Do you know how a traveler thinks? About the Traveler Mental Model and why it is still important for you to understand it.

Do you know how a traveler thinks?

About the Traveler Mental Model and why it is important for you to understand it.

Part 1 of 6 | Overview

Everyone goes through the same thought process when it comes to travel. It doesn't matter if it's personal or business. Everyone goes through these stages from dreaming, planning, booking & paying to finally experiencing and sharing.

Did you know that for 89% of people, the holiday already starts when browsing possible destinations on the internet? 

Or even when searching for completely different things? Learn today how the thought process, the mental model of a traveler, really works in its five phases of travel.

The basis for your marketing, your sales and your entire digital presence.

In order to be able to conduct efficient marketing and sales for a hotel, a holiday flat, a tourist attraction, an experience or a gastronomy business, it is first important to know and understand the thought process or the so-called traveler mental model in detail. 

Because if you don't know your potential guest and don't understand his or her wishes, then it is very difficult to win the potential guest over for your offer.

The Traveler Mental Model in five phases.

First | The dream phase | 89% of travelers get inspiration for their next trip on the internet. What animates people to dream? Large and qualitatively perfect pictures, videos and above all the 360° virtual Google Street View tours, where the potential guest can decide for themself what they want to see. In this phase, the potential guest has endless time and browses through hundreds of pages, social media etc.. And often over many weeks and months. This is mainly about emotions and inspiration until a preliminary decision for a destination has been made.

Second | The planning phase | Around 80% of travelers use the internet as their main source for travel planning. Now they need all relevant information such as rates, location, distance from/to, availability, room details etc. at a glance. Since the traveler has already made a preliminary decision, they have much less time and patience and no longer want to have to search through endless sources, links etc. and would prefer to get all the information with one or a few clicks. Accurate facts and data, which then lead to a final decision, are the goal.

Third | The booking phase | After all, 60%+ of travelers book their planned holiday on the internet and compare services and prices. As in the planning phase, the potential guest now wants to book the room, the activities and the meals etc. on an easy-to-use page and, if possible, also pay digitally immediately. Click, Book, Pay - and then look forward to the trip. If you make it difficult for the potential traveler, for example by only providing a form or an eMail address and telephone number, you easily lose like 50% of the potential direct bookings.

And that is not economically sustainable. In this phase, the guest has no more time and patience. We call this instant gratification. The lack of an easy booking and payment option is often the main reason why potential travelers then go to online travel agents and book there. And then you as a supplier pay between 60% and 80% of your contribution margin, lose customer sovereignty to the OTA and pay again with the loss of your own visibility. Because the platforms advertise against you with your name and your location, e.g. on Google. You slip further and further down the search results and are thus driven further and further into dependence on platforms.

Fourth | The Experience Phase | More than 80% of travelers, regardless of age group, now use smartphones or tablets during their trip and inform themselves about local features such as restaurants or sights. Here it is important, for example, that a hotel, holiday flat or guesthouse provides free WiFi that is available everywhere. 

Fifth | The sharing phase | More than 50% of guests share their experiences during their trip with friends or family e.g. via WhatsApp, with social media posts on Facebook, Instagram,TikTok, LinkedIn, Twitter etc. or on review platforms such as their Google Business profile, Tripadvisor, and depending on the booking, also on the OTA platforms.

Again, the freely accessible WiFi is the basis for priceless advertising by your guests. They post pictures and texts and give their opinion. This is trusted content for others, worth more than any brochure or marketing statement on your own website. This provides new content for you to in turn inspire other potential travelers to dream.

The five stages - Dreaming, Planning, Booking, Experiencing and Sharing - run like a thread through all marketing activities. 

That's why it's important that your entire digital presence from visibility, website, reputation, social media presence and its distribution is aligned with this and that you give the guest what they expect from you as a host today.

In the coming episodes of this article series, I will go into more detail about the individual phases and how best to implement them in a hotel, for a holiday flat, an experience provider or in the gastronomy sector or even for an entire destination. I will also give valuable tips on how to do this even in a busy everyday life.

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Feel free to comment if you have any questions or remarks.