What kind of traveler are you?
According to Tourism Canada, I am an “Authentic Experiencer.” This means I am spontaneous, ethical, independent and curious. I am most likely to be seen at nature reserves and campsites, and I value learning, cultural immersion, and personal development. According to my tourism professor, this means I am likely to immerse myself in local culture, explore using all the senses (whatever that means?) and travel for longer periods rather than short breaks; which means I am the industry’s favourite type of traveler! Longer travel = more money spent…
This label is called an “explorer quotient” and it is a way to group people together using not only demographics but also their personality and social values. I was introduced to this last week in GEG3320: The Geography of Tourism. I think the quiz works very well and could be a very useful tool for matching customers with services. I loved the wording in some of the questions, like asking how important it is to be able to brag about your experiences once you get home – smart! I found the results to be extremely accurate. Sure, I also share a lot of values with the “cultural explorer,” but the authentic is pinpointing the part of me that wants to be out in nature. It managed to peg something really specific without actually asking this anywhere in the questions: “authentic explorers will only join a group tour if it’s the only way they access a place they want explore.”
When I travel, I don’t want to be part of the group on a whirlwind visit; I want to find what is interesting to me and spend lots of time there. Which is how I managed to visit only 5 countries in 3 months of backpacking Europe after 6 months of living in Scotland (see here… well kind of, I gave up blogging after a while). I want to find that confused place, when you’re over the culture shock, that sense of wait, where is home again? Do I even have a home? Can Earth be my home?
So, what kind of traveler are you? Maybe you are a personal history explorer who likes finding out where their roots are. Maybe you are a free spirit and can’t wait to share new experiences with lots of friends, or maybe you are a rejuvenator who likes a vacation to just be a vacation: perfect and relaxing. You can find out by taking the EQ quiz online, or maybe you just want to read through the different explorer types.
Let me know – I’m curious to see if others find this quiz as accurate as I did.
