Backpacker study identifies distinctive groups
Backpackers are not a single tourism market but comprise a diversity of groups with different needs, according to a new University of Queensland study.
Lee-Jaye Kininmont, a former backpacker and an associate lecturer in Tourism and Leisure Management at UQ Ipswich has identified four distinct backpacker groups in her PhD study of 500 international backpackers visiting Australia.
'Different backpackers have different expectations in terms of facilities, and we need to conduct further research linking age and other variables to these expectations,' she said.
She says the industry has developed in an ad hoc way in Australia despite the fact that approximately 240,000 backpackers visit each year with 90 percent travelling between Sydney and Cairns. UK is the biggest source market, and most backpackers are aged 18-30.
'There's not a lot of current research although backpackers make up seven percent of the international visitors to Australia each year. Carrying a backpack has not even been used as a criterion to define backpackers in the past,' she said.
'Backpackers tend to stay three times longer, spend twice as much as average international tourists, and travel more widely, distributing their money to different regions. Most are exercising their rite of passage between school and tertiary study, or between jobs.'
Ms Kininmont said her survey found that the largest group of backpackers (41 percent) were what she described as 'the budget minglers'- people who wanted inexpensive travel and were happy to mix with a range of people, not just backpackers. The second largest market segment (30 percent) were 'luxury minglers' - those who wanted extra facilities, and who also were happy to mix with others.
'I was surprised to discover two other significant groups - what I call ?luxury loners' (16 percent) - people wanting better facilities but only wanting to mix with other backpackers; and ?budget loners' (13 percent). The ?budget loners' were an interesting group because they were largely aged under 26, and perhaps were not ready to mix with others.'
Ms Kininmont undertook her PhD topic because she wanted to know what range of facilities should be offered by backpacker facility providers in Australia. Her concern is that if insufficient facilities are provided, it may deter backpackers from visiting some areas of Australia, or even deter them from visiting Australia at all.
'There are large Asian and New Zealand backpacker destinations on our doorstep, so we could lose backpacker tourism opportunities to other countries if we can't meet consumer expectations,' she said.
Ms Kininmont examined transport, accommodation and overnight tours for backpackers in Australia, and said backpackers she surveyed were generally happy with facilities.
'Buses were the most common type of transport, followed by planes for longer distances,' she said. Some internal plane fares were included in travel packages purchased in the home countries.
Most people (89 percent) said they wanted inexpensive transport, where they were able to get on and off en route, see the countryside, and meet other people. The majority (87 percent) wanted inexpensive accommodation, with a communal kitchen and laundry, common room, a courtesy bus, friendly staff, and staff who would organise social activities for the group.
Ms Kininmont said the majority of respondents also wanted inexpensive tours, with all-inclusive prices, tours of short-term duration, and for small groups.
After leaving school at Aspley High School, Ms Kininmont worked for five years then spent a year backpacking through South-East Asia and the United Kingdom, working at a summer camp in the United States, and a kibbutz in Israel.
She completed a Bachelor of Business (Tourism Management) degree with honours in 1995, before deciding on her PhD topic, which is supervised by Associate Professor Steve Craig-Smith.
Much of her research was conducted travelling on buses for backpackers and in hostels. After completing her PhD she hopes to conduct further research into the diversity of needs of the backpacker market, especially in relation to the burgeoning market in Asia.
Media: Further information, Lee-Jaye Kininmont telephone 3381 1327 at work or 0409 057 982 mobile or email us at: communications@mailbox.uq.edu.au
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