Profiling tourists in the context of a smart tourist destination
(A2024-118334)

AUTHORS

Ricardo Sellers-Rubio, University of Alicante; Felipe Ruiz-Moreno, University of Alicante; Liudmila Ostrovskaya, University of Alicante; Fernando Campayo-Sánchez, University of Alicante; Jesus Martinez-Navarro, University of Alicante

ABSTRACT

Many destinations have integrated information and communication technologies into their service activities and the real challenge for destinations is to foster the use of technologies by tourists. However, tourists behave differently, and research needs to identify the key drivers of adopting these technologies. Thus, this paper focuses on segmenting tourists who use smart tourism technologies (STT) in a destination during their holidays. The analysis is based on the technologies used and on some psychographic and demographic characteristics. The analysis is carried out in the city of Torrevieja (Spain). We employ a Finite Mixture Model to segment the sample, allowing us to address variations in tourists' preferences and behavior effectively. Results evidence the existence of four different market segments. This analysis might be useful to shape the marketing efforts of destination management organizations.