The impact of climate change on tourism: A segmentation analysis of tourist groups to Maine, USA

Tourism is a critical component of many economies, so it is important to understand any potential changes to tourist flows and expenditure resulting from a changing climate. However, tourists are not a homogeneous group, as... [ view full abstract ]

Tourism is a critical component of many economies, so it is important to understand any potential changes to tourist flows and expenditure resulting from a changing climate. However, tourists are not a homogeneous group, as they have different motivations, values, and goals. Tourists were randomly surveyed at twenty locations throughout the state of Maine (n=704). Segmentation analysis on the activities tourists participated in yielded three segments of Maine visitors: non-nature-based tourists (50.6%), nature-based generalists (16.2%), and nature-based specialists (33.2%). ANOVA with post hoc tests were used to explore differences across segments in terms of tourism expenditure, perceptions of weather impacts, and climate change beliefs and concern. Non-nature-based tourists spent on average over $40 more per person per night than either nature-based generalists or nature-based specialists. They also reported the lowest level of influence for all weather factors, while generalists perceived weather to have the highest influence. Additionally, specialists had the highest level of climate change belief, while generalists had the highest willingness to engage in climate change mitigation behavior. Results are useful to understand how segments of tourism demand may be altered with a changing climate, and what groups may be the most beneficial to target for marketing or educational efforts to reduce the impact of local climate change.