School of Tourism and Hospitality Management

CSTC COLLEGE OF SCIENCES TECHNOLOGY AND
COMMUNICATION, INC.
CSTC College Bldg. Gen. Luna St. Maharlika Hi-way, Pob. 3, Arellano Sub. Sariaya Province of
Quezon R4A
Registrar’s Office: 042 3290850 / 042 7192818
CSTC IT Center: 042 7192805
Atimonan Contact Number: 042 7171420
SCHOOL OF TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT
Instructional Module in
Micro Perspective of Tourism and Hospitality
Preliminaries
I. Lesson Number 1
II. Lesson Title The Psychology of Tourism
III. Brief Introduction Every traveler is driven by his/her own motivation and
of the Lesson profile. For every travel that a tourist does, he/she is being
motivated by personal intention or purpose. The status in life or
in a society of a person greatly contributes to the choices of
destination, mode of travel, accommodation, and activities. To
understand better the tourist, it is important that nay business
engaged in tourism and hospitality consider what motivates the
tourist and to know their profile which will greatly help in the
betterment of the service industry.
IV. Lesson Objectives At the end of the lesson, the students should be able to :
1. Discuss the factors that motivate people to travel.
2. Elucidate the relationship of needs, wants and motivate to
tourist motivation;
3. Describe the push/pull model.
4. Explain the relation between Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
and the travel motivations listed in travel literature.
5. Describe the characteristics of psychocentrics and
allocentrics.
6. Identify the characterictics of travelers based on purpose of
travel.
7. Analyze the travel constraints.
Lesson Proper
I. Getting Started
 Refer to LMS
II. Discussion
Tourist do not travel for nothing. Not anyone travels without reason nor having no intention to
engage in any activities on the course of the travel. To understand what motivates the tourist in
travel and tourism, it is important to take a look into some theories that pertain to motivation and
needs. This will help industry stakeholders engaged in the delivery of service to the tourists and
understand what should be delivered to the clients.
The Psychology of Tourism
A. Motivation for Travel
Several studies on tourist have listed various reasons why people travel. Some of the
motivations listed in travel literature are:
• escape
• relaxation
• relief of tension
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• sunlust
• physical
• health
• family togetherness
• interpersonal relations
• roots or ethnic
• maintaining social contacts
• convincing oneself of one's achievement
• showing one’s importance to others
• status and prestige
• self-discovery
• cultural
• education
• professional/business
• wanderlust
• interest in foreign areas
• Scenery
Basic Travel Motivators can be divided into four classes:
1. Physical Motivators - includes those related to physical rest, sports participation, beach
recreation, relaxing entertainment, and other motivations directly connected with health.
2. Cultural Motivators - include the desire to know about other countries - their music, art,
folklore, dances, paintings and religion
3. Interpersonal Motivators - pertain to the desire to meet other people, visit friends ir relatives,
escape from routine, from family, and neighbors.
4. Status and Prestige Motivators - concern ego needs and personal development. Include in
this group are tripos related to business, conventions, study, and pursuit of hobbies and
education. Travel would enhance one’s recognition and good reputation.
B. Travel as a means to satisfy a need and want
The key to understand tourist motivation is to view vacation travel as a vehicle to satisfy
one's needs and wants. Tourists do not go on vacations just to relax and have fun, to
experience another culture, or to educate themselves and their children; they take vacations in
the belief that these vacations will satisfy either completely or partially, various needs and wants
C. Relationship of needs, wants, and motives
The difference between a need and a want is awareness. It is the duty of people involved in
marketing to convert needs into wants by making the individual aware of his needs deficiencies.
This awareness is accompanied by motivation. A motive enables a person to do something.
Motivation occurs when an individual wants to satisfy a need. To enable a person to be
motivated to satisfy need, an objective or goal must be present. An individual will be motivated
to buy a product or service if he perceives that the purchase of that product or service will be
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beneficial in satisfying the need of which he is now aware. Thus, it is the role of marketing to
suggest objectives such as vacations, cruises, or flights to satisfy needs, an awareness of which
has already been created. This process is described below:
Travel Motivation Theories into Tourism Practice
A. Push/Pull Model
The push/pull model explains the push and the pull forces in human motivation.
According to the model, there are push/pull forces in human motivation. Internal factors or
personal needs “push” people to travel, while external forces or attractions “pull” them to certain
destinations. Much travel is motivated by both push and pull factors.
Push factors are the intangible desires that generate within the person. Examples are:
need to escape, self-discovery, rest and relaxation, prestige, challenge, and adventure.
Pull factors are external travel stimulators such as: scenic beauty, historical areas,
cultural events, and sporting events.
B. Maslow’s Theory of Motivation and Travel Motivations
A study of travel motivations found in travel literature indicates that these motivations
fit into the hierarchy of needs model of Abraham Maslow, a famous psychologist. Maslow
proposed the following hierarchy of needs as determinants of behavior:
1. Physiological Needs - hunger, thirst, rest, activity
2. Safety Needs – safety and security, freedom from fear and anxiety
3. Social Needs - love, affection, giving and receiving
4. Self-esteem - self-respect and esteem from others
5. Self-actualization - personal self-fulfillment
Image from: https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html
The hierarchy suggests that lower needs demand more immediate satisfaction of higher
needs. The first need is physical, the other four are psychological. To this original list, two
intellectual needs were added. These are:
1. To know and understand - acquiring knowledge
2. Aesthetics - appreciation of beauty.
The relationship between needs, motives, and references from tourism and literature is shown
below:
Need Motive Tourism Literature References
Physiological Relaxation
• Escape
• Relaxation
• Relief of tension
• Sunlust
• Physical
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• Mental relaxation of tension

