ABSTRACT
The study shed light on what travelers consider when making destination and spending choices-information you can use in your marketing strategies. It was also the first study to segment cultural and heritage travelers, showing the diverse groups that exist within this broader category. The segmentation analysis uncovered five types of cultural and heritage travelers: Passionate, Well-Rounded, Aspirational, Self-Guided and Keeping it Light. Three segments-Passionate, Well-Rounded and Self-Guidedwere more serious about their travels and said that cultural and heritage activities had a greater impact on their destination choice. Together, these three segments represent 40 percent of all leisure travelers and contribute nearly $124 billion to the U.S. economy. (See more information about these segments later in the chapter.) Cultural and heritage travelers as a whole are more frequent travelers, reporting an average of S.01 leisure trips in the past 12 months versus noncultural and heritage travelers with 3.98 trips. They also are more frequent business travelers and are more likely to have taken an international trip in die past 12 months than their non-cultural and heritage counterparts. More than half of travelers agree that they prefer their leisure travel to be educational, and nearly half report spending more money on cultural
and heritage activities. They also are likely to travel further to get die experiences they seek; about half of most recent overnight leisure trips were 500 miles or more from home. More than a third say they traveled between 100 and 300 miles for a day trip. The study found that cultural and heritage travelers are more likely to participate in culinary activities, such as sampling artisan food and wines, attending food and wine festivals, visiting farmers’ markets, shopping for gourmet foods and enjoying unique dining experiences. Other cultural and heritage activities identified by travelers include: visiting historic sites (66 percent); attending historical re-enactments (64 percent); visiting art museums/galleries (54 percent); attending an art/craft fair or festival (45 percent); attending a professional dance performance (44 percent); visiting state/national parks (41 percent); shopping in museum stores (32 percent); and exploring urban neighborhoods (30 percent). The vast majority of these travelers (65 percent) say that they seek travel experiences where the “destination, its buildings and surroundings have retained their historic character.”
