Cave tourism: Tourists' characteristics, motivations to visit, and the segmentation of their behavior

Seong Seop Kim, Miju Kim, Jungwoong Park, Yingzhi Guo

Research output: Journal article publicationJournal articleAcademic researchpeer-review

95 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Geotourism is one among many types of ecotourism or nature tourism. Cave tourism within geotourism has gained popularity in Korea. The study's objectives include cave tourists' characteristics, segmenting them according to motivation factors, and finally identifying who they are. The sample population for this research consisted of tourists who have visited the Hwansun Cave in Samchuk City. Among a total of 547 questionnaires distributed, 537 questionnaires were used for further data analyses. On the basis of cluster analysis using the motivation factors, cluster 1 was named an "escape-seeking group", cluster 2 was termed a "knowledge- and novelty-seeking group", cluster 3 was called a "novelty-seeking group" and cluster 4 was termed a "socialization group". Differences in socio-demographic variables, beliefs about cave tourism resources, preferred cave tourism products, satisfaction with this tour, willingness to participate in another cave tour and belief in the value of cave tourism resources were found among the four clusters. The study's findings were expected to be helpful in understanding who they are.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)299-318
Number of pages20
JournalAsia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research
Volume13
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 22 Sept 2008
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Geotourism cave tourism
  • Motivation

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Geography, Planning and Development
  • Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Management

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