Improving the tourist experience at World Heritage Sites: How to Explore Motivations Using Expenditure-based Segmentation

The feasibility of expenditure as a variable for tourism segmentation was firstly demonstrated by Pizam and Reichel (1979) and confirmed in another reference study by Spotts and Mahoney (1991). From then on, several studies using this variable as a basis for market segmentation followed (Sou, 2014). However, as pointed out by Lima et al. (2012), there is a gap in the research concerning the potential role of market segmentation based on visitors’ daily expenditure level at the destination, as an input for planning strategies aimed at maximizing the economic relevance of tourism for local tourism destinations. Discerning different segments among the destination’s visitors and knowledge of their characteristics may be critical for tourism suppliers to better understand and orient their marketing efforts, particularly when considering small destinations (Lima et al., 2012; Oh & Schuett, 2010). Also, for a developing or emerging destination, the promotion of heritage tourism is likely to be an important (complementary) strategy in its economic development, as it may benefit the local economy by attracting more tourists, for example, through the association with the UNESCO brand World Heritage Sites (WHS) (Marujo, 2014; Yang & Lin, 2014). [and continue...