Spotlight: International Traveler Perceptions

By Kana Feng

As a sponsor of the recent TTRA Annual International Conference, W5 has had many opportunities to listen in on the presentations and conversations that are shaping the tourism industry. We’ve also worked directly with DMOs and CVBs across the U.S. to tackle a wide range of objectives including:

• Identifying strategic segments

• Tracking ROI for media spends

• Mapping travelers’ journeys

• Testing creative campaigns

With FIFA bringing unprecedented global attention to the U.S., destinations are increasingly focused on understanding what's driving international visitation and what barriers may still be preventing travelers from choosing the U.S.

Recently, W5 supported a tourism association seeking to understand just that. This destination has seen shifts in the dynamics of international visitation and economic development that warranted a deeper understanding of international visitors and their impressions of the destination. 

APPROACH

W5 developed a custom quantitative survey to explore travelers’ impressions and perceptions of the client destination, as well as their preferences and considerations when traveling internationally to the United States.

The research focused on travelers from five strategic global markets across three continents (Canada, Mexico, UK, France, and Taiwan) and was designed to provide both a broad overview of international travelers’ perceptions as well as detailed views by market. The survey also included a module to show current advertisements to travelers providing an additional view of destination perceptions.

RESULTS

W5’s research revealed that top perceptions of the destination are similar across all markets, but the underlying layer of perceptions differ between markets. Travelers of each market also have unique, nuanced goals and considerations of international travel, and are important differences that should not be ignored in strategy development and communication.

Insights gained from this research allow the travel association to tailor imagery, tone, and messaging to the top drivers of each market (for example, showing nature scenes vs city life vs resort experiences) and prioritize specific channels of communication.