Sentimental tourism to a lost land: age and roots diversification

Purpose: This study aims to explore the phenomenon of sentimental tourism in Central-Eastern Europe, which is travels to places related to people’s past or their country’s past for sentimental reasons with reference to disruptive historical events (e.g. border changes and lost territories), and identify different segments within sentimental tourists. Design/methodology/approach: A survey was conducted with 400 Polish sentimental tourists to compare their attitudes and behaviour when visiting a “lost” land by age and family roots. Independent samples t-tests and analysis of variance were conducted to compare the views of sentimental tourists by Borderland origin. Exploratory factor analysis was conducted to identify the underlying dimensions of destination performance. Cluster analysis was conducted to classify tourists into segments based on their perception of destination performance. Findings: This study analysed the attitude and behaviour of sentimental tourists by age and family roots. Some significant differences were revealed in the purpose of trip, interest in heritage attractions and perception of destination performance across different groups. The study also identifies key factors of destination performance: accessibility, sentiment and infrastructure and security. Based on factor and cluster analyses, Polish sentimental tourists were divided into three types of connections: personally attached older sentimental tourists, cognitively attached younger sentimental tourists and tourists with general interests. Originality/value: Different from roots tourism, sentimental tourism is unique in including tourists without personal roots but feels sentimental towards the destination based on the shared heritage of lost territories. This study shows how sentimental tourists attach to a lost land that used to belong to their country and how different perceptions of the destination have roots and non-roots tourists. Sentimental tourism in Central Europe provides a new perspective to consider the relationship between tourists and heritage places as well as tourist segmentation.