Peer-reviewed
Segmentation by Motivation for Rural Tourism Activities in The Gambia
In The Gambia, as in many other African countries, rural areas do not profit much from the turnover earned in the country’s tourism sector. In academic as well as political literature, however, rural tourism is discussed as part of a diversification strategy and to benefit local economic development in remote communities. To promote rural tourism strategies, more knowledge is needed about how tourists are motivated to become included in distinct market segments. In this research, survey data was collected from 450 tourists in The Gambia using a self-administered questionnaire to identify characteristics and motivations of tourists, to categorize the market segments, and thus to investigate (latent) tourist demand for rural tourism activities. This study identified four distinct segments of tourists in The Gambia using factor-clustering methods: heritage & nature seekers, multi-experiences seekers, multi-experiences & beach seekers and sun & beach seekers. Drawing on our key findings, we conclude on a ‘development path’ to diversify Gambia’s tourism sector and to develop event-based rural tourism initiatives, that complies with the motivations of market segments identified and also have the potential to benefit rural communities and reduce leakage rates. Keywords: tourism market segmentation; segmentation by motivation; rural tourism; event tourism; The Gambia; Africa Acknowledgement: We gratefully acknowledge the efforts of E. Robert A. Beck (Vienna) for proof-reading this paper
Article
Tourism Management