Profiling tourists: Cultural Tourists and other Visitors Findings from PICTURE case studies

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Profiling tourists Cultural Tourists and other
VisitorsFindings from PICTURE case studies
Barbara Del Corpo, Elena Bellini, Ugo Gasparino,
William Malizia Luxembourg 21 09 2006
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Contents

• Preliminary considerations
• Conceptual framework
• Case studies experience
• Syracuse
• Bergen
• Elche
• Results
• Lessons learned

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Part I

• Preliminary considerations
• Conceptual framework
• Case studies experience
• Syracuse
• Bergen
• Elche
• Results
• Lessons learned

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Tourists interest in culture
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Cultural tourists are not all alike

• The stereotypical heritage tourist
• (the Baedeker/ Michelin tourist)

• aged 45-65
• higher than average disposable income, education,
  and travel experience
• holidaymaking independently in a group of two
• staying in hotel

The emerging heritage tourist (the Lonely
Planet or Rough Guide tourist)

• young backpackers,
• aged 20-30
• different and lower patterns
• of expenditure
• staying in small, inexpensive
• bed and breakfast

Ashworth, 2004 ECT WTO, 2005
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Part II

• Preliminary considerations
• Conceptual framework
• Case studies experience
• Syracuse
• Bergen
• Elche
• Results
• Lessons learned

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Elements considered

• Motivation
• Tour/unique destination
• Organization (package/self-organized)
• Length of stay
• Accommodation
• Expenditure level
• Activities
• Age
• Education
• Employment
• Income

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Part III

• Preliminary considerations
• Conceptual framework
• Case studies experience
• Syracuse
• Bergen
• Elche
• Results
• Lessons learned

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The case studies Siracusa
Case studies

• Surveys aimed at assessing the impact of tourism
  on the urban economy
• Two different periods
• high tourist flow
• low tourist flow
• Interviews submitted directly to tourists at
  tourist sites and at accommodation facilities.

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The case studies Syracuse

• Typology of tourism
• cultural tourism, stressing on
• massive historical heritage (the Isle of Ortigia,
  bearing testimony of the domination by Greeks,
  Romans, Byzantines, Arabs, Normans, Swabians,
  Aragonese, Catalans, Savoys, has been enscripted,
  since 2005, in UNESCOs World Heritage List)
• religious heritage (important churches and
  monastery, St. Lucys celebrations, etc.)
• together with the food-and-wine and handicraft
  heritage aiming at the valorisation of the
  typical products of the territory (the Pupi,
  wicker, raffia, cork and papyrus objects)
• SunBeach/leisure-environmental tourism, through
  the exploitation of the sea and the various
  activities it can host (e.g., yachting), together
  with natural reserves and caves.

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The case studies Bergen

• Typology of tourism
• cultural tourism, stressing on
• art and history. The harbour which bears
  testimony of the history of the city (in 1979
  UNESCO included the Bryggen in the World Heritage
  List) wooden houses dating from the early 19th
• nature and landscape Bergen is the Gateway to
  the Fjord. The city is placed between Sognefjord
  (the longest) and the Hardangenfjord (the most
  spectacular fjord)
• events. Above all, the Bergen International
  Festival which includes representations of
  classical music, opera, chamber music, recitals,
  dance, theatre, and street performances
• cruise journeys/leisure-environmental tourism.
  The number of cruise ships to Bergen has been
  constantly growing 60 since 1999. Traffic
  concentrated in the summer, 3 cruise ships per
  day which stop 10 hours on average. 136,000
  visitors per year.