Safety Security
• Health
• Recreation
• Keep oneself active and healthy for the future
Social Love and Affection
• Family togetherness
• Enhancement of kinship relationships
• Companionships
• Facilitation of social interaction
• Maintenance of personalities
• Interpersonal relations
• Ethic roots
• Show one’s affection for family members
• Maintain social contacts
Self-esteem Achievement Status
• Convince oneself of one’s achievement
• Show one’s importance to others
• Prestige
• Social recognition
• Ego enhancement
• Professional/business
Self-actualization
• Personal fulfillment
Those who say that they travel “to escape” or “to relieve tension” are satisfying the basic
physiological needs.
Traveling for health and recreation attempts to satisfy one’s safety needs by taking care
of their body and or their mind.
The needs for belonging and love pertains to the desire for affection, for giving and
receiving love. The organized tour is a method of encouraging and satisfying one’s need for
interpersonal relations and social interaction.
Maslow’s concept of the need for esteem has two components - that of self-esteem and
that of esteem from others. The need for self-esteem is shown in the desire to exhibit
achievement, competence, and independence. Esteem from others is explained by the
concepts of prestige, status, and recognition. Travel can boost one’s ego since it provides the
tourist a feeling of superiority
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Self-actualization can be regarded as a goal of leisure. Leisure is the state of being free
from urgent demands of the lower-level needs. Vacations offer an opportunity to reevaluate and
discover more about oneself.
The need to know and understand is motivated by the desire for knowledge. Many
people travel to learn the cultures of other countries. Other motivations are education,
wanderlust, and interest in foreign parts.
The need for aesthetic is shown in those who travel for environmental reasons - to view
the scenery.
Relating travel motivations with Maslow’s need theory will produce two tangible benefits. The
first benefit is that the traveler is better understood and better motivated if he or she recognized
as a person consuming products and services. This will enable the marketer to provide a better
product or service to the traveler. The second tangible benefit is that if one accepts Maslow’s
idea that the lower-level needs should first be satisfied before the higher-level needs, we would
expect that products and services, including vacations, which are aimed toward the satisfaction
of lower-level needs, would be regarded as a necessity rather than a luxury.
C. Plog’s Psychographic Tourists’ Profile
Plog’s psychographic motivation theory can be used for the classification of tourist.
This theory classifies tourists along their personal characteristics, lifestyle and personal values.
1. Psychocentric are represented by people concerned on their own affairs. They are the non-
adventurous type of visitors, who often require standard services.
2. Allocentric are independent tourists seeking for adventure or experience.
3. Midcentric represent the majority of tourists, and these are the people who occupy borders
with borders with near psychocentric and near allocentric. These are tourists relatively flexible in
their needs. As already mentioned, tourists in rural areas require authentic pristine rural locality
with “romantic” and “traditional” life. On the other hand, they are usually easy-going people, who
value low prices for products, or seek activities outside beautiful landscapes and nature.
Tourist Motivations
A. The Need for Escape or Change
The greatest reason for travel can be summed up in one word, “escape” - escape from
the dull daily routine; escape from familiar, the commonplace, the ordinary escape from job, the
boss, the customers, the house, and the accelerated pace of modern life.
B. Travel for Health
Development in the field of medicine has influenced travel for countries, giving rise to
concept of health tourism. The search for health and long life has popularized spas, seaside
resorts, as well as sun resorts. Majority of people think of vacationing as a means of regaining
one’s energy, interest, and enthusiasm for the job.
C. Sports
Interests in sports, either as a participant or a spectator, is attracting large segments
of the population. People demand activity and excitement during their leisure hours to relieve
them from the boredom of their work. They indulge in activities such as hiking, surfing, scuba
diving, mountaineering, and skiing. Millions attend a variety of games, such as basketball,
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baseball, tennis, soccer in the US, Europe, and Latin America. The Olympic Games which is
held every four years attract millions of tourists.
D. Social Contact
Much travel grows out of the social nature of people. Human beings are social animals.
They need contact and communication with others. They feel comfortable in a tour group. In a
group, the traveler may develop friendships that may last for years. Some tour groups have
reunions after the tour took place.
E. Status and Prestige
Travel provides the means for ego and self-enhancement. Travel to a poor country
can provide the traveler with a feeling of superiority. Travel can also provide a means of
mingling with the wealthy and social elite
F. Travel for Education
The search for knowledge and truths is inherent in every individual. Travel offers an
opportunity to satisfy the urge to learn. Once an interest has been developed in a destination
area, the urge to see that area emerges and the interest grows as knowledge increases.
Advertising generates interest in a destination but much more persuasuve is the
interest created by a good book, a movie, or a television program. College students go in large
numbers either on their own or as part if study groups sponsored by universities. This, students
combine travel with learning and receive academic credit for doing so.
G. Personal Values
The notion of personal values is an important travel motivator. Many people are urged
to travel to satisfy personal values, such as the search for spiritual experience, patriotism, and
wholesomeness. Pilgrimages to religious sites or holy places such as the Vatican, Lourdes,
Jerusalem and Mecca are undertaken for spiritual reasons. Trips to Disneyland in LA and Tokyo
and to Corregidor in the Philippines are made to satisfy personal values of wholesomeness
environment and patriotism.
H. Cultural Experience
Cross-cultural exchanges, experiencing how other people live, and fostering
international understanding is some of the reasons to satisfy curiosity about cultures, lifestyle
and places. Studies conducted among travelers abroad reveal than seeking a new cultural
experience is a primary reason for international travel
North Americans are attracted to go to Europe because their ancestors came from there
and their history classes are full of stories about it.
I. Shopping and Bargain Hunting
To many people, the joy derived from buying certain goods may be the major reason
for travel. Millions of travelers go to Hongkong, Singapore and other tax-free ports to shop.
Almost everybody wants to buy and to bargain.
Bargain hunting or being able to get special merchandize art low cost is a travel
motivator. Tourists are looking for places that are inexpensive.
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J. Professional and Business Motives

