Travel Industry Needs to Analyze Customer Psychology

Total number of Japanese travelers abroad in 2007 is estimated to be less than that of past year. Ever since overseas travel was deregulated in 1964, Japan has seen decline from five factors: the second oil crisis in 1980, the Gulf War in 1991, Asia’s financial crisis in 1998, 9-11 terror attack in 2001 and SARS epidemics and the Iraq War in 2003. Decline in overseas travel in each year was clearly explained by these factors.

Then what could be the factors for the drop in 2007? None of the existing issues such as the continued steep increase in fuel surcharge and China’s problem in food safety appears to be convincing, compared with the five previous factors. Recent travel trends including market’s maturity, young people’s loss of interest in overseas travel and slow growth in senior travelers can also lie in the background but few of them are actually examined in-depth.

Most travel products are sold via travel companies. Companies can get hold of consumers’ travel preference and trends through direct contact with consumers, which they apply to product development and sales promotion. Recently, as the distribution of travel products shifts toward the Internet, travel trade has fewer opportunities for personal contact with consumers, which consequently means that customer behavior and psychology are less visible for travel companies now.

A finding in a recent group interview of six consumers was shocking; all of the interviewees made overseas travel arrangements entirely without help of travel companies. Together with the fact that the number of Japanese travelers abroad is shrinking, the travel industry should be awakened.

Other matured industries regularly conduct psychological consumer survey for developing new service and new products. They make good use of consumer survey results for creating marketing strategies; conceptualization, identifying focus target, promotion and choosing distribution channel. They are also utilized in developing products and services. Food industry identified the health consciousness among consumers through consumer surveys and has been successful in developing and marketing new food products that feature ‘low calories’, which traditionally was not paid much attention. Automobile and housing industries also regularly practice psychological analysis of consumers.

It would not be too late for the travel industry in Japan to conduct qualitative survey analysis in addition to quantitative ones traditionally done by questionnaires. Qualitative approach would help you make clear the “reasons why?” of each subject and issue. Practice of qualitative analysis may also help break down the long-sluggish overseas travel market in Japan.