Overnight Ecotourist Market Segmentation in the Gold Coast Hinterland of Australia

Abstract

Very little is known about the characteristics of overnight ecolodge patrons. This study reports on the results of a questionnaire that was completed by 1,180 individuals who had stayed at least one night in either of two well-known ecolodges in Lamington National Park, Australia. A cluster analysis on 37 items pertaining to ecotourism behavior revealed three distinct groups. “Harder” ecotourists reflect a high level of environmental commitment and affinities with wilderness-type experiences, while “softer” ecotourists are much less committed on either dimension. “Structured” ecotourists, by comparison, reveal a strong pattern of commitment but a level of desire for interpretation, escorted tours, and services/facilities that is usually more associated with mass tourism. The marketing implications of these findings are considered.

Study on possibilities of expansion of Japanese-Type ecotourism – focusing on nature-based daytrip tourists to ecotourism regions in Nabari City

“…Accordingly, in the present paper, 'Japanese-type ecotourists' are defined to be 'a type of travellers whose main purpose is to explore the nature on daytrips, characterised by general commitment to preserving natural environment and passive physical activities'. In other words, it is a concept close to the 'softer ecotourists' as proposed by Weaver and Lawton (2002). A questionnaire was made based on such a concept for research.…”

The structural relationships of destination image, awareness, uniqueness and destination loyalty in periurban ecotourism destination

“…Amongst major ecotourism destinations are primitive natural environments such as Costa Rica and Kenya and national parks such as the Rocky Mountain National Park. In terms of research content, there are studies including one on Costa Rica to suggest directions for the cooperation between policy makers based on the characteristics of ecotourists visiting Costa Rica (Campbell, 1999); a case study about policy process and organization activities relating to ecotourism of Costa Rica (Tepelus and Córdoba, 2005); a study to suggest directions of sustainable policy making for ecotourism via a comparison of magnitudes and situations of ecotourism between Costa Rica and Kenya (Weaver, 1999); a study on propose ecotourism market segmentation on the basis of tourism activities and motivations and characteristics of visitors to Gold Coast in Australia (Weaver and Lawton, 2002); a study that assesses sustainability of ecotourism by presenting achievements of Sabiki in Taiwan in terms of correlation amongst and between 'resource', 'community' and 'tourism' (Tsaur et al, 2006); a study that puts emphasis on the importance of policy-making organisation for sustainable ecotourism by analysing a case of ecotourism community of Hamanaka in Hokkaido, Japan (Shikida et al, 2010); and a study that suggests alternatives of sustainable ecotourism via ecotourism programmes operated by national parks in Korea in connection with forms and magnitudes of national and regional ecotourism (Lee et al, 2012).…”

“…Since 2000, the definition of ecotourism has become even broader, and Weaver and Lawton (2002) classified the characteristics of ecotourism into hard (active, deep) and soft (passive, shallow) types, and Weaver (2005) further introduced a new trend of urban ecotourism that offers a variety of programmes covering natural observation and education in urban areas having a specific natural environment, although they are not spectacular primitive natural sites or national parks like the minimal type of ecotourism. This trend aims to accommodate even general tourists who find it difficult to have access to ecotourism and thereby maintain the original purpose of ecotourism, that is, preservation of nature, and have a positive economic and social effect on the area concerned.…”

“…Researches categorising the ecotourism concept are not enough, which include a study of Weaver and Lawton (2002) which further classified the nature of ecotourism into hard (active, deep) and soft (passive, shallow) type and that of Weaver (2005) which further divided the concept into two types: comprehensive ecotourism and minimalist ecotourism. In addition, Buckley (2000) raised new issues related to ecotourism in the NEAT (nature, eco-and adventure tourism) study, and Wight (1996) segmented the ecotourism market into two types based on characteristics -General Consumers Interested in Ecotourism and Experienced Ecotourism Travellers, setting directions for ecotourism research.…”

Tourisme durable innovateur en Ouganda

“…U tourisme de nature visant à répondre à des préoccupations économiques et environnementales (Boo, 1990). Les résultats financiers impressionnants associés à l'observation de la nature et des grands mammifères sauvages soutiennent la proéminence du segment sur les marchés internationaux du tourisme (Adams et Infield, 2002;Reynolds et Braithwhite, 2001;Weaver et Lawton, 2002). Présentement, la moitié de la population mondiale de gorilles des montagnes réside en Ouganda (illustration 1).…”