A great number of people travel for professional and business motives. Conferences and
conventions about education, commerce, and industry increase annually. More than one-half of
all airline travel is done by business travelers. Approximately 60-70% of guest who check in at
five-star hotels around the world travel for business reasons. However, a great portion of
business travel is mixed with pleasure.
K. Search for Natural Beauty
Travel can satisfy one’s search for beauty in the environment and in the scenery. Natural
beauty such as sunset, trees, mountains, waterfalls, flowers, beaches, valleys, bays, rivers, and
lakes us usually pleasurable to the viewer. Most people are inspired by the beauty of nature.
The trips of city dwellers to the rural areas on weekends show man’s need to see beautiful
scenery - trees, grass, streams, and the open sky.
The Learning Process of a Tourist
An individual will buy a vacation package if he/she has learned that the purchase will
satisfy an important need. The tourist compares various alternatives with a list of criteria to
determine which alternative will most likely satisfy a particular motive. The resulting inclination
will have an effect on the decision to buy. The inclination may be positive or negative depending
on how well a chosen alternative will meet the motivation. The number of alternatives will vary
according to the characteristic of travelers. Travelers who may be previously visited many
foreign destinations have a larger number of alternatives to choose from than those who are
have not. A destination will be included as an alternative if the destination has previously
satisfied the traveler. The level of satisfaction depended on tone’s expectation of a situation, as
well as one’s perception of an actual situation. If the level of expectations is higher than the
actual experience, the tourist will be dissatisfied. For a traveler to be satisfied with a product,
service or situation, the level of actual experience must be equal to or greater than a level of
expectations. Hence, the level of service given to the vacationer must be given great importance
to assure a quality experience and a high level of satisfaction that will bring the traveler back.
Serving as bridge between the motives of an individual and the perceived alternatives
are the criteria used for making decisions among these alternatives? The criteria used are
learned. They are the results of past experiences, as well as information received from either
the commercial or the social environment.
Effect of Consistency and Complexity on Leisure Travel
Edward J. Mayo and Lance Jervis, the Psychology of Leisure Travel, believed that
individuals differ in the amount of psychological tensions they can handle. Too much repetition
or consistency results in boredom and a corresponding amount of psychological tension greater
that he could handle. To reduce the tension, he will attempt to introduce some complexity in his
life. This explains why a tourist who for many years spent his vacation in a particular spot, will
either change the destination or the method of reaching it.
Similarly, too much complexity may result in more tension than a person can endure.
To reduce the level of tension, he will introduce consistency into that experience.
Classification of Travelers Based on Purpose of Travel
The two major classification of travelers based on travel purpose are the business
travelers and the pleasure/personal travelers.
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A. Business Travelers
Majority of travelers in most developed countries such as United States, Canada, and the
United Kingdom are business travelers. They are divided into three categories:
1. Regular business travelers
Among the business travelers, the cost of the trip is shouldered by a company;
hence, travel is not influenced by personal income. The volume and rate of growth of business
travel is not greatly affected by the cost of travel. This means that business travelers will
continue even if the price if the travel service increases.
According to the survey, here are some of the differences between male and
female business travelers:
1. Women business travelers are slightly younger
2. Women tend to stay longer at their destinations
3. Women are more likely to tend a meeting or convention
4. Women are more likely to book through a travel agent
5. Women have a greater preference for downtown accommodation facility closer to work.
6. Women are more concerned with security aspects of accommodation facilities.
Many airlines and hotels are exerting efforts to cater to the business executive
travelers. Airlines have been offering first-class seat service and first-class passenger lounges in
