Image-Based Segmentation of Cultural Tourism Market: The Perceptions of Taiwan's Inbound Visitors

This paper aims at testing the effectiveness of using an image-based approach to segment the cultural tourism market. Identifying 14 image attributes of cultural attractions, Taiwan's inbound tourists were then surveyed to rate the importance of these attributes. Applying a factor-cluster segmentation approach, four discrete image segments were identified, including arts and museum, heritage, living culture, and resulted in a sample of 954 respondents. The research findings reveal several theoretical and empirical implications, including the propositions of cultural distance, omnivorous/univorous, experiential and informational familiarity of destination and the two-dimensional model of cultural tourist typology.