Editor: David Fennell (Brock University)
Reviews Editor David Weaver (University of South California, USA)
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Volume: 6 Number: 1 Page: 1–18
doi:10.2167/joe138.0
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A Market Segmentation Analysis of Cruise Ship Tourists Visiting the Panama Canal Watershed: Opportunities for Ecotourism Development
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Brooke Beadles Thurau1, Andrew D. Carver1, Jean C. Mangun1, Cem M. Basman2 and Gerald Bauer3
1Department of Forestry, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL, USA, 2Department of Recreation and Park Administration, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, USA and 3U.S.D.A. Forest Service, International Institute of Tropical Forestry, Calle Ceiba, Jardin Botanic Sur, Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico
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The area that surrounds the Panama Canal, known as the Panama Canal Watershed (PCW) encompasses approximately 283,000 hectares of land that is home to some of the most biologically diverse tropical forests and globally important cultural heritage sites. With the recent creation of three cruise ship ports in the Republic of Panama, tourism activities in the PCW are expected to increase rapidly. The purpose of this study was to determine cruise ship tourists' underlying travel preferences of ecotourism opportunities in the PCW. A three-step, multivariate market segment analysis was employed utilising (1) factor analysis (to determine the underlying travel preferences); (2) cluster analysis (to identify potential market segments); and (3) chi-square analysis (to develop travel profiles of each of the market segments, and to determine the statistically significant demographic variables among markets). Factor analysis revealed five main travel preferences: ‘learning’, ‘socialising/entertainment’, ‘action/adventure’, ‘security/preservation’ and ‘nature/escape’. Cluster analysis identified four distinct market segments: Cultural Discovery Tourists, Action Adventure Tourists, Conventional Tourists and Natural Discovery Tourists. Results of this study show that cruise ship tourists prefer ecotourism opportunities more so than previously expected, and that marketing and services should be redirected toward sustainable, human-scaled ecotourism opportunities.
Keywords: cruise ships, ecotourism, market segmentation, Panama, sustainable tourism, travel preferences
© 2007 B.B. Thurau et al.
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