Testing the Hypothesis - Part 2
Anthony Carpin (sophomore): Anthony was an example of a person who likes to travel with groups of friends he is already familiar with. He said he would be interested in a cultural experience but didn't like the sound of going to live with others that he didn't know. He said he would feel uncomfortable, especially if its a vastly different culture he isn't used to.
Sam Woods (Junior): Sam just stated he is comfortable living the lifestyle he lives and is aware off (has never left the US) and doesn't feel the need to expand his cultural learning. He said that the United States has the best culture and the best lifestyle so why would he ever want to leave. This made me realize that the need I identified (to gain real cultural experience) doesn't apply to everyone.
Chris Cummings (sophomore): Chris said that he would be open to doing something like that but doesn't have the money. After asking how much it would cost, I said probably around $2000 for the plane, accommodation and entertainment. This made me realize that only wealthy people can afford this service. Which means my marketing strategy would ensure to provide quality. Because if the people buying the service are wealthy, it would be beneficial to choose fun events and make it a little more pricy than proving a cheaper service that might not be as fun.
Kyle Kowalski (senior): Kyle said if he would travel to a country he would rather do touristy attractions instead of interacting with locals and getting what I would call the complete experience. This challenged my hypothesis that stated that young people wanted a 'real' cultural experience. Kyle is proof that not all people want to learn about other cultures' perspectives and lifestyles. Some are fine with scanning the surface.
Olivia Menze (Junior): Olivia said she would not want to do a program like that because of safety. She wouldn't want to trust a third party handling her vacation and would rather go with her family or have it arranged by an established institution like UF.
Inside The Boundary Outside the Boundary
Young people that want to expand their Those that cannot afford the service,those who like
cultural learning and want to immerse to travel in groups, those who don't want to
themselves in another culture. experience other cultures, those who like to travel
The need to experience something as a tourist and those who don't want to use a
different than what they know, third party to arrange their vacation.
and thus learn more about themselves
The need exists because experiences are
valued highly amongst young people
especially before they get married and
have kids.
Sam Woods (Junior): Sam just stated he is comfortable living the lifestyle he lives and is aware off (has never left the US) and doesn't feel the need to expand his cultural learning. He said that the United States has the best culture and the best lifestyle so why would he ever want to leave. This made me realize that the need I identified (to gain real cultural experience) doesn't apply to everyone.
Chris Cummings (sophomore): Chris said that he would be open to doing something like that but doesn't have the money. After asking how much it would cost, I said probably around $2000 for the plane, accommodation and entertainment. This made me realize that only wealthy people can afford this service. Which means my marketing strategy would ensure to provide quality. Because if the people buying the service are wealthy, it would be beneficial to choose fun events and make it a little more pricy than proving a cheaper service that might not be as fun.
Kyle Kowalski (senior): Kyle said if he would travel to a country he would rather do touristy attractions instead of interacting with locals and getting what I would call the complete experience. This challenged my hypothesis that stated that young people wanted a 'real' cultural experience. Kyle is proof that not all people want to learn about other cultures' perspectives and lifestyles. Some are fine with scanning the surface.
Olivia Menze (Junior): Olivia said she would not want to do a program like that because of safety. She wouldn't want to trust a third party handling her vacation and would rather go with her family or have it arranged by an established institution like UF.
Inside The Boundary Outside the Boundary
Young people that want to expand their Those that cannot afford the service,those who like
cultural learning and want to immerse to travel in groups, those who don't want to
themselves in another culture. experience other cultures, those who like to travel
The need to experience something as a tourist and those who don't want to use a
different than what they know, third party to arrange their vacation.
and thus learn more about themselves
The need exists because experiences are
valued highly amongst young people
especially before they get married and
have kids.
Hi Justin,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading about the people who did not fit within the boundary of your idea. Luckily, I do not think that these individuals represent the majority of individuals as I think that many people would love to travel and gain insight about the local culture as that is typically harder to do when traveling abroad. However, there are obviously always going to be people who either feel uncomfortable traveling abroad, have no desire to experience other cultures, or simply want the typical tourist experience rather than to spend time with locals. I think that many people are willing to/try to rent out their house to foreigners while they travel on their own but they simply do not know how to go about finding someone to rent their house, and your service would make that network much easier to operate in.
Hey Justin,
ReplyDeleteYou did a really great job with establishing who was inside and outside the boundaries of your opportunity. Personally, I think that being able to travel and visit countries to experience other cultures would be super cool, but like you found, not everyone is up for it. I think you have the opportunity to tailor different travel packages based on what people can afford and how much they want their travel/vacation dictated by a third party.
Hey Justin,
ReplyDeleteI think you did an extraordinary job expanding on your hypothesis about your opportunity in part one of the assignments. Overall, the individuals that you interviewed provided great insight about the need for such a program. As great of an idea that you have and as beneficial as it can be, there are definitely going to be a lot of individuals that fall outside of the boundary for your program due to the expensive cost of traveling across the globe. Overall, great ideas though!