Canadian DMOs as I suppose DMOs everywhere are spending a lot of money researching consumer and travel behaviour, their demographics and psycographics, their online habits and many other attributes. The Canadian Tourism Commission, for example, devised a segmentation tool called the Explorer Quotient that classifies people as traveller types. The EQ is basically a psycographics and lifestyle segmentation tool. There are other tools and ways of segmenting consumers, all of which may be valid and helpful. However, psycographic segmentation has its limitation and cannot be considered the be all and end all of marketing. One of the issues with this kind of segmentation is that people are constantly changing, their circumstances change, their different life stages force them to change. You can surmise this by examining your own life and that of people close to you. For example, my EQ is Free Spirit, one of the highest yielding tourist types. But I am also a Cultural History Buff and a Rejuvenator. I don't have the resources to prove this, but my sense is that most travellers may be one or another type depending on the circumstances, the mood and their financial resources. While I prefer to travel as a Free Spirit (luxury accomodations, the best of the best), I can't always afford it. I might sacrifice luxury for a cultural experience, which I've done on many occasions, and I every year my family and I try to take a Rejuvenating vacation. When I took the EQ questionnaire a few years ago, it turned out I was a Free Spirit. I often get marketed to as a Free Spirit even though I may feel like a Cultural History Buff or a No Hassle Traveler (which I definitely am as well).
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In conclusion, while segmentation tools are very important, one must keep in mind that people are not as easy to classify as plants. In the era of instant direct communication one-to-one, one-to-many it is critical to listen to travelers and be ready to respond with the right message at the right time so whenever a traveler expresses Free Spirit desires or No Hassle Traveler needs, you'll be ready to address their wishes with the right offer.
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Happy travels,
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Jaime
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