Types of Tourists: Which One Are You—Today?
I can usually spot a few of these travellers in my own family. On the right day, I can spot two or three in myself.
Put my friends and family on the same holiday and, by lunchtime, I’d need a search party. And probably a therapist.
One would be halfway up a mountain. Another would have found a quiet café and developed a meaningful relationship with the cake menu. Someone else would be asking whether we could please stop looking at old buildings.
That’s the trouble with choosing a holiday because everybody says it’s wonderful. Wonderful for whom?
These types of tourists are familiar characters rather than fixed personality labels. You might recognise yourself in several. Your travel type can change with your company, your energy and how well you slept. Sometimes all it takes is lunch.
Same planet. Very different holidays.
My friend Johnno has always had an impressive appetite for activities that make me check where the nearest hospital is. Cassandra, meanwhile, would be happier finding somewhere quiet, close to nature and preferably playing music from a slightly earlier era.
I can picture her taking the scenic route in a VW van. Neither of them needs the other’s holiday. They need a trip that fits.
Meet the travellers
AdventurerThrill SeekerHappily Unhurried TouristCulture SeekerFood TouristHeritage TouristNature LoverResourceful Budget TravellerGeek TouristBusiness-and-a-Bit-More TouristEco TouristEvent TouristReligious TouristLeisure TouristMedical TouristWar TouristShark TouristFertility TouristDark Tourist#Me Tourist
The Adventurer
“I haven’t done that before.”
This can be anything, really. Going to a place like Morocco and living in the Medina – now that’s an adventure. I did that in 2017. What an incredible experience! So much foreign to the home and European culture I knew.
Other ideas of adventure travel may include – A safari in Africa, ballooning over Turkey, scuba diving in the Maldives, cruising to Antarctica, travels to Iceland or Greenland….It really doesn’t have to be life-threatening to be an adventure.
Exploration is the key, discovering new things that might stretch you a little more than the norm.
To me, an adventure is simply interesting places to see outside of my comfort zone
The Thrill Seeker
“How high is it—and can I jump?”
Thrill seeker
Like my friend Johnno, you just may be the type to walk the fine line to feel alive. Well, the world is full of the tame and the dangerous grading of adrenaline travel. Tandem skydiving over Cozumel was my one–and- only dip into the dangerous currents of the adrenaline world. Strapped with a small Mexican on my back, I plummeted to earth at terminal velocity and tried to enjoy the experience.
All the skydiver ever said to me was “Relaxxx…it ees going too beee fine. Comprende?” He was yelling stuff at 10 000, 9 000, 8000 feet but I could not hear a thing.
The one thing I was fixated on was “What if this guy blacks out or has a heart attack…I’m roadkill.” Am I pleased I did it? Sure. Would I do it again? No chance!
But I’m chicken on things I have no control over – like hurtling to earth with a yelling Mexican strapped to my back.
Of course, there are a great many crazy things you can select to do.
Heli-Skiing in Alaska, Canyon jumping someplace…(when you wear a bird suit and fly ) White water rafting, Cave Diving…..and so much more. Choose your poison and off you go.
The Happily Unhurried Tourist
“Must we actually do anything today?”
The first thing that may spring to mind is a luxury spa facility with head, body and foot massages, meditation, yoga, healthy food and crisp mountain air to breathe. Why not? For the hardworking executive or stay at home mum or dad, this is really a great self-reward.
Getting to do a lot of nothing other than being pampered or pursuing inner peace is awesome. But it could also extend beyond the obvious. Some people opt to just do the thing that they love.
Their total chill-out is following their passion in an environment that is relaxing to them. This is their specific places of interest and would not be found in some travelogue.
Some go to Paris and hire a studio to paint, others go to Italy and live on an olive farm while they write.
There was a guy I met who was a pigeon enthusiast. For him, the ultimate relaxation was going to the pigeon shows held in the UK. That was his chill. Whatever helps you unwind, choose an environment that matches.
The Culture Seeker
“Yes, but what does it mean?”
Cultural travel is about getting into a place and making more of it: paying attention to the details, listening to people and looking beyond the view through a camera.
It’s the museums, art, music, food and local customs. I particularly love this kind of travel. A conversation or a small-town festival can tell you something a famous landmark cannot.
However, you don’t have to pretend you’ve become a local overnight. Be curious, learn a few words and follow your hosts’ lead. Listening belongs in the itinerary too.
