinue, provided that cruiselines continue to di-versify their products even further. The industryhas changed from a restricted, dead-end psycho-graphic positioning to one that works well.

Escorted tours. With extreme regimentationand fixed schedules, escorted tours have long at-tracted a Dependable type of traveler. The stan-dard tour was a stereotypical jaunt among Euro-pean cathedrals and capitals, featuring, say, 8countries in 11 days. The standard formulamoved people in and out of hotels and onto busesdaily, zipped them through some beautiful coun-

10 See: Michael A. Leven, “The Hotel Life Cycle,” Cornell Ho-tel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, Vol. 25, No. 4 (Feb-ruary 1985), pp. 10–11.





tryside in a hurry on the way to the next majorcity, and provided a quick feeling of the culturewith costumed folk dancers or singers at restau-rants with stylized décor in the evening. Onlynovice travelers, however, could like that kind ofan introduction to a country.

For a number of years I worked with touroperators to show them how they were limitingtheir potential markets by using such an inflex-ible approach. They did not agree with my ideas,however, because until recently most tour com-panies were run by first-generation entrepreneurswho grew their companies quite successfully withthat limited formula. That’s what they knew andthat’s what they offered, even in the face of de-clining numbers of clients each year.

To appeal to travelers with Venturer charac-teristics, however, I insisted that the tour com-panies needed to change their products by of-fering less regimentation in schedules (more freetime on the tours, fewer stops at touristy shopsalong the way), a better class of hotels, and itin-eraries that include less-popular or less-well-known places. Indeed, some tour companies aredoing that now, albeit gradually.

Tour products now include the back roads ofthe United States, forgotten and overlookedplaces of Europe, treks through the Himalayaswith Sherpa guides (e.g., Snow Lion Adventures),bicycling through New England in the fall orthrough the wine country of France, and excur-sions into the Amazon. Some university alumniassociations offer particularly interesting excur-sions. These feature trips to relatively unknownplaces with professors as lecturers or charteredsmall ships for adventure travel into places notreachable by land. Thus, tours now have alteredtheir image and have a much broader psycho-graphic appeal than in the past. The tour busi-ness as a whole started on a growth curve about1997, after losing market share for a couple ofdecades to air-plus-hotel travel packages. As withcruising, the changes in tour packages shouldmean that growth will continue for the next de-cade or so.

Everyone’s Doing ItPerhaps the greatest change in the travel indus-try in the past 30 years is the overall growth intravel. Leisure travel has changed from being con-sidered an expensive luxury item enjoyed onlyinfrequently by the masses to being a psycho-logical necessity. People are convinced that thepressures and strains of today’s lifestyle lead to aneed to recover periodically through the therapy

of “getting away from it all.” That means thatDependables, following the leadership of theirmore venturesome colleagues, travel more todaythan did their lookalikes of a number of yearsago. Part of the reason for this is that so manydestinations have been well developed, encour-aging Dependables to go to places they wouldn’tpreviously have considered.

Another earthquake. A related complicatingelement comes from the fact that Venturers andnear-Venturers also travel more than in the past—no surprise, because they have been leading thistrend for three decades. Venturers still seek un-spoiled and unusual locations, but since travel isnow so common the search for new kinds of va-cation experiences and places to go has becomemore difficult. As a result Venturer-types taketrips that they might not have considered in thepast. One beneficiary of this quest, ironically, isthe gaming industry. An activity preferred mostby Dependable and near-Dependable types, gam-ing venues now draw visits from those with Ven-turer leanings. These travelers are not visiting somuch to gamble as to look at the new, spectacu-lar hotels and to take in the latest shows in LasVegas. Chances are they will make it a short trip,owing to their allergy to the touristy elements ofthe destination. As I related above, cruising andtours also have attracted Venturer types to somedegree.

