As travel behaviors and preferences continue to evolve, it’s important to approach destination and traveler research with careful audience segmentation.
There are nearly as many different types of travelers out there — from luxury travelers to adventure seekers to culture and history buffs — as there are places to visit in the world. In this analysis, we’ll look at the market for cultural tourism to learn more about travelers who venture forth to experience different cultures and learn about history (i.e., cultural travelers).
We’ll also evaluate the market for cultural travel across 30 global markets and answer questions like where cultural travelers in China and the US are considering traveling to, how much they tend to spend on trips, and where they stay on while vacation.
The allure of cultural travel is strong around the globe. Data from Global Travel Profiles – YouGov’s travel-specific audience intelligence and destination tracking tool available in 30 markets – reveals that 23% of global leisure travelers say they travel for culture and history.
Looking around the world we see that Japan has the highest share of cultural travelers with 33% of Japanese consumers who plan to travel having a keen interest in cultural and historical exploration. Similarly, travelers in the UK (31%) and Spain (30%) also share a strong affinity for cultural travel.
There are several other markets that over index in the share of cultural travelers against the global average, including the Netherlands (27%), Italy, (26%), China (26%), Finland (25%), Malaysia (24%), the US (24%) and Australia (23%).
On other end, travelers in Chile, Colombia, Thailand and Brazil are the least likely to say they travel for culture and history.
Segmenting culture travelers can help us analyze their travel patterns, motivations and decision-making processes more accurately. What’s more, understanding the preferences of these cultural and history enthusiasts enables destination marketers and tourism boards to promote their unique cultural assets effectively and enhance visitor experiences.
Let’s delve into a few insights about cultural travelers from the following key markets:
US
China
India
UAE
Norway
UK
There’s plenty more to learn about travelers who find joy in unraveling stories of the past and embarking on cultural trips. Our data can also provide insights into other types of vacationers such as those who travel for health and wellness or those who take shorter weekend trips.
By leveraging this type of audience intelligence research during a key period of travel recovery, marketers and tourism boards can uncover evolving trends, preferences and behaviors to make informed decisions about specific to individual traveler segments and stay head of their competition.
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