Remember the "What Type of Travleler Survey"? Here (finally) are the results
 

Sorry it took so long. When I started the survey, I thought I'd have time after 4 or 5 days to come back and look at the results. But, real life happened, and I got way too busy to have the time to do this. Today I finally had the time. So, thanks if you participated. Hope peoople find the results somewhat interesting.

As some predicted, this was diffcult to tally because (a) some said the categories were too limited, (b) some just commented without actually categorizing themselves, and (c) some people refused to be categorized. But, there were also those who did fit themselves into a slot, and their votes have been tallied

I did finally have time to read all the posts. If the poster didn't pick a category, then that post wasn't counted. If the poster waffled a bit between categories, then I put them in a category. (Sorry. This may not be scientific, but I never said the survey was going to meet any sort of reliability and/or validity standards.)

So, here are the results as best as I could tell.

ORIGINAL SURVEY QUESTION
Please indicate which category is MOST typically like you.

Category 1 -- I want to travel and keep my costs minimal. I will stay anywhere clean and safe. As far as eating, if need be, I could spend my entire trip eating bread and cheese and apples with an occasional slice of pizza thrown in.

Category 2 – I am typically interested in affordable accommodations such as pensions, 2* hotels, gasthauses. While I want something “nice” and clean, I don’t need amenities or services. I watch my food costs choosing to alternate between picnicking, cafes and inexpensive restaurants. Price of a meal is a part of the decision when picking a place to dine.

Category 3 – I am not comfortable in anything less than a 3* hotel because I feel I need this as a minimal level of services and amenities in my lodging. A nice room to come back to is important to me, and I am willing to pay for one. When dining out I want a good meal, and cost is not my primary concern. I like the experience of having good meals when traveling, and it adds to my overall trip experience.

Category 4 – I feel that for me to be most comfortable, I want a 4* or 5* hotel when I travel. I am a high end diner too. Costs do not really concern me much at all when I travel.


category 1 -- 2 people
category 1.5 -- 5 people
category 2 -- 27 people
category 2.5 -- 17 people
category 3 -- 25 people
category 3.5 -- 6 people
category 4 -- 4 people

So, we do have somewhat of a bell curve here, especially if you clump the 2-3 range together.

I'll admit though, after reading posts here for years, I was a little surprised that there weren't as many 3.5s and 4s as I had thought there would be. The fact that there were very few 1s didn't surprise me at all as usually those who clearly identify themeselves as that category are steered towards Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree forum.

How interesting Julies! I'm definitely a catagory 2 or 2.5 but I also thought there might be more 4s.

Questions and answers are always interesting, but I wouldn't extrapolate too much from the results. Given the Fodors Europe forum membership, the response rate is relatively small, so people already self-selected. I read the choices and didn't respond because I, like others, didn't feel that I fit into one of those categories as written. Thanks for sharing the tally.

I forgot to mention too that I re-discovered that there are a lot of self-identified "foodies" who post here. Some of them say they'll save money on lodging so they can eat well. So, my categories don't work for them.

Hi julies,

I didn't see your original survey but I guess I'd say I'm a 3 sometimes leaning toward a 4 although I have also many times been a 2 when traveling solo. If cost were never an issue, I would always choose a more attractive lodging with good food as I prefer cleanliness, charm and good food when available and I can afford them. I'm not someone who needs or really wants to dine in a fancy restaurant but I do like simple, fresh and very well prepared food. I'll take a bistro over a formal restaurant any day. I also will picnic or skip dinner if I'm too busy enjoying the sights but once a day I like a "local" dining experience as this is part of my love of travel.

I sometimes feel afraid to share my "4" experiences here on Fodor's as so many vocal posters fall in the first 3 categories and tend to think the last 2 categories don't really qualify as "traveling"...so, I just keep those experiences to myself unless someone asks about a specific hotel. I have read many replies on Fodor's to those seeking 4 or 5 star hotels that say "on this board most posters don't go to 4 or 5 star hotels so ask somewhere else" and sometimes this is not said very nicely. I don't judge those who are happy staying in a hostel, nor those who prefer a 5 star. Each experience is interesting to me.

