People-First Tourism Lab Blog

    The American Express Travel 2023 Global Travel Trends Report summarizes new evidence that tourists are increasingly seeking vacations that provide them with genuine experiences with locals, enrich their lives through cultural immersion, and have positive impacts in the communities they visit.  For example, on page 3, the report indicates that 83% of the AmEx study participants (8,000 tourists from the US and 7 other countries) agreed that they want to visit destinations where they can truly  experience the local culture , and 60% want to   walk with locals to find hidden gems .  On page 4, the report indicates that 46% of study participants expressed high interest in booking cooking classes to   experience the local culture   more intimately.  And on page 5, the report indicates that the top three reasons to travel are:   gaining new experiences   (60%),   escaping the routine   (58%), and   spending time with people   (45%).   The report can be accessed here .     These findings m

  Duarte:   In P1tLab we do not study tourist behavior; however, we work with microentrepreneurs in co-designing their experiences and therefore we need to have some insight into the drivers of visitor and resident behavior.   Additionally, due to our participatory action research approach, we have been partnering with microentrepreneurs for a decade in marketing their experiences. As a result we have developed some market insights from our in-person interactions and online feedback gathering with the people that participate in P1t experiences. Today I thought it would be interesting to explore AI’s opinion on this topic: Hello…   Can you explain why tourists might be motivated to seek genuine experiences offered by local microentrepreneurs from the destination communities they visit? ChatGPT: Of course!  Tourists are often drawn to seek genuine experiences offered by local microentrepreneurs because these experiences provide a deeper and more authentic connection to the

Duarte: As a follow-up of the earlier response, I thought I’d examine AI's insights into innovation: Hello.   You said that tourism microentrepreneurs are innovative.   Can you contrast the way in which tourism microentrepreneurs and larger entrepreneurs are innovative? ChatGPT:   Certainly! While both tourism microentrepreneurs and larger entrepreneurs can exhibit innovation, there are some contrasts in the way they approach and demonstrate innovation: 1.     Scale of Innovation: Larger entrepreneurs often have more resources, funding, and infrastructure at their disposal. They may engage in disruptive innovations that fundamentally change the industry or introduce major technological advancements. These innovations can have a broader impact on the market and attract significant attention. On the other hand, tourism microentrepreneurs may focus on incremental or niche innovations that cater to specific segments or local markets. Their innovations might be more loca