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Part IV

• Preliminary considerations
• Conceptual framework
• Case studies experience
• Syracuse
• Bergen
• Elche
• Results
• Lessons learned

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The case studies Siracusa
Syracuse motivation
CULTURAL HERITAGE ATTRACTIONS (i.e. visiting
monuments, museums, historic landmarks, cultural
or religious events)
190 (89.6)
OTHER (i.e. health - please specify)
SUN AND BEACH
7 (3.3)
15 (7.1)
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Results Syracuse

• The SunBeach Tourist
• is not mobile
• longer visits in one single destination
• length of stay is on average 8 days and 7 nights
• is self-organized
• stays in tourist village
• its total direct impact on the economy is high,
  but the daily expenditure is on the contrary low.
• Hes interested in holidaying and in general
  sightseeing visiting cultural sites or
  discovering the local culture is incidental
• is older (56-65 years old) or on the contrary
  young (26-35 years old)
• holds a secondary-school diploma or a degree
• is employed
• has got an average income (25-35,000 /year)

• The Cultural Tourist
• is mobile
• short visits, in several different cities in the
  course of the same journey
• length of stay is on average 2 days and 1 night
• is self-organized
• stays in hotel
• has a very high daily expenditure, especially for
  accommodation and food.
• He visits at least 1 cultural site per day. Its
  interest for the local culture involves also
  local handicraft and food (he usually buys
  souvenirs)
• the specific cultural tourist
• is middle-aged (46-65 years old), even though
  young cultural tourists represent an interesting
  part (26-35 years old) the young backpacker
• holds a degree or a PhD
• is employed
• has got an above-the-average income (gt55,000
  /year)
• the Baedeker/Michelin tourist

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The case studies Siracusa
Syracuse motivation/tours
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The case studies Siracusa
Syracuse motivation/length of stay
Median length of stay Cultural 2.2
days SunBeach 7.9 days
Median length of stay Cultural 1
night SunBeach 7 nights
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Results Syracuse

• The SunBeach Tourist
• is not mobile
• longer visits in one single destination
• length of stay is on average 8 days and 7 nights
• is self-organized
• stays in tourist village
• its total direct impact on the economy is high,
  but the daily expenditure is on the contrary low.
• Hes interested in holidaying and in general
  sightseeing visiting cultural sites or
  discovering the local culture is incidental
• is older (56-65 years old) or on the contrary
  young (26-35 years old)
• holds a secondary-school diploma or a degree
• is employed
• has got an average income (25-35,000 /year)

• The Cultural Tourist
• is mobile
• short visits, in several different cities in the
  course of the same journey
• length of stay is on average 2 days and 1 night
• is self-organized
• stays in hotel
• has a very high daily expenditure, especially for
  accommodation and food.
• He visits at least 1 cultural site per day. Its
  interest for the local culture involves also
  local handicraft and food (he usually buys
  souvenirs)
• the specific cultural tourist
• is middle-aged (46-65 years old), even though
  young cultural tourists represent an interesting
  part (26-35 years old) the young backpacker
• holds a degree or a PhD
• is employed
• has got an above-the-average income (gt55,000
  /year)
• the Baedeker/Michelin tourist

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The case studies Siracusa
Syracuse motivation/accommodation
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Results Syracuse

• The SunBeach Tourist
• is not mobile
• longer visits in one single destination
• length of stay is on average 8 days and 7 nights
• is self-organized
• stays in tourist village
• its total direct impact on the economy is high,
  but the daily expenditure is on the contrary low.
• Hes interested in holidaying and in general
  sightseeing visiting cultural sites or
  discovering the local culture is incidental
• is older (56-65 years old) or on the contrary
  young (26-35 years old)
• holds a secondary-school diploma or a degree
• is employed
• has got an average income (25-35,000 /year)

• The Cultural Tourist
• is mobile
• short visits, in several different cities in the
  course of the same journey
• length of stay is on average 2 days and 1 night
• is self-organized
• stays in hotel
• has a very high daily expenditure, especially for
  accommodation and food.
• He visits at least 1 cultural site per day. Its
  interest for the local culture involves also
  local handicraft and food (he usually buys
  souvenirs)
• the specific cultural tourist
• is middle-aged (46-65 years old), even though
  young cultural tourists represent an interesting
  part (26-35 years old) the young backpacker
• holds a degree or a PhD
• is employed
• has got an above-the-average income (gt55,000
  /year)
• the Baedeker/Michelin tourist