airport terminals to these travelers for many years. Most recent innovations include social check
in arrangements, bigger seats, and sleeper seats. Many hotels’ chains have begun to allocate
whole floors or wings of their building for business travelers seeking greater luxury in their
accommodations. The rooms or suites are more spacious, contain more personal “giveaways”,
and they provide their guests with complimentary drinks and express check-in and check-out
service.
2. Business travelers attending meetings, conventions, and congresses
Travel Pulse survey indicate that 20% of all business travel trips are for the
purpose of attending meetings, conventions, and congresses. A congress, convention, or
conference is a regular formalized meeting of associations or body or a meeting sponsored by
an association or body on a regular or ad hoc basis.
Conventions are classified into three kinds:
1. International Conventions - usually involved members and nonmembers from more than two
foreign countries, and they take place in different countries every year. They are generally
nonprofit and attract persons with common fields of interest.
2. Continental Conventions - have delegates coming from a continent such as North America,
Europe, or Asia.
3. National Convention - are meetings organized by associations at the state, provincial, or
regional level
3. Incentive travelers
A special type of business travel. It is travel given by firms to employees as a
reward for some accomplishment or to encourage employees to achieve more than what is
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required. Incentive trios have risen sharply according to Society of Incentive Travel Executive
(SITE). Salesperson are given trips for reaching a set goal in overall sales of a particular item or
in the number of new accounts.
The most popular overseas destinations are Mexico, Spain, the Caribbean,
Bermuda and Europe. Within the US, the most popular incentive travel destinations are Hawaii,
Florida, Nevada, California, and New Orleans.
B. Pleasure/Personal Travelers
This group consists of people traveling for vacation or pleasure. They are also called
nonbusiness travelers. Experiences and research have shown than nonbusiness travelers have
different spending patterns from business travelers. In general, the demand for travel services
by nonbusiness travelers is elastic with respect to prices. This means that nonbusiness travelers
are very much concerned with the increase in the price of travel services since the cost of travel
is usually shouldered by the traveler himself. The traveler likewise chooses the vacation area.
Traveling for pleasure is the largest segment of the international market and the fastest
growing. The reasons for the growth are the rising income levels in developed countries,
urbanization, higher educational levels, increase in leisure time, and the length of paid holidays.
Pleasure/personal travelers are classified into the following categories:
1. Resort Travelers
Surveys have shown that resort travelers are better educated, have higher
household incomes, and are more likely to have professional and managerial positions. It is
notable that majority of resort travelers have families with children.
2. Family Pleasure Travelers
The family pleasure travelers can be divided into three groups which are defined
according to the ages of the husband and wife and the educational stages of their children:
a. Junior families – with parents aged 20-34 having preschool and/or grade school children only
b. Midrange families – with parents aged 35-44 with grade school and/or high school children
only
c. Mature families – with parents aged 45 or over with children who are high school age and
older
Family pleasure travel trips are motivated by three objectives:
1. To use travel as an educational experience for their children
2. To do something different
3. To use travel to bring the family closer together
The major hindrances to family pleasure travel are the cost of travel, particularly
the cost of transportation, accommodation, food, the ability of the parents to have privacy from
their children, and the problems of organizing and coordinating family pleasure plans.
3. The Elderly
An examination of population trends in developed countries particularly in
North America clearly indicates that the population is aging. At present, there are many people
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who are fifty years of age and over, including a greater number of people in the retirement age
category. These population shifts have made the elderly persons a lucrative target for tourism
destination areas. Persons in the “50 plus” age bracket are called active affluents or people with
