Visitors to cultural heritage attractions: an actiVitY-BaseD integrateD tYPologY

The purpose of this article is to broaden understanding of cultural heritage tourists through an activity based a priori segmentation approach. Data were collected from a survey conducted with 1,938 tourists visiting cultural heritage sites and events in Arizona (USA). This study suggests that tourists visiting cultural heritage attractions can be divided into two groups: “true cultural heritage tourists” and “spurious cultural heritage tourists.” Furthermore, true cultural tourists can be subgrouped into two types: “tangible heritage” and “intangible heritage” tourists. Similarly, spurious cultural heritage tourists are divided into three subgroups: “nature,” “sport,” and “business” tourists. These groups are compared in terms of demographics, importance of attractions, and motivations, and it is found that these typologies are distinct. The implications for cultural tourism attraction managers and marketers are discussed.