Business
Traveler 1: Does not use guides when he travels. His
office makes travel arrangements for him and he is either
entertained by the people he is meeting with at his destination
or they help him to plan leisure activities once he arrives.
He thinks he would be interested in cultural background,
language and customs prior to traveling to a foreign culture,
but has never made such a trip and so did not know specifically
what his needs would be in that situation.
Business
Traveler 2: Makes many of her plans ahead of time,
usually a hotel reservation and perhaps a business dinner
or two. Needs information such as how to get to and from
the airport. Would also like to have an idea of travel
time between two points. Relies heavily on the hotel concierge
for information on what's available in the neighborhood.
Has also called them for suggestions on arranging business
events (ex. arranging for a restaurant) before arriving.
The concierge can let you know what's 'cool' and will
impress clients. She needs to know what facilities hotels
and restaurants offer (i.e. meeting rooms). If she has
a few hours free, she likes limited information on what's
best to see in the city, for example, on a trip to Minneapolis
she was pleased to have a free afternoon to visit the
Walker Art Center (actually she wanted to see the Mall
of America but discovered it was too far out of town).
Also wants restaurant or shopping information on the neighborhood
where the conference or event is located, to while away
a free hour or two.
Adventure
Traveler: She's interested in travelling to out-of-the-way
places where there aren't alot of other travellers, and
to places that have activities she enjoys (diving, sea
kayaking). Flexibility ("serendipity") in travel is important.
Physical weight is a big issue with her style of travel,
both as a result of carrying luggage for long distances
in addition to the mode of travel (often by courier flight
where luggage weight is restricted). She does lots of
research in advance of her trip (online, using libraries,
and purchased guides). She needs information about the
destination and local culture & customs, CDC/health
requirements, visa regulations, the political & economic
situation, and seasonal weather. She brings along only
the information necessary, piecing together a minimalist
guide full of tape-flags, highlighting, writing in the
margins, and photocopy-reduced, taped-in pages. She carries
her guides with her at all times on the road ("You
never know when you need the number of the consulate.").
Once she's in a particular region, she goes to that section
of the guide to check out the "must see's" and prioritizes
based on her interests, the guide's and other recommendations
she's gotten, the weather, and how long she has in that
region (for example, if she's planning to meet up with
others later). She makes her day-to-day travel arrangements
on a day-to-day basis. She doesn't currently travel with
her PDA ("I've never had a need for it") but would definitely
consider it if it meant losing the weight of the guidebook
from her pack.
