The classification of heritage tourists: a case of Hue City, Vietnam

Who visits World Heritage? A comparative analysis of three cultural sites

“…The role of gender, or lack thereof, in the final study is more in line with its importance in terms of general heritage tourism segmentation (Huh et al, 2006;Nguyen and Cheung, 2014;Richards, 2007). The higher levels of education and general participation of middle-aged individuals in World Heritage tourism activities are also similar to the trends already noted in terms of the average heritage tourist.…”

“…This was also one of the few studies to provide demographic data related to the visitors' residences (domestic/foreign), and they discovered that domestic visitors were the largest group at the site, with only 4.5% coming from abroad. Nguyen and Cheung (2014) presented another study in which the visitors' residence was discussed, and their results contrasted those found in Huh et al (2006) as three-quarters of the sample was foreign in origin, with more than half arriving from Europe. In contrast to the other studies, they indicated that there was an even of international visitors distribution between the ages of 20 and 60, and between 20 and 40 for the domestic visitors, as opposed to a strong representation within the middle-aged category.…”

“…However, both Richards (2007) and Nguyen and Cheung (2014) indicated that there were high levels of education among their sample respondents with the majority in both cases having at least a university degree. While there are some exceptions, the previous research generally reinforces the depiction of the 'general' heritage tourist visitor profile as middle aged, middle class, and, especially, well educated.…”

“…A difference in relation to ages is also noted in Richards (2007), which reports the findings of the 2007 ATLAS survey. However, unlike Nguyen and Cheung's (2014) even distribution, the ATLAS research determined that 30% of the total sample was between the ages of 20 and 29, which presents a much younger heritage tourist profile.…”

“…al., 2006;Kerstetter et. al., 2001;Light and Prentice, 1994;Nguyen and Cheung, 2014;Ramkissoon and Uysal, 2011;Richards, 2007;Sánchez-Cañizares and López-Guzmán, 2012). However, there has been little research into the more specific group of visitors who frequent World Heritage sites, especially in regards to their demographic characteristics.…”