For me, Fodor's is a great place to learn about the other parts of travel - hidden treasures, unique or special art museums, natural beauty, casual but good dining, one city over another, good itineraries, experiences with friends and family (trip reports) etc.

Thanks for sharing your results.

gruezi

99+% of Fodors Europe-forum posters didn't respond to the original thread. So all you really have is some anecdotal info . . . . .

There must have been a LOT of people who did not fit into the categories. That's only 86 people in the total above, but there are 184 replies to the thread. Plus I'm sure there are thousands of people who post here on Fodor's, not a couple hundred.

> 99+% of Fodors Europe-forum posters didn't respond to the original thread. <

Janice: I'm curious - does anyone know just how many Europe-forum posters there actually are?

no - because fodors only has totals for folks who are registered - and there is a lot of cross-pollination on all the forums. But at one time it was well over 50,000, so probably more now.

I think many people hear the voices of people who are different from them more loudly than the voices of those who are similar. Frequently I see comments here about how a poster is a budget traveler but that most posts here seem to be about higher priced styles of travel. Or the converse: the poster stays at upscale accommodations but feels that most of the people write here about budget trips.

When I saw this survey, I had the feeling that the results would be a surprise to those who imagined the typical style was more (or less) expensive than it turns out to be. I had the feeling that julies expected to find a higher priced consensus, and her reaction to these results confirms that.

So while this obviously does not purport to be thorough or scientific, I believe it does serve the purpose of showing that there is a wide variety of travel styles represented here.

I don't see a way to figure it out, but I would be sort of curious what the median accommodation price point is. People do visit all sorts of regions with all sorts of different prices, of course.

If I had to guess, just from reading lots of posts, I think the average accommodation price point for people on this board is about 130 Euros per night for a double room with breakfast (so just under $200 USD per night).

My average price point is probably about 70 Euros per night for a double room with breakfast (so around $100 USD per night).

I am wondering now if the 130 Euros per night guess is too low.

Any other wild guesses on median accommodation prices?

ttt (because people are looking for the results on the original thread)

WillTravel, I was thinking just the same ! The survey asked about categories and hotels stars but not about money..and both things are not always related.
My average is about 80 euros/night and I also guessed that the average here is between 130-150 euros (around $200). But lately , I've seen lots of posts talking about more expensive hotels.
If we talk about food then the category and the price are not so different. And yes, there are a lot of foodies here !

Hmmmm... so the responses were fairly normally distributed. That is important information, julies, and will be of great utility to Forum denizens. Next time you want to attend a GTG and your SO says "how do you know they aren't a bunch of ax murderers?" you can honestly respond that research shows we are actually a pretty normal bunch. ;-)

Well, I think Seamus's response is really the only useful bit of info related to this thread. I though the "survey" itself was pretty useless, as I didn't fit into any of the categories.

I still fail to see why this is useful information. Or how it will change anything related to how we ask and answer questions on this forum.

StCirq wrote: "I still fail to see why this is useful information. Or how it will change anything related to how we ask and answer questions on this forum."

We need a new rule: every post should include the contributor's "julies's category". It will enable the reader to judge how to interpret the post. A type one answer on opening hours in the Louvre might be different from a type 3 answer.

LOL, Padraig !!

Well, I am glad this survey got some interesting results although i can see how the wording of the questionscould bias it but no matter, it was a lot of work and certainly appreciated.

A big THANK YOU for NOT doing a survey about tipping, especially in Ireland where if you do so it spoils the populace for life!

Dukey is a category 5 tipper.

Possibly an explaination for the figures is the demographics of Fodorites.

If one were in the 5* category, one wouldn't be seeking advice here - people can be paid to do that for you.
Best tour guide for ...... No problem , just pick the most expensive.

Similarly the 1* people are likely to be on backpacker sites.