WHO IS VISITING UNIVERSITIES? GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS ON THE DEMAND CHARACTERISTICS OF CAMPUS-BASED TOURISM
Abstract
The identification of predominant characteristics of the demand and market segmentation in tourism are relevant tools for optimising the management of tourist attractions and promotional efforts. The benefits include the improvement and creation of products better suited to the specificities of demand and the development of more effective and adjusted marketing strategies.
Campus-based tourism is a growing niche in cultural tourism. Some of the cultural attractions of most prestigious and/or ancient universities in Western Europe are attracting over one million visitors per year; and several university campuses in China are visited by an average of 4,000 individuals per day. Nonetheless, the knowledge about the characteristics and motivations of the public(s) visiting universities is still very scarce.
Based on secondary data collection and analysis of previous global case studies, this research aimed to identify publics, key markets and common socio-demographic characteristics and motivations of universities’ visitors. The results show that cultural assets in universities are targeting and attracting different publics: educational-driven visitors (internal and external to the university), local community and cultural tourists (national and international). Universities are attracting mainly domestic tourists, who have high education qualifications and travel with family (mainly with children).
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