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Tourist Typology: An Ex Ante Approach

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  • Antoine Zalatan

    (Leisure Studies, School of Human Kinetics, University of Ottawa, 125 University Street, Ottawa, Ontario K1N 6NS, Canada)

Abstract

A tourist typology based on an ex ante rather than an ex post approach is proposed and examined. An ‘ex ante’ tourist classification can facilitate the planning process and provide a basis for tourism marketing. Five conceptual tourist classifications were formulated. Two samples (N = 615, 1997) and (N = 528, 2002) were used to test the proposed classification. The ‘social tourist’ classification (goes where friends, family and neighbours go) captured over 45% of the tourist classifications, followed by the ‘conventional tourist’ (19.8%, relies largely on the services of a travel agent), the ‘marketing tourist’ (17.5%, goes to places that are widely advertised), the ‘planning tourist’ (10.7%, plans all aspects of the vacation trip in detail), and finally the ‘impulsive tourist’ (6.1%, decides on the spur of the moment). The respondents' classifications were also confirmed by a separate set of data (20 questions) which describe each tourist category. The validity of the theoretical tourist typology was tested by a ‘confirmatory factory analysis’ to ensure that the conceptual model and the 20 questions were compatible.

Suggested Citation

  • Antoine Zalatan, 2004. "Tourist Typology: An Ex Ante Approach," Tourism Economics, , vol. 10(3), pages 329-343, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:toueco:v:10:y:2004:i:3:p:329-343
    DOI: 10.5367/0000000041895030
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. John R. Presley & Geoffrey E. J. Dennis, 1976. "Summary and Conclusions," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Currency Areas, chapter 4, pages 98-102, Palgrave Macmillan.
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