Tourism Market Segmentation Applied to Coastal and Marine Destinations: A Study from Acapulco, Mexico

Mauricio Carvache-Franco, Wilmer Carvache-Franco, Orly Carvache-Franco and María Magdalena Solis-Radilla
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Mauricio Carvache-Franco: Facultad de Turismo y Hotelería, Universidad Espíritu Santo, Samborondón 092301, Ecuador
Wilmer Carvache-Franco: Facultad de Ciencias Sociales y Humanísticas, Escuela Superior Politécnica del Litoral, ESPOL, Guayaquil 09015863, Ecuador
Orly Carvache-Franco: Facultad de Especialidades Empresariales, Universidad Católica de Santiago de Guayaquil, Guayaquil 090615, Ecuador
María Magdalena Solis-Radilla: Facultad de Turismo, Universidad Autónoma de Guerrero, Acapulco, Guerrero 39610, Mexico

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 24, 1-15

Abstract: Coastal and marine destinations offer alternate options for the sun and the beach, options that are related to nature and culture. This empirical study aims to segment the demand of domestic tourism in coastal and marine destinations and its relationship with satisfaction and loyalty. A factorial analysis and an analysis of K-means clusters were used to reduce and group data. Six motivational dimensions are evident heritage and nature, learning, and sun and beach; and physical, authentic coastal experience, novelty, and social interaction. Two segments were found: the “multiple coastal motives,” which returned a high motivation among the motivational variables proposed and are related to all the factors found, and the “beach lovers”, with high motivation in the aspects of sun and beach, resting, and wanting to see things they do not usually see. These two segments are related to the dimensions of sun and beach and novelty. The multiple coastal motives rendered higher levels of satisfaction and in some variables of future behavior, which shows the relationship of the motivation with the visit. The findings are used to develop marketing plans appropriate to the characteristics of the demand found in each group.

Keywords: segmentation; motivation; marine; coastal; Acapulco (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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