Segmenting the Vacationer Market: Identifying the Vacation Preferences, Demographics and Magazine Readership of Each Group

Abstract

Five vacation segments having distinct vacation preferences were identified using respondents to a mail survey. These segments were found to differ both demo-graphically and with respect to their magazine readership patterns. Each vacation segment is described and some implications of the findings are presented. The use of lifestyle profiling in tourism research, examining differences in the activities, interests, and opinions of tourist groups, has blossomed in recent years. Hawes (1977) and Abbey (1979) both examined life-style profiles of tourists and concluded that life-style variables were superior to demographics in detailing traveler preferences. Since publication of these findings, travel researchers have found lifestyle differences between visitors and non-visitors to national parks (Mayo 1975), between the RV segment and the rest of the market (Hawes 1978), in tourists t