The Food Tourist
“We can discuss the itinerary after breakfast.”
Foodie travel is a big thing these days. If you like the food and drink aspect of travel, you’ll certainly love doing a foodie package or creating one for yourself.
This can involve just simply going to local restaurants and tasting the dishes of the region whilst drinking the local wine. It can be more than just a restaurant visit.
Trying out the street food is a big attraction to the real food tourist. You can go on cookery lessons, learning how to prepare that ultimate regions dish, go to the factories and the bakeries where all the delicious fare is prepared. There are endless joys to be had for the gastronomic enthusiast.
The Heritage Tourist
“Someone stood here before me.”
Perhaps you’re travelling to trace your family roots. Perhaps you want to understand the history and origins of a place. Either way, the past gives your journey its depth.
Old streets, archaeological sites, family records and historic buildings can all become reasons to linger. You want to know who was here, how they lived and what remains of their story.
However, even a keen history lover has limits. Choose the stories that interest you. You don’t owe every monument a visit, and six churches before lunch can test a perfectly good relationship.
The Nature Lover
“Can we stay here a little longer?”
Nature travel might mean camping, walking, whale watching or simply sitting somewhere quiet enough to hear what is going on around you.
It rewards patience and a certain stillness. As a South African, I have a particular weakness for watching the sea around Hermanus. But your place might be a forest, a mountain or a patch of coastline with nobody scheduling your next activity.
My take? Give wildlife space, follow local guidance and leave time to look. The natural world hasn’t agreed to your timetable.
The Resourceful Budget Traveller
“I’d rather spend another week here.”
Touring el cheapo style? Perhaps. But a modest budget doesn’t mean you’ve volunteered for dirty rooms and misery as a character-building exercise.
Hostels, simple guesthouses, self-catering and public transport can make a longer trip possible. You may happily trade room service for more time on the road. Someone else will want a private bathroom and a very quiet night.
First, work out which comforts matter to you. Then save on the ones you won’t miss. Clean, simple and well located can be an excellent combination.
The Geek Tourist
“There’s an entire museum for this?”
Geeky and proud of it. Gaming, science, trains, books or film locations can provide a perfectly good reason for a journey.
I rather admire people who know exactly what excites them. Why should someone else’s fascination with a cathedral be more respectable than yours with a railway engine?
Follow the interest. Just allow your travelling companion an occasional change of subject.
The Business-and-a-Bit-More Tourist
“Since I’m already here…”
The meetings brought you. A free afternoon or a weekend might persuade you to stay. Combining work travel with leisure time is often called bleisure, or sometimes a bizcation.
Whatever you call it, there’s pleasure in seeing something beyond the airport, hotel and conference room. A partner might join you, or you might finally explore the city you’ve visited six times without actually seeing.
First, agree the work arrangements and who pays for what. Then make some time for the place itself.
The Eco Tourist
“What am I leaving behind?”
You want the journey to sit comfortably with your concern for the environment and the people who live in the places you visit.
That may shape your transport, accommodation and activities. It can also mean choosing local experiences and asking questions about the promises behind a “green” label.
You don’t need an electric car and solar panels at home to start thinking about your impact. Nor does a worthy-sounding name answer every question.
The related voluntourist gives time to a project while travelling. Here too, the useful question is what the community actually needs, rather than what makes the visitor feel helpful.
The Event Tourist
“I’m going. The tickets are booked.”
A concert, festival, exhibition or sporting event can become the whole reason for travelling. The destination follows the occasion.
Some event tourists plan months ahead. Others spot a performance and start looking for a train. Either way, this is a traveller with a mission.
However, leave a little room around the main event. You’ve gone all that way; there may be something worth discovering after the final whistle or encore.
The Religious Tourist
“This journey means something to me.”
For some travellers, faith shapes the reason for going. A pilgrimage, a sacred site, a festival or a visit to a place connected with their beliefs gives the journey its purpose.
That is different from popping into a cathedral because it happens to be near lunch. The same building can mean very different things to the people standing inside it.
Whether you share the faith or are visiting out of interest, respect the people worshipping there and follow the guidance for visitors.
The Leisure Tourist
“I’m on holiday. That’s enough of a reason.”
This is the broad umbrella under which many of us sit. You want a break from everyday life: something enjoyable, somewhere different and perhaps fewer responsibilities for a while.
