Identifying potential wellbeing tourism segments in Finland

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify potential Finnish wellbeing tourism segments based on factors connected to tourists' lifestyles, and find out if there are statistically significant differences between the segments concerning demographic factors, factors related to travelling behaviour, and interests in diverse activities.

Design/methodology/approach

Potential tourists are segmented based on activities, interests and opinions (AIO‐segmentation). The data of the tourist profiles for the research were collected during 2007 and 2008 by self‐administered electronic questionnaire. In total 1,012 sufficient responses were obtained. Collected data were analyzed by using factor‐cluster method in order to group respondents into different segments.

Findings

Altogether six segments were identified: Sport and nature people interested in technology; Home appreciating travellers; Family and health oriented sport and nature people; Culture appreciative self‐developers; Material wellbeing appreciatives; and Indifferent about travelling and social issues. Statistically significant differences were found between the segments considering geo‐demographic factors, travelling habits and also interest in different activities.

Originality/value

General research concerning the wellness and wellbeing of tourists has been rather rare. This research provides more comprehensive and general information about potential wellbeing of tourists in the Finnish context.

Citation

Konu, H. (2010), "Identifying potential wellbeing tourism segments in Finland", Tourism Review, Vol. 65 No. 2, pp. 41-51. https://doi.org/10.1108/16605371011061615