Während Australien mitten im Winter steckt, der immer wieder aufs Neue das Gemüt trübt, haben Forscher der Swinburne University in Melbourne herausgefunden, dass die von außen wahrgenommene Lebensfreude einer Nation ein wichtiger Faktor für den Tourismus sein kann.
Laut Dr Reza Tajaddini, Dr Hassan Gholipour und Dr Jeremy Nguyen ist es demzufolge vorteilhaft, wenn im Tourismusmarketing die Fröhlichkeit der Einwohner, zusammen mit den kulturellen Traditionen und Besucherstätten, hervorgehoben wird.
In den vergangen Jahren haben bereits viele Länder Tourismuskampagnen gestartet, in denen sie besonders auf die gelebte Fröhlichkeit in ihrem Land hinweisen. Denn manchmal geht es im Urlaub nicht nur darum, mehr Sonne zu sehen, sondern auch mehr freundliche, lächelnde Gesichter, sagt Dr. Tajaddini. So lautet ein Slogan einer Marketingkampagne beispielsweise: „Fiji – where happiness finds you“.
Zwar ist Lebensfreude ein immaterieller Wert, doch Dr Gholipour betont, dass Länder dennoch einen ökonomischen Vorteil daraus ziehen können, wenn die Lebensfreude einer Nation Teil des Marketingplans wird und als besonderer Aspekt verwaltet und vermarktet wird, so dass Einheimische ihre Freude mit internationalen Gästen teilen können.
Umgekehrt bedeutet dies natürlich auch, dass Regierungen weiter in positive Lebensumstände investieren sollten, um durch die Lebensfreude der Einwohner, mehr Touristen anziehen zu können und dadurch beide Seiten von dieser Strategie profitieren, sagt Dr Nguyen.
Unter den fröhlichsten Nationen befinden sich, laut des Forschungsprojekts, übrigens Mexiko, Kolumbien, Qatar, Ecuador, Uzbekistan, Neuseeland und Schweden.
Pressemitteilung der Swinburne University of Technology
Happiness attracts tourists
In the middle of winter, just as we’re all thinking about a holiday, Swinburne researchers have revealed a nation’s perceived happiness can be an asset that attracts tourists.
Finance lecturer Dr Reza Tajaddini and Economics lecturers Dr Hassan F Gholipour and Dr Jeremy Nguyen, say their research was the first to propose that tourists may travel to sites of greater ‘happiness’ and to investigate the relationship between happiness and inbound tourism.
The researchers say their work has implications for tourism marketing and shows the benefit of emphasising the happiness characteristics of destinations, alongside traditional cultural and heritage attractions.
“In recent years, many countries have launched tourism campaigns focusing on happiness in their countries,” Dr Tajaddini says. “Sometimes a holiday isn't just getting to see more sunshine; it's about getting to see more sunny smiles.”
Fiji tourism authorities employed a global campaign ‘Fiji-where happiness finds you’; and Bhutan, Thailand and Costa Rica have also used happiness campaigns to promote their tourism industries.
To define happiness, the research team used a large, multi-country database from the World Values Survey (WVS), a global research project that has explored international values and beliefs for more than three decades.
The researchers measured tourism revenue to 63 countries, taking into account heritage sites and natural attractions, finding that perceived political stability and an absence of violence influenced traveller’s decisions.
They also studied tourism arrivals and matched this data with happiness data, to show that a nation’s happiness may be an asset capable of attracting international visitors, in addition to its traditional tourism assets.
Happiness is an intangible tourism asset
Dr Gholipour says: “Happier countries may be able to attain economic benefits by recognising population happiness as an intangible asset that can be managed and marketed, sharing local people’s happiness with international visitors.”
Dr Nguyen says the results suggest that international tourists prefer to travel to, and spend more time in, happier countries.
“If national happiness is viewed as an intangible asset that affects tourism positively, then recent interests in national happiness and wellbeing by political leaders and economists have clear implications for the management of this asset for which tourism industries are a stakeholder,” Dr Nguyen says.
"For most tourists, it's not just the sights and the weather; it's also the mood of the people around you,” he says.
The happiest nations on the planet, according to the research, are: Mexico, Colombia, Qatar, Ecuador, Uzbekistan, New Zealand, and Sweden. Get ready to book your flights.
This research has been published in the Annals of Tourism Research.