Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Studi sulPEconomica Turistica (CISET) have generated research data on urban tourism
demand. In fact Mazanec (2002) provides some of the state of the art research, of which
geographers are well represented although many of the studies remain case study in
focus.
Even where statistics can be used, they provide only a preliminary assessment of scale
and volume and more detailed sources are needed to assess specific markets for urban
tourism. For example, Page (1995a) reviews the different market segmentation
techniques used by marketing researchers to analyse the tourism market for urban areas,
which helps one to understand the types of visitors and motives for visiting urban
destinations. Table 5.7 highlights two typologies developed within the tourism literature
to acknowledge the significance of individual motives for visiting urban destinations.
However, Jansen-Verbeke (1986) does point to the methodological problem of
distinguishing between the different users of the tourist city. For example, Burtenshaw et
al. (1991) discuss the concept of functional areas (Figure 5.8) within the city, where
different visitors seek certain attributes for their city visit (e.g. the historic city, the
culture city, the night-life city, the shopping city and the tourist city) where no one group
has a monopoly over its use. In other words, residents of the city and its hinterland,
visitors and workers all use the resources within the tourist city, but some user
Table 5.7:
Typologies of urban tourists
According to Blank and Petkovitch (1980) the motives for visiting urban areas can be classified
thus:
• visiting friends and relatives
• outdoor recreation activities business/convention visitation
• entertainment and sightseeing activities
• personal reasons
• shopping
• other factors
Page (1995a:48) identified a broader range of motivations for visiting urban areas:
• visiting friends and relatives
• business travel
• conference and exhibition attendance
• educational reasons
• cultural and heritage tourism
• religious travel (e.g. pilgrimages)
• hallmark events attendance
• leisure shopping
• day trips
groups identify with certain areas more than others. Thus, the tourist city is a
multifunctional area which complicates attempts to identify a definitive classification of
users and the areas/facilities they visit.
Ashworth and Tunbridge (1990) prefer to approach the market for urban tourism from
the perspective of the consumers' motives, focusing on the purchasing intent of users,
their attitudes, opinions and interests for specific urban tourism products. The most
