A new approach for clustering domestic tourists visiting heritage sites in the city of Shumen (Bulgaria)[Une nouvelle approche pour regrouper les touristes nationaux visitant les sites patrimoniaux de la ville de Shumen (Bulgarie)]

This research aims to reveal the profile of different segments of domestic tourists to heritage sites in the city of Shumen (Bulgaria) during the pandemic 2021 year. The interviews were conducted with 313 tourists through a questionnaire at these sites in the period of August–November. The data were analyzed via descriptive and cluster analyses. Based on five composite variables, the heritage tourists were classified into four clusters, which were named as: least involved; most involved; accidental; and sightseeing tourists. The contributions of this research to the field of heritage tourism are twofold: combining two competing approaches for heritage tourists' segmentation into a new conceptual framework and revealing the complexity of defining the real type of "domestic heritage tourist". On this basis, some recommendations to the destination and heritage managers are proposed.