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The case studies Syracuse
Syracuse motivation/total expenditure
Direct impact of one Cultural tourist
483
Direct impact of one SunBeach tourist
586
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The case studies Syracuse
Syracuse motivation/daily expenditure
Direct impact of one Cultural tourist
220
Direct impact of one SunBeach tourist
74
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Results Syracuse

• The SunBeach Tourist
• is not mobile
• longer visits in one single destination
• length of stay is on average 8 days and 7 nights
• is self-organized
• stays in tourist village
• its total direct impact on the economy is high,
  but the daily expenditure is on the contrary low.
• Hes interested in holidaying and in general
  sightseeing visiting cultural sites or
  discovering the local culture is incidental
• is older (56-65 years old) or on the contrary
  young (26-35 years old)
• holds a secondary-school diploma or a degree
• is employed
• has got an average income (25-35,000 /year)

• The Cultural Tourist
• is mobile
• short visits, in several different cities in the
  course of the same journey
• length of stay is on average 2 days and 1 night
• is self-organized
• stays in hotel
• has a very high daily expenditure, especially for
  accommodation and food.
• He visits at least 1 cultural site per day. Its
  interest for the local culture involves also
  local handicraft and food (he usually buys
  souvenirs)
• the specific cultural tourist
• is middle-aged (46-65 years old), even though
  young cultural tourists represent an interesting
  part (26-35 years old) the young backpacker
• holds a degree or a PhD
• is employed
• has got an above-the-average income (gt55,000
  /year)
• the Baedeker/Michelin tourist

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The case studies Siracusa
Syracuse motivation/age
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Results Syracuse

• The SunBeach Tourist
• is not mobile
• longer visits in one single destination
• length of stay is on average 8 days and 7 nights
• is self-organized
• stays in tourist village
• its total direct impact on the economy is high,
  but the daily expenditure is on the contrary low.
• Hes interested in holidaying and in general
  sightseeing visiting cultural sites or
  discovering the local culture is incidental
• is older (56-65 years old) or on the contrary
  young (26-35 years old)
• holds a secondary-school diploma or a degree
• is employed
• has got an average income (25-35,000 /year)

• The Cultural Tourist
• is mobile
• short visits, in several different cities in the
  course of the same journey
• length of stay is on average 2 days and 1 night
• is self-organized
• stays in hotel
• has a very high daily expenditure, especially for
  accommodation and food.
• He visits at least 1 cultural site per day. Its
  interest for the local culture involves also
  local handicraft and food (he usually buys
  souvenirs)
• the specific cultural tourist
• is middle-aged (46-65 years old), even though
  young cultural tourists represent an interesting
  part (26-35 years old) the young backpacker
• holds a degree or a PhD
• is employed
• has got an above-the-average income (gt55,000
  /year)
• the Baedeker/Michelin tourist

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The case studies Siracusa
Syracuse motivation/family income
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Results

• Contrary to our expectations, education is found
  to be quite insignificant in influencing the
  cultural motivation of visitors to Syracuse.
• Neither organization, nor employment seem to
  be significant discriminants.

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The case studies Siracusa
Bergen transport
111 (68.9)
50 (31.1)
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The case studies Siracusa
Bergen transport/motivation
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The case studies Siracusa
Bergen transport/length of stay
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The case studies Siracusa
Bergen transport/length of stay
Median length of stay Cruise 1
day Non-cruise 2 days
Median length of stay Cruise 0
nights Non-cruise 2 nights
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Results Bergen

• The Cruise Tourist
• is mainly driven by cultural interest
• is mobile
• short visits, multiple destinations
• length of stay is on average 1day and 0 nights
• is not a tourist
• stays on ship
• is shore-dependent for food
• is mostly interested in sightseeing and in less
  than 50 of the cases he visits a museum is more
  interested in shopping than in buying local
  crafts
• is middle-aged (46-over 65 years old)
• holds a secondary-school diploma
• is employed or retired
• has got an above-the-average income (gt55,000
  /year)

