Travel motivations as criteria in the wellness tourism market segmentation process

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to explore travel motivations as criteria in the segmentation process of wellness tourists. Data was collected through a self-complete questionnaire on a sample of tourists staying in one out of 15 wellness hotels situated in four wellness tourism regions of the Republic of Croatia. Research was conducted from May through June in 2013. The data were processed using univariate, bivariate and multivariate statistics. Univariate statistics was used for a general description of the sample; bivariate analysis was applied to examine the differences among the clusters, while multivariate statistics was employed in order to determine the factors underlying the travel motivation construct and to discover the clusters. A total of nine travel motivation factors were identified by applying the theory of the push and pull travel motivations (three push motivation factors, and six pull motivation factors). Push travel motivation factors were labelled as Health trend, Relaxation and reward, and Novelty; pull motivation factors related to a wellness tourist product were labelled as Basic wellness, Intangible wellness, and Extra wellness, while pull motivation factors related to tourist destination were labelled as Cultural and natural heritage, Entertainment and recreation, and Landscape. Three clusters emerged by using travel motivation factors as segmentation criteria (high wellness, immaterial wellness, and low wellness clusters). Relaxation, wellness infrastructure and natural resources are important factors in wellness tourism research. However, both push and pull motivation factors are important variables in distinguishing among the segments.