A importância da segmentação do mercado turístico, de acordo com as despesas que os visitantes realizam no destino, para o desenvolvimento económico local: o caso da Covilhã

• Autor(a) principal: Lima, Joana Inês Silva de
• Data de Publicação: 2010
• Outros Autores: Eusébio, Maria Celeste Aguiar
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: https://doi.org/10.34624/rtd.v1i13/14.13543

This study presents a tourist market segmentation model, based on the level of visitors’ expenditure during the visit. This model was applied to the municipality of Covilhã. In order to achieve this objective a theoretical reflection about the impact of tourism on economic development of the destinations, specifically the role of tourist expenditures in this process and the relevance of developing a strategy of segmentation according to tourist expenditures, was undertaken. To evaluate the segmentation model developed in this study, a visitor survey, yielding 205 visitors interviewed in 2008, and a hierarchical cluster analysis were undertaken. Four distinct clusters emerged from this analysis: “light spenders”, “medium spenders”, “heavy spenders” and “very heavy spenders”. The results revealed that these segments showed to be significantly different in terms of economic relevance to the destination, socio-demographic profile and trip behavior. These findings are useful information for defining more appropriate strategies to maximize the benefits of tourism to local economic development.