Market segmentation, activities and environmental behaviour in rural tourism

Abstract

Rural tourism has developed in recent decades with an increase in the activities available to tourists. In this article, the authors apply a cluster analysis for the segmentation of rural tourism in La Palma, Canary Islands. They consider the level of environmental attitudes of tourists as a variable explaining market segmentation. The results show that there is a large heterogeneity of market segments and that the traditional activity of agro-tourism represents a small share of the total market. The segments with a greater economic impact and producing greater tourist satisfaction are those in which tourists also exhibit higher levels of environmental behaviour. Thus, rural tourist destinations can improve their economic performance by focusing on those segments attracting tourists with higher environmental concern and by adopting policies that enhance the environmental profile of the segments.