ABSTRACT
The economic valuation of cultural heritage has become a fruitful area of research during the last three decades. Demand side approaches have assumed a relevant role in determining the optimal level of provision of cultural heritage goods, leading to market studies to provide a better understanding of the demand, identify the visitors, attract new visitors and promote repeat visits. The main goal of this study on the Portuguese world heritage site, the Alto Douro Wine Region, is to identify homogeneous groups in terms of socioeconomic characteristics, cultural consumer experience and travel/visit behaviour. To achieve this goal, sample data are collected and univariate and multivariate (Categorical Principal Component Analysis and Cluster Analysis) statistical data analyses are used. The results show that there are three groups: same-day visitors, cultural visitors and individual mass visitors.