Food, culture, heritage and nature might all join the menu. Or your great ambition may be a comfortable chair and a book you’ve been trying to finish since February.
A resort, a B&B, a camping trip or a week with friends can all fit. You don’t need a specialist label to justify enjoying yourself.
The Medical Tourist
A journey with a different purpose.
Some journeys begin with a health need or a treatment decision rather than a wish for a holiday. That belongs in this overview too, although it calls for a different tone from the jokes about lunch and luggage.
Medical travel deserves its own careful discussion. A tourist-type label cannot tell you whether a treatment, clinic or journey is suitable for you.
I would keep the travel brochure and the clinical decision in separate piles. This section is an introduction to the term, not a recommendation of a procedure or destination.
The unusual—and sometimes misunderstood—types
Some travel interests are wonderfully specific. Others come from circumstances rather than a holiday wish list. They belong in the picture too, but the serious journeys deserve a different tone from the jokes.
The War Tourist
There is a serious distinction here.
Interest in military history can lead people to battlefields, museums and memorials. Visiting those places can be a way to understand events that shaped the lives of others.
Seeking out an active conflict is a very different proposition. I wouldn’t present a war zone as the next level of adventure tourism. Real people’s suffering is not a spectator attraction.
The distinction matters: learning about a past conflict and travelling towards a present one should never be treated as the same holiday idea.
The Shark Tourist
“I’d like to see what’s beneath the surface.”
For this traveller, sharks are the reason to go. A glimpse of an animal in its own environment may matter more than anything else on the itinerary.
The original picture of this type was the cage diver hoping to meet a great white. However, the interest is broader than one species or one kind of encounter.
I wouldn’t make a blanket promise about safety or conservation. The operator, activity and treatment of wildlife deserve proper questions. Curiosity is a good starting point; a dramatic photograph is not the whole story.
The Fertility Tourist
A personal journey, not a punchline.
People may travel in connection with fertility treatment. It is part of the wider conversation about medical travel, but the hopes and circumstances involved are deeply personal.
This was grouped among the “weird” types in the original article. On reflection, unusual to an onlooker does not make someone else’s family plans bizarre.
The term belongs in the overview. Speculation about motives, blanket legal assurances and jokes about “designer children” do not help explain it.
The Dark Tourist
“I want to understand what happened here.”
Some journeys take us to places associated with death, tragedy or suffering. The motive may be remembrance, historical interest or a wish to understand something difficult.
That deserves more care than simply calling the visitor macabre. A memorial is not the same experience as a ghost tour, even if both sometimes appear under a broad tourism label.
There is also the lighter, spooky end: legends, haunted buildings and Dracula stories. My rule is to recognise the difference between entertainment and a place where people are grieving.
For a personal encounter with that mix of history, remembrance and local legends, read Willow and the Ghosts of Crete—my week exploring a different side of the island with an unforgettable travelling companion.
The #Me Tourist
“Lovely view. Could you take one more?”
You know the scene: a magnificent landmark, a carefully chosen angle and a face doing something that no face does during an ordinary conversation.
The photograph becomes an event in its own right. The background is important, but mainly because it confirms where the person in the foreground has been.
I’m not pinning this on one generation. Plenty of us can turn “just one photo” into a small production.
Take the picture. Then put the phone away for a moment and enjoy the place you’ve come to see. It looks rather good without your head in the middle.
Most of us are a mixture
You can love a museum in the morning, become a committed food tourist at lunch and spend the afternoon doing absolutely nothing.
The useful question is what you—and the people travelling with you—want from this particular trip. Before booking, compare notes. One person’s perfect day may be another person’s endurance test.
Choose the holiday that fits your interests, budget and appetite for activity. Then leave enough room to surprise yourself.
Explore different ways to travel · More about adventure tourism
Plan a trip that fits you
- Pick one thing you’d be disappointed to miss. If you’re travelling together, let each person choose one. A market, a long walk and an afternoon by the pool all count.
- Compare your ideal days before booking. How early do you want to start? How much walking feels right? How many things do you actually want to fit in?
- Build in room to split up. One of you can do the museum while the other finds a café. Meet for lunch and compare notes. You’ll have more to talk about.
Which tourist travels with you?
Recognise yourself—or someone you share a suitcase argument with? Tell me which types fit you, and which combination makes for your happiest holiday.