France always appears in the top 10 countries with the largest number of visitors to Vietnam. Understanding the psychological characteristics of French tourists helps tourists to fully exploit the potential of this group of tourists.
According to data from the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, in March 2020, the number of French tourists to Vietnam was 17,121 out of a total of 162,165 visitors from Europe – ranking third, after Russia and the UK respectively. Calculated in the first 3 months of 2020 under the influence of Covid-19, the number of visitors from this country to Vietnam has decreased by only 14.7% over the same period in 2019. Understanding the psychological characteristics of tourists France is the key to bringing the tourism industry closer to success, becoming more prosperous.
1) The French like complicated things
In a political debate on French television, it was once said “In France, simplify things, but it is complicated to simplify them”. According to The Economist, the French tax system is ‘horribly complicated’.
2) The French are more theoretical
They prefer rhetoric, abstraction and ideas over facts and practical thinking.
The French have an indulgent lifestyle but complain a lot. Photo: @hanae_hmt
3) Love of beauty – remarkable French tourist’s psychological characteristics
According to Lucy Wadham (author of The Secret Life of France): “Paris is all about aesthetics. Commerciality, prosperity, a productive lifestyle – are secondary. Plastic surgery is popular in France. five times more than in the UK”.
- Aesthetic is one of the deepest French values. Beauty, elegance and charm are an obsession of the people in this place. People have to be beautiful to be appreciated in France, yet appearances can be heard through the ears of the British.
- The French prioritize design over practicality. They like to innovate for the sake of creativity, even when there is no real need for it. This is a psychological feature of French tourists that restaurants, hotels … should pay attention to to invest in the scale of design, decoration, and style at their premises so that they are beautiful and unique. high aesthetic.
Aesthetics are highly appreciated by the French. Photo: @roberto_sanchez_95
3) The French make quick decisions but often rethink them
The French usually make a quick decision, however, they will consider revising it later. This psychological feature will affect the process, the policy of booking tours, booking hotel rooms..
4) Some other psychological characteristics
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The trait “râleur” (Grunk mentality)
Râleur is a difficult term to translate because it does not exist in Québec French – the common language in France, roughly translated as “complaining about all and everything innocuously”.
André Gide, the French writer who received the Nobel Prize in Literature, said that “the French are Italians with a bad mood”. Photo: @iza_2402
A popular weekly debate program (called “Ça se discute”) on a French TV channel with the theme “Why do the French have such a bad reputation abroad?” The participants included three Americans, one Irish, one Polish, one Afghan and one Québecois. All live in France or are French living abroad.
They agree that the main defects of the French are:
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Arrogant about his country and culture
This is especially true of Parisians. Many people tend to confuse people living in Paris in particular with all French. However, even the French themselves agree that Parisians are much more arrogant and nasty than average.
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Doesn’t respect rules and laws very much
The debaters mention that when a new law is passed, the average French person determines whether they are reasonable enough to respect it.
Especially English. More specifically, French people tend to be unfriendly to people who don’t try to speak French
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Have a relaxed, relaxed mentality (different from the punctuality of the Germans)
French tourists respect time to rest and relax and tend to do poetic, elegant activities that help them enjoy life. Therefore, they will be more comfortable and open to visits to famous cities for art and museums, places with beautiful, fresh natural scenes…
Disturbing/contacting them too early in the day, lunch break, after work… will upset them.
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Be open about emotional issues
The French are much more open about sex than the Americans. People are not ashamed to speak openly about it. French men are also more likely to flirt with anyone on the street, and are generally not afraid of being rejected or “losing” (not afraid of being a ‘loser’ like in the US, or ‘losing face’ like in East Asia).
The psychological characteristics of French tourists is a factor that needs to be understood to give them a great travel experience in Vietnam, increasing the number of visitors from this country. Photo: @sunflowr21
Understanding the psychological characteristics of French tourists mentioned above, human resources in the tourism industry in general and the accommodation industry in particular need to have appropriate policies/methods to treat French tourists to enhance the experience of tourists. surname.
Why study Tourist Psychology in tourism business?
Due to the unique characteristics of tourism activities, from the perspective of tourism service providers, the study and application of tourist psychology in tourism business has the following benefits:
– The study of tourist psychology helps those serving in the tourism industry to adjust their behavior to suit the psychological and behavioral characteristics of tourists, thereby bringing highest visitor satisfaction.
– The study of tourist psychology also helps tourism entrepreneurs to create and develop more tourism products that can meet the diverse needs and tastes of tourists.
– In addition, understanding the psychology of tourists helps tourism businessmen, tourism service staff…
Understand a part of the common psychology of the waiters so that they can take appropriate measures, overcome and improve their professional capacity, communication ability and practice the necessary qualities to self-regulate their minds. and their behavior in the process of serving tourists.
Thus, it can be seen that psychological phenomena in general and psychosocial phenomena of tourists in particular have certain influences on tourism activities.
Therefore, these psychological phenomena must be studied, considered and applied in business practice to maximize service quality and visitor satisfaction.
Reference and translation from:
- Data from Vietnam National Administration of Tourism
- Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, Project to promote attraction of French tourists to Vietnam in the period 2012 – 2015, June 2012.
- Eupedia: What makes French people compared to typically French?
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