What Is a Tourist Flow? 6 Characteristics

In recent decades, tourism has experienced a remarkable growth from an elitist activity to a mass phenomenon. According to the UNWTO, the turnover of tourism today equals, or even exceeds, exports of oil, automobiles or food products. It is a continuous flow of travellers that has become a key element in the socio-economic progress of many countries, especially developing countries.

What are tourist flows?

On this basis, tourist flows are the movement of large groups of people from one place to another. Travellers from a given place are referred to as “outbound” travellers and where they go is the “inbound” destination.

For example, if people from different countries travel to Brazil, this would be the inbound destination and we would be talking about a tourist flow to Brazil. But if we talk about travellers from the U.S. travelling to different places in Latin America, Europe or Asia, we are talking about a tourism flow from the U.S, with the U.S. being the outbound hub.

Manuel Gurría Di-Bella in his book “Introduction to Tourism” makes it clear that these tourist hubs are not limited to countries, but can cover different areas in the tourist geography, such as regions, states, cities, etc., depending on the perspective of the person analysing them.

Characteristics of tourism flows

Understanding the characteristics of tourism flows allows authorities and private companies to plan actions and development strategies. The characteristics that define these groups of travellers are the following:

• Outbound hub. As already mentioned, this is where the tourist flow starts from. These are generally countries with a high level of economic development.
• Inbound destination. This is the destination that hosts the tourist flow, which is in continuous development, as it is subject to seasonality or fashion. Within the same destination, services and activities are included to cover different markets.
• Trip duration. Logically, the longer travellers stay at the destination, the greater the economic benefit for the tourist destination.
• Distance. Between the outbound and inbound destinations, those destinations close to large outbound tourist destinations will benefit.
• Means of transport. This allows those who study tourist flows to get an idea of the traveller typology. Likewise, destinations that are more accessible in terms of receiving tourists (highways, air, rail, ship, etc.) will benefit more.
• Motivation. There are many theories about what drives tourists to travel. Epperson identified six driving motives: escape, relaxation, self-discovery, adventure, prestige and challenge; as well as pull factors, which are external to individuals and are usually generated by advertising.

Types of tourist flows

There are existing tourist flows, i.e., those that are well defined and with a relatively stable flow; but there are also potential tourist flows, which are those that arise when the outbound hub acquires a certain level of socioeconomic development, which makes it easier for a certain number of people to travel. On the other hand, from the motivation that drives travellers to travel, two types of tourist flows are generated:

• Instinctive flows. These are flows that are produced by the will to go to a place, without having been induced to do so. For example, because it is already known, because of its proximity or ease of access.
• Induced flows. These are flows generated by the influence of factors such as marketing and advertising.

Studying tourist flows benefits companies

As we have already seen, people’s motives for travelling are varied. In addition, tourist flows are managed by seasonality, for example, in beach destinations, the high season is recorded during the summer, school vacations or in winter, when they receive tourists seeking refuge from the cold climate of their homeland. On the other hand, factors such as age, level of education, socio-cultural stratum, and even the means of transportation used to travel are determining factors in the interest of a group of people to visit a certain place.

Therefore, in order to operate, sell and plan for the future, tourism can make use of statistical data that provide indicators of the tourism generated, as well as permanence, per capita expenditure, room availability, traveller transportation, promotional expenses and direct and indirect employment in the sector, among others.

An in-depth knowledge of the seasonality, motivation and generalised preferences of the market that makes up a tourist flow allows for effective marketing processes. In this way, a destination can attract different segments of the tourism market according to their interests, for example, leisure, business, adventure, religious, cultural, gastronomic, congress and health tourism, among others.By studying these markets, the needs, resources, tastes, behaviours and trends of travellers or prospective travellers are identified. This data is used by government agencies and tourism companies of all kinds in making decisions to capture tourist flows, ranging from planning future developments to the type of tours to offer.