A benefit segmentation of tourists in rural areas: a Scottish perspective

Rural tourism has been the object of intensive research for several years, since its importance for the sustainability of rural communities has been long recognised. Although the characteristics and impacts of this sector have been studied in depth, there has been relatively little consideration of the rural tourists themselves. The present study, exploratory by nature, aims at providing a deeper insight into the profiles of rural tourists in two Scottish locations. The survey identifies that the sample studied can be divided into four clusters according to their benefits sought. The results then demonstrate that each of these segments has different profiles in terms of the activities they engage into and in terms of their behavioural and socio-economic characteristics. The results, however, show little evidence of the importance of the rural theme across the segments, most of the visitors being in fact fairly informal in their holiday behaviour and showing a limited interest towards rural lifestyle.