Segmentation of winter sports consumers using attributes of destination choice, to support a competitive analysis of ski resorts

• Autor(a) principal: Martins, Marco Alexandre Batista
• Data de Publicação: 2011
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.6/3270
• topic: Turismo desportivo; Desporto de Inverno - Turismo; Desporto de inverno - Satisfação do consumidor

The aim of this study was to identify the attributes that different tourist segments prioritize in choosing a destination for winter sports and analyze their degree of satisfaction with the services provided by the only ski resort in Portugal. A questionnaire was applied to 200 tourists with factor analysis from which factors were extracted to serve as a basis for a cluster analysis. Five factors about the most valued attributes in choosing a destination were identified, and six consumer clusters were distinguished. Concerning the analysis of satisfaction with the resort’s services, five factors were identified and the preferences of different consumer segments were discriminated from identification of five clusters. The study suggests that consumer segmentation based on the characteristics of the destination’s attributes together with assessment of their satisfaction with the services available can supply relevant information to evaluate organizations’ competitiveness.