Who Are Self-Guided Tours For?

Easia Self-Guided Tours (ESGT) cater to a large variety of travel consumers, from the traditional tour taker to the true independent traveler (i.e. the “non-tour taker”), and can range from young adults to digital-savvy adventure-seeking retirees and all demographics between.

With the above in mind, let’s take a closer look at some of the target personas for Easia Self-Guided Tours.

Gen Alpha & Gen-Z

 

Two generations that some say were “born with smartphones in their hands”, Gen Alphas (early 2010’s to mid 2020’s) & Gen-Zers (1997 to 2012) are accustomed to having a digital solution for every part of their daily lives, and are rarely found further than 1 meter away from their devices. They are almost always connected to the Internet and do most of their virtual interactions through their phones or other wearables as opposed to desktop computers or laptops.

It comes as no surprise that these generations expect to have a mobile app for each and every part of life, including travel.

They get inspired through social media, book through mobile apps and rely on their phones for most interactions with the world around them. Usually fast adopters, they are always on the look-out for simple, fun and user-friendly applications to help manage their lives.

Millennials

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Similar to the Gen Alphas & Gen-Zers, Millennials are also rarely seen without their smart devices, although many of them experienced the analog times before the great digital adoption. Once in a blue moon, they can be caught reminiscing about the times before we were connected 24/7, and they occasionally and mindfully turn off their phones to remember the “good old days”.

Millennials love the convenience of mobile apps and enjoy having everything readily available at their fingertips. Less sensitive to brand-loyalty, they’re very focused on “what’s in it for them”, and as a consumer they easily move between the available options on the market. Whatever is easiest and offers the best value is usually their preference.

Millennials are the generation that witnessed the evolution of navigation by paper maps to pricey GPS devices, then to the free and sophisticated mobile maps available on smart phones, and therefore have a great appreciation for the transition.

Couples (all ages, up to and including active retirees)

 

Its generally understood and accepted that couples often prefer individual trips over joining group tours, so it’s no surprise that couples are seen as one of the main consumer segments for self-guided tours. From young couples or newly weds to couples celebrating wedding anniversaries, it’s quite likely this traveler type prefers to spend most of their time in privacy with their loved ones.

Whether it be for a multi-day cycling tour, or simply to help them navigate the points of interest in the historical quarter of a city on an afternoon at leisure, self-guided tours are perfect to allow couples the chance to experience destinations in their own time and at their own pace.

Digital-savvy travelers

 

We all know them. You might actually even be one of them. People who are always on the latest app before the rest of your peer group have even heard about it. Early adopters who never need an explanation on how to use a new digital tool, they always find the answers first (because they’ll have already found it through their mobile phone).

It’s when these digitally-savvy people go on a trip, that – unlike some others – they’re not usually seeking a digital detox of some sort, and instead utilize their devices to add fun and depth to their experiences. They like the challenge of figuring new things out by themselves and are excited by the prospect of all the new opportunities that technology and mobile apps deliver.

It’s this buyer demographic in particular that will be naturally more sensitive to well-marketed, thoughtfully designed self-guided tours.

Families (including multi-generational travel)

 

Humans tend to have different interests at different ages, and this might occasionally lead to a “conflict of interests” when families travel together. While parents might be looking to immerse themselves and learn more about the particular culture and history of a destination, it’s unreasonable to expect their children to share this same motivation and travel style.

Today’s children are very often drawn to their parents’ devices for entertainment or distraction, therefore self-guided tours could potentially offer kids (roughly aged between 8 and 14) a great sense of gamification. Actively involving younger family members in the “challenge” of exploring and navigating on a self-guided tour could lead to fun family excursions, making the journey the true experience.

Families with very young children or babies could also be a good fit with self-guided tours, as it allows them to tailor and time their excursions in line with their youngest’s rhythms instead of being scheduled to meet with guides or groups, and risking missing out.

Groups of friends

 

Depending on the group’s style and wishes, self-guided tours could provide traveling friends with exciting yet flexible itineraries to comfortably guide them on their journey.

Take a group of cycling enthusiasts, for example. By opting for a multi-day cycling module – or even a full A-Z cycling itinerary – they would not only have a professionally designed GPS-route available with a digital roadbook full of information on the POIs, they would also be able to have their luggage taken care of, their hotels pre-booked and confirmed, and have additional services included as per their requirements.

Opting for a self-guided tour, created by a professional team of travel experts, removes the need for endless personal research and allows groups of friends to simply focus on having fun whilst exploring the best a city or country has to offer.


Conclusion

The personas above are given as examples of potential audiences for the ESGT, depending on your business model, as well as the individual wishes of your travelers. It will be up to you and your team to suggest the right solution for your travelers, be it guided tours or self-guided, or a mixture of both.

As stated in our first article; here at Easia we love guided tours and always will. It’s what we do and what we do best. Our self-guided tours should be seen as complementary to guided tours and not as a replacement. Aside from providing you with additional innovative options to crafting creative and interesting journeys in Southeast Asia, our self-guided tours are designed to enable you to reach new markets, without compromising on quality, safety and cost.

Sound interesting?

Or perhaps you’re still puzzled as to how this could help your business?

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    Interested in reading more about Easia Self-Guided Tours (ESGT)?
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