SEGMENTING TOURISM MARKETS ON THE DUAL BASIS OF VISITORS’ INCOME LEVELS AND THE ATTRIBUTED IMPORTANCE TO SELECTION CRITERIA. GUIDELINES FOR MARKETERS AND TOUR OPERATORS

Abstract

The present paper, through the formulating and testing of research hypotheses and by using as a case study the city of Athens, attempted to correlate demographic variables and specifically the income levels with the city’s characteristics, which are considered important and influence its choice by tourists. The findings revealed which income categories of customer markets considered several criteria to be important and whether these criteria have influenced or not their decision to visit the destination. The characteristics/criteria studied were the available information on the destination, climatic conditions, nightlife, history and culture, the no terrorism effect, flight and accommodation availability, general reputation of the destination, proximity to other countries that tourists also visit etc.
The findings of the above analysis indicated the degree of influence or not of several criteria for the selection of Athens as a tourism place. With the demographic variable of income being proven to be correlated or not with various destination selection criteria, marketers of various tourism organizations, tour operators and travel enterprises are given the possibility to design effective tourism marketing strategies. They can focus on those criteria that indicate the behavior of potential customers and promote them in advertising campaigns. As a result, they can make a much better use of available funds and the potential of internet and new technologies.