Segmenting tourists by their motivation for an innovative tourism product: mycotourism

Abstract

ABSTRACT Mycotourism, or mushroom tourism, is an innovative specialized tourism product which is successfully being introduced in some areas of the world. In a competitive global market which requires the supply of available tourism to be customized, mycological tourism helps to combat seasonality and contributes towards the economic development of rural areas, a priority goal for policymakers and stakeholders alike. In an effort to help provide more precise tourism marketing management, the present study aims to segment mycotourists based on their motivations. The factor-clustering method identifies ‘thrill-seekers’ as those looking for distraction and to ‘get away from it all’ and whose mycotourism is motivated by the search for adventure, while ‘leisure-seekers’ are tourists attracted by nostalgia and driven by childhood memories. The study was carried out in the region of Castilla y León (Spain), one of the most highly developed mycological regions in the Iberian Peninsula.