In recent years, as a low-carbon and green tourism method, backpacking tourism with large travel backpack has become more and more popular. The special economic affordability and form of college students, a special consumer group, have made the "backpacking" travel method recognized and adopted by more and more college students.
Backpacker's travel originated in western developed countries. It is different from traditional mass tourism, and it is a rather free travel. Backpackers are so named because they often carry backpacks that are above their heads. They pursue uniqueness, show individuality, and have a soft spot for returning to nature and in-depth experience of tourism. Backpacking is one of the self-guided tours classified by transportation mode (including self-driving tours, bicycle tours, etc.).
To put it simply, backpacking is a very vivid term for self-guided tours, which means that free travelers will carry a large travel laptop backpack with things used during the trip. Travelers arrange transportation and accommodation by themselves. If it is camping, You need to carry related tents, sleeping bags and other items on your back, and you can arrange the itinerary and visit the attractions according to your preferences.
Backpacking is more economical and free compared to travel agencies. There are many self-guided travel websites and forums, and many backpackers will look for relevant information before traveling, arrange the itinerary based on the experience and suggestions of others, and budget for expenses. Many college students advocate freedom and love fashion. Backpacking is the best choice for college students to travel. There are also young people who are already working and go backpacking.
They use backpacks as luggage throughout the trip, economic budget is relatively low, travel schedule is flexible, and they like to make friends and communicate with them on the way. In a short time, college students have developed into the main body of backpacking tours.
The origin of backpackers
Laurie Murphy and Peare's article 《Young budget travelers: Backpackers in Australia》 published in 1995 gave a classic summary of the origin and evolution of backpacking, and it is still the authoritative discussion in this regard. They first put forward the concept of "backpacking tourists" and pointed out that the definition of science should be from a social perspective, not an economic or demographic perspective. In society, there is also a social scale for backpackers. They are mainly: backpackers tend to choose economical accommodation facilities and pay special attention to communication with other backpackers. Has a relatively long travel time and a preference for informal tourism with high participation.
They believe that the tradition of backpacking travel can be traced back to the 17th, the 18th century was popular among European aristocrats in the grand tour with self-education as the main purpose, the 19th century "working holiday" with the main purpose of job training and in Germany in 1896 The youth migratory bird movement, aimed at opposing the repressive life of industrialization, became popular. These three forms of tourism eventually evolved into Youth Tourism and Backpacking that appeared in the 1980s.
Characteristics of backpackers
They believe that the characteristics of backpackers are: preference for cheap food facilities; emphasis on communication with others; independent and flexible travel plans; more informal and participatory activities; emphasis on nature, culture and adventure.
Pryer (1997) and Riley (1998) respectively carried out the behavior characteristics of backpackers on the way. Research shows that backpackers like to bargain and make the best deals. They like the pristine and unspoiled areas and to explore tourist routes myself; They like old equipment and old clothes and travel for a long time and so on. Hampton described backpacking tourism in 1998, pointing out that backpacking requires a large carry on backpack, the means of transportation is by bicycle or local bus, and relying on self-service travel manuals to find cheap hotels. They also call backpackers the "minimum demanders" because they have low requirements for accommodation, catering and transportation compared to mass tourism.