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Can't decide where to go on your next vacation? Stanley Plog may have the answer.
Dr. Plog has spent 40 years researching travel preferences and decisions, from which coach seats are most comfortable on airplanes to how resorts and European capitals can best pitch to tourists. He's developed a questionnaire that pegs people into six different profiles, identifying their 'travel personality.' Now, Dr. Plog and Bahir Browsh, a former Trans World Airlines executive and Travel Channel president, have turned Dr. Plog's research into a Web site, www.BestTripChoices.com, where users can get travel suggestions free.
When we vacation, we all have different desires. Some people like to relax on the beach; others climb mountains. Some people love crowds. Many are most comfortable driving to someplace close to home, and often the same place as last year and the year before. Others jump on airplanes to see new, unfamiliar places, far from the masses.
I tried the BestTripChoices site out on my family and found that it zeroed in on personalities quite well, figuring out that most of us wanted history and culture in our trips, we like to sample new places, and we use mixed modes of transportation for our travel. And somehow it also knew that I like to buy native specialties when I travel.
Knowing exactly what kind of vacation most fits your travel personality is the key to having a satisfying experience, Dr. Plog says. And it's not always obvious. Sometimes we feel that we need to seek out rough-edge adventures when really we'd be happier lying by a pool with a cocktail. What's more, some couples have different travel personalities, so trips may not be compatible for both.
'People choose the wrong vacation all the time, and they come back really disappointed,' he says.
The BestTripChoices site's questionnaire identifies you in one of six personality profiles, from a 'venturer,' who likes to find undiscovered gems and explore unique cultures, to an 'authentic,' who prefers everything familiar and predictable and likes going where there are lots of people -- it must be a good place, after all, if there are crowds.
Each extreme represents only 3% to 4% of the population -- most of us are in-between to varying degrees. On the 'venturer' side of the scale, 'mid-venturers' like some physical activity on trips and travel with intellectual curiosity for history. 'Centric-venturers' like exotic places, but they want good hotels and restaurants, too. On the authentics side, 'mid-authentics' are particularly social people who love golf and mellow vacations in the sun. 'Centric-authentics' would rather drive to destinations than fly, and are comfortable on cruises.
Based on Dr. Plog's database of travel surveys on what destinations were most satisfying to what type of people, the site suggests places to go that fit your travel personality. It's a scientific version of the service of a very good travel agent -- someone who would get to know clients, figure out what they like and suggest appropriate trips. (And many travel agents already use software that helps them target trips for clients.) But with so many people now booking their own trips, some study of your inclinations and preferences can help avoid unsatisfactory vacations.
'The whole idea is to narrow down and select the place that is best for you,' Dr. Plog says.
Dr. Plog's work has been used by the travel industry for decades, and the science behind his study has been peer reviewed and published in academic journals. 'Plog is a pioneer,' says Paul Biederman, an assistant professor at New York University and author of a travel industry textbook. 'He's now applying advanced technology to what he has been doing all along.'
Dr. Biederman says the theory behind identifying travel personalities is solid. 'I think it works, especially for people who are avid travelers looking for new places to visit,' he said.
To develop a profile, Dr. Plog's quiz presents 15 statements and asks people to agree or disagree with each on a seven-point scale. Some seem obviously related to travel, such as 'I prefer to go to undiscovered places before big hotels and restaurants are built.' Others are more obscure, such as 'Chance has little to do with success in my life.'
The trick is that only seven or eight of the questions drive the results -- the rest are thrown in for cover, Dr. Plog says. He won't disclose which questions are the true revealers of personality, except to say they are not the obvious travel questions. How much you read, for example, and how much TV you watch are indicators of the trips you'll prefer, Dr. Plog says.
The site pegged me as a centric venturer. According to the profile, I read newspapers a lot (you think?) and am selective in my television viewing. I could be happy on a Greek cruise or a tour of California ghost towns or even a New York shopping trip. I'm the one who likes new places but not too raw -- I want a good hotel, too.
To my surprise, my wife came out 'mid-venturer' -- more adventurous in her travel desires than I am. That didn't seem quite right -- camping was never her thing when we were younger. But then I remembered that she's always the one pushing adventures like kayaking trips and river rafting when we go places.
My daughters fell in my same 'centric venturer' category, and that fit, too, although my college-student daughter thought that it underestimated her desire for adventure in the destinations suggested. Montreal and Quebec were among her recommendations, while she says Argentina, India, Turkey and Spain are tops on her wish list right now.
Indeed, while the site seemed prescient at targeting our personalities, it was less clear at suggesting destinations. The recommendations overlap considerably across categories since many places fit multiple personalities.
Hawaii, for example, can be great for adventurers who like surfing or hiking, and just as much fun for authentics who want to souvenir shop with the hordes in Waikiki. Likewise, Alaska can be a place of great adventure, and yet authentics can enjoy gorgeous scenery from a train or relax on a cruise ship. Massachusetts ranked high as a destination for five of the six different personality groups.
Dr. Plog has 160 destinations ranked on the Web site, but ultimately wants to get to 1,200. The rankings are based on surveys of travelers who have been to those places. Researchers identify a person's travel personality then ask where they've been and what they liked. Right now, it's populated mostly with information on destinations in North America and Europe, and lacking in Asia and other regions.
The real value is in pegging what you really want out of a vacation. Where you go is just the fun part.
