Long queues for the Vatican City, huge crowds to catch a glimpse of the Mona Lisa and crowds for a photo of the world-famous sunset on the Greek island of Santorini. The vast majority of holidaymakers prefer to avoid these busy tourist places, but nevertheless visit them anyway. This is apparent from a recent Zoover survey among more than 2,000 respondents.
It was investigated whether and why holidaymakers visit tourist destinations. The conclusion is striking:no less than two thirds of the respondents prefer to avoid busy tourist places, but that does not stop them from visiting those places. The reason they still join the long lines or the crowds for a local attraction? Especially because the place has historical or cultural value and because they still want to have been there once.
The reason that holidaymakers visit the touristic highlights differs per age group. For example, for 64 percent of holidaymakers between the ages of 18 and 24 it is important to be able to say that they have been to the place; while this only applies to 40 percent of 65-74 year-olds. They go because of the historical or cultural value of the place. It is striking that compared to other age groups, seniors most often visit touristic places so that they can participate in discussions with others.
Sharing photos on social media has become an important part of the holiday. This is especially true for young people. The older we get, the less we enjoy sharing holiday photos on social media. There are also differences between men and women:women find it significantly more fun than men to share their holiday snaps with their followers (31% vs. 24%). Furthermore, more than one fifth of the Dutch admit that they sometimes forget to enjoy the holiday because they are too busy taking pictures.