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The case studies Siracusa
Bergen transport/age
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The case studies Siracusa
Bergen transport/employment
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The case studies Siracusa
Bergen transport/family income
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Part V

• Preliminary considerations
• Conceptual framework
• Case studies experience
• Syracuse
• Bergen
• Elche
• Results
• Lessons learned

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Lessons learned

• Support to CT
• CT becomes part of a number of synergies
  including local economic development,
  environmental conservation, the enhancement of
  heritage and cultural production, and even the
  senses of identity and well-being of local
  communities.
• It has lower local costs (while SunBeach tourism
  may either ignore or even damage heritage
  resources) and higher benefits, more spread over
  local business activities thus it is more
  clearly in the economic, cultural and political
  interests of local communities.

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Lessons learned

• Increase expenditure for cultural activities and
  transport
• Cultural tourists not only move into and out of
  destination regions and resorts, they move around
  when on holiday. On the contrary, the traditional
  beach holiday is by its nature spatially
  concentrated and relatively static, generally
  offering almost all of the components of the
  holiday within a single resort or even a single
  hotel little transport required during the
  holiday.
• The pursuit of policies for enhancing
  excursions, many of which will be to heritage
  sites and attractions, with social and cultural
  events and experiences and with evening
  entertainment facilities cannot other than
  increase the transport demands of tourists.
• Cultural tourists show a more dispersed seasonal
  pattern of arrivals their mobility also means a
  more evenly, spatially and socially spread
  impact.
• It is possible to increase the daily expenditure
  of SunBeach tourists too offering dedicated
  short day and half-day excursion possibilities
  focusing on heritage, nature, shopping, folklore
  or culinary attractions to heritage sites, or
  exhibitions.

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Lessons learned

• Sustainable tourism?
• With a length of stay at any one site measured in
  hours and even minutes and this is especially
  true for cruises , local tourist expenditure is
  minimal and is frequently claimed to be less than
  the local costs incurred in receiving such
  tourists.
• Cruise tourists on the one hand dont have time
  to visit museum or other attractions. They cause
  congestion and a not evenly spread impact, with
  disadvantages for the resident community.
• On the other hand, his presence is soft less
  environmental impacts (consumption of natural
  resources such as water, rubbish).
• In the case of Bergen, anyway, this type of
  tourism doesnt seem to be compatible with the
  cultural image and the rich heritage the
  destination could and would like to communicate.

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Lessons learned

• Longer and repeat visits
• every visit would be a unique experience (Malta
  Tourism Authority, 2002, p. 6). On the contrary,
  beach resorts may develop substantial numbers of
  return visits to the region and even to a
  specific resort or hotel.
• Short stays and non-repeat experiences need a
  response in an equally rapid continuous extension
  and differentiation of the heritage product.
• Sites and attractions need to be combined within
  larger packages
• Increase the cultural offer of the destination

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Lessons learned

• Cultural (mega) events and festivals offer
  interesting opportunities for city destinations
  in attracting both first time and repeat visitors
  (ECT WTO, 2005).
• Cultural festivals and events are important
  reasons for cultural tourists to choose to
  specifically visit a place
• (totally) disagree 4
• neutral 5
• (totally) agree 88
• no opinion 1
• (Source ECT Internet poll)

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Lessons learned

• Before launching different cultural tourism
  activities, it is important to reflect on the
  aims and desires behind the launch
• specifically see whether the people using tourist
  infrastructure or visiting tourist sites are
  residents or come from abroad and whether they
  stay long or not, to make sure tourism brings
  economic benefits and improves the quality of
  life of residents
• the risk is the creation of events and activities
  thought to attract the tourist, with no/little
  link with the local culture, and consequent loss
  of local identity.

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