Segmentation, motivation, and sociodemographic aspects of tourist demand in a coastal marine destination: a case study in Manta (Ecuador)

ABSTRACTCoastal marine tourism offers new alternatives for tourist recreation in coastal destinations having natural and cultural attractions. The objective of