Tourists' perceptions of beach quality improvement during the off-peak season: a segmentation approach

Recently coastal tourism has increased dashingly, however, it has negatively affected environmental, social and cultural sustainability. Algarve is the most touristic place in Portugal with a large number of beautiful beaches. Due to negative tourism impacts and climate change, coastal tourism manag...

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Main Authors: Goda Lukoseviciute, Luís Nobre Pereira
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: University of Algarve, ESGHT/CINTURS 2021-04-01
Series:Tourism & Management Studies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.tmstudies.net/index.php/ectms/article/view/1318
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author Goda Lukoseviciute
Luís Nobre Pereira
author_facet Goda Lukoseviciute
Luís Nobre Pereira
author_sort Goda Lukoseviciute
collection DOAJ
description Recently coastal tourism has increased dashingly, however, it has negatively affected environmental, social and cultural sustainability. Algarve is the most touristic place in Portugal with a large number of beautiful beaches. Due to negative tourism impacts and climate change, coastal tourism management tools need to be assessed and implemented. Most beach areas have the dual mandate of conserving natural resources as well as providing opportunities for recreation and tourism. This paper aims identify off-peak season beach user profiles and segment them according to their priorities for sustainable beach management in the face of climate change and seasonality balance. An urban, rural, resort and remote beach types were chosen at Albufeira municipality as case studies. A cluster analysis was applied to survey data collected through 200 face-to-face interviews. The survey aimed to get beach visitor’s opinion of beach environment, services and quality attributes´ importance. Cluster analyses have resulted in four beach user profiles: passive nature-lovers, senior consumerists, outliers and young and active environmentalists. The results provide valuable information and insights both for academics and for beach managers, who can adjust management according to the clustered markets and their preferences.
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spelling doaj-art-04142d3f27fa464083ed34461dffa7a72025-08-20T03:16:50ZengUniversity of Algarve, ESGHT/CINTURSTourism & Management Studies2182-84662021-04-011721728Tourists' perceptions of beach quality improvement during the off-peak season: a segmentation approach Goda Lukoseviciute 0Luís Nobre Pereira 1Research Centre for Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being, University of Algarve ESGHT/UALG Recently coastal tourism has increased dashingly, however, it has negatively affected environmental, social and cultural sustainability. Algarve is the most touristic place in Portugal with a large number of beautiful beaches. Due to negative tourism impacts and climate change, coastal tourism management tools need to be assessed and implemented. Most beach areas have the dual mandate of conserving natural resources as well as providing opportunities for recreation and tourism. This paper aims identify off-peak season beach user profiles and segment them according to their priorities for sustainable beach management in the face of climate change and seasonality balance. An urban, rural, resort and remote beach types were chosen at Albufeira municipality as case studies. A cluster analysis was applied to survey data collected through 200 face-to-face interviews. The survey aimed to get beach visitor’s opinion of beach environment, services and quality attributes´ importance. Cluster analyses have resulted in four beach user profiles: passive nature-lovers, senior consumerists, outliers and young and active environmentalists. The results provide valuable information and insights both for academics and for beach managers, who can adjust management according to the clustered markets and their preferences. https://www.tmstudies.net/index.php/ectms/article/view/1318segmentationsustainable beach managementbeach user’s perceptionbeach quality
spellingShingle Goda Lukoseviciute
Luís Nobre Pereira
Tourists' perceptions of beach quality improvement during the off-peak season: a segmentation approach
Tourism & Management Studies
segmentation
sustainable beach management
beach user’s perception
beach quality
title Tourists' perceptions of beach quality improvement during the off-peak season: a segmentation approach
title_full Tourists' perceptions of beach quality improvement during the off-peak season: a segmentation approach
title_fullStr Tourists' perceptions of beach quality improvement during the off-peak season: a segmentation approach
title_full_unstemmed Tourists' perceptions of beach quality improvement during the off-peak season: a segmentation approach
title_short Tourists' perceptions of beach quality improvement during the off-peak season: a segmentation approach
title_sort tourists perceptions of beach quality improvement during the off peak season a segmentation approach
topic segmentation
sustainable beach management
beach user’s perception
beach quality
url https://www.tmstudies.net/index.php/ectms/article/view/1318
work_keys_str_mv AT godalukoseviciute touristsperceptionsofbeachqualityimprovementduringtheoffpeakseasonasegmentationapproach
AT luisnobrepereira touristsperceptionsofbeachqualityimprovementduringtheoffpeakseasonasegmentationapproach