the money and the desire to travel extensively. Active affluents generally search for learning
experiences, cultural enrichment, socialization, and activities which lead to self-fulfillment.
4. Singles and Couples
Another important segment of pleasure travel consists of singles and couples.
They take their vacations to fulfill their psychological, intellectual, and physical needs by giving
them the opportunity to rest, relax, escape the routine of pressures of daily living, enjoy the
naturalness of life, and to express total freedom. A popular club “Club Mediterranee or Club
Med” targets singles and couples in a destination.
Travel Constraints
The main constraints to travel are:
A. Lack of Money
A major travel constraint. Less money means less travel. The wealthy members
of society are the ones who travel most. People with more disposable income will be able to
travel more than those who just earn enough to live on.
B. Lack of Time
Lack of available time is another inhibiting factor to tourist travel. The desire to
travel and the financial ability to travel are insufficient of one does not have time to travel. A
senior company executive may have plenty of money to spend but very little time available. A
combination of time and money must be present for travel and tourism to take place.
C. Lack of Safety and Security
Lack of safety and security in public places, hotels, and travel centers cause
people to prefer to remain in the security of their neighborhood and home. Areas may acquire
the reputation of being dangerous and thus become less desirable travel destinations as what
has happened in the Philippines, the Caribbean, and parts of Mexico, Spain, and Italy, where
there has been a sharp increase in the number of thefts, robberies, shootings, and assaults
among the local people. Tourists will not go to destinations that they consider unsafe.
D. Physical Disability
Physical disability in the form of bad health or physical handicap may keep
people at home. Elderly who are more susceptible to illness such as heart trouble, hypertension,
arthritis, and bronchitis travel less. After the age of 70, very few travel because for most of them,
long trips are tiring, changes in food are upsetting, and a strange bed may cause sleeplessness.
E. Family Constraints
Family commitments inhibit travel. Parents with young children find it
inconvenient and expensive to go on holiday. During the child-rearing period, family obligations
increase significantly for women and to similar but lesser degree, for men. Travel is curtailed
and more time is spent at home. Indeed, family commitments of any kind, whether it be young
children, taking care of the sick, or looking after older people really affects travel.
F. Lack of Interest in Travel
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This is mainly due to a preference to simply stay at home. This condition may be
due to a variety of factors, such as dislike of travel, shyness in meeting people, dislike of
changing routine, and many more.
G. Fears
Some people do not want to travel because of fears of travel. Fear of flying is
quite common and accounts for many people who insist on driving to a vacation area instead of
boarding a plane. Fear of the unknown keeps many people from leaving their own country or
even their own city. Many travelers are afraid to go to countries where they cannot understand
the language. Some potential travelers are afraid of the unfamiliar decisions they will have to
make in a strange place such as how much to tip and how to get around a strange city. All these
fears are deterrents to travel.
III. Application(Performance Task -40%)

Refer to LMS
IV. Assessment(Written Works-30%)
Refer to LMS
V. Reflection(Performance Task -40%)
Refer to LMS
VI. References
Yeung, M. (2021). Macro Perspective of Tourism and Hospitality. Manila, Philippines: EDRIC
Publishing House
Cruz, Z. (2019). Macro Perspective of Tourism and Hospitality. Manila, Philippines: REX Book
Store
Lim, R. (2017). Macro Perspective on Tourism and Hospitality. Mandaluyong City, Philippines:
Books Atbp. Publishing Corp.
Prepared by:
VENUS B. FINO
Instructor
Reviewed by: Approved by:
DIANA GRACIA T. EVANGELISTA, MM,CHP JESS JAY M. SAJISE, DBA

Program Head, School of Tourism and Hospitality Vice President of Academic Affairs External
Management

School of Tourism and Hospitality Management

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CSTC COLLEGE OF SCIENCES TECHNOLOGY AND

SCHOOL OF TOURISM AND HOSPITALITY MANAGEMENT

• Mental relaxation of tension

J. Professional and Business Motives

III. Application(Performance Task -40%)

Reviewed by: Approved by:

DIANA GRACIA T. EVANGELISTA, MM,CHP JESS JAY M. SAJISE, DBA

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