Convergence? If Dependables are travelingmore and Venturers are showing up in typicalDependable destinations, one might wonderwhether the psychographic segments are some-how converging. I do not find this to be the case.Two factors still distinguish the two personalityarchetypes—the level of travel and the nature ofthe travel experience. While today’s Dependablesare traveling more than yesterday’s Dependables,they still are no match for today’s Venturer types,who travel even more still. Similarly, althoughboth Venturers and Dependables may purchasecruises, the Dependables limit themselves prima-

Many unplanned destinations face adeclining future because uncontrolledgrowth has discouraged influentialVenturer-type travelers.





rily to visiting well-trod destinations, such as theCaribbean or Alaska. The Venturers are the oneswho are dropping themselves off to dive on theDry Tortugas or taking cruises to the Antarctic.

Revised and RefinedThat is not to say that my organization has notrefined the psychographic system that was firstdevised over 30 years ago. It continues in use toposition destinations and various travel products,such as cruise lines, hotel chains, and airlines. Ithas formed the basis for helping some of the larg-est travel-agency conglomerates refocus theirbusiness strategies to concentrate more heavilyon the most important leisure segments. Severaltravel publications have also changed the waythey present themselves to their readers and ad-vertisers based on the psychographic research.This conceptual framework also helps travelsuppliers learn how to target specific segmentswith messages that address their psychologicalneeds, and to select a media mix that will reachtheir customers more cost effectively. Finally, asshould be obvious in reading descriptions of thepersonality types, these concepts apply to otherbusinesses. Industries as diverse as automobiles(BMW, Saab) and beverages (Molson Breweriesof Canada) have used psychographics to reposi-tion their products to capture greater marketshare or to introduce new brands.

Genesis. The first and most important use ofthe psychographic concept still relates to explain-ing why destinations rise and fall in popularity.Using these ideas, destinations around the globehave repositioned themselves to increase theirtourism prospects, and some have taken steps toimprove the quality of what they offer the trav-eling public. Among the destinations that haveemployed the concepts to change the way theyare perceived by travelers are Australia, variousprovinces of Canada, post-handover Hong Kong,southern Portugal and the Estoril Coast, Swit-zerland, and Tahiti, as well as such U.S. loca-tions as Beverly Hills, Detroit, and Omaha.

With all of this effort, however, I maintainthat most destinations’ managers don’t under-stand that they continue to shoot themselves inthe foot by allowing unfocused development totrample the once-beautiful areas that so delightedthe Venturer-type travelers. Destinations can bepreserved and still enjoy continued, growingprosperity. The reasons for why this fails to oc-cur are beyond the scope of this article, but Iwill write about them in a future Cornell Quar-terly article. I want to focus an entire article on

this matter because I am concerned aboutthe future economic health of an industry I loveas it seems to be choosing a path towards self-destruction. Slow though the forces might be,the cumulative impact of tawdry developmentin so many places will, I fear, turn more of thepublic away from the strong emphasis they cur-rently place on travel in their lives. If travel ceasesto be edifying, people will turn to other outlets—for instance, home entertainment, which con-tinues to grow faster than leisure travel.

The travel product must improve over time,or an increasingly sophisticated public will de-cide that taking a trip is too expensive in moneyor time for the experience received—and just isn’tall that much fun when you get there. The expe-rience at the destination must make the effortand expenditure of time and money worthwhile.If the golden travel goose dies a slow death, notravel surgeon will be able to revive it. As travelreceipts decline, local governments won’t be ableto afford to tear down overbuilt resorts and re-place them with fresh buildings, open spaces, orthe natural scenery that was paved over by sprawl-ing development. That scenario is a sad thought,but a real possibility. The travel industry carriesresponsibility on its shoulders for its success andits problems. Tourism planners need to look nofurther than the mirror to know who must fixthe problems. �

Stanley Plogis founder of NFO/PlogResearch ([email protected]).

© 2001, Cornell University; an invited paper.

The cumulativeimpact of tawdry

development mayturn more of the

public away fromthe strong em-

phasis they cur-rently place on

travel in theirlives.



Documents

Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly-2001-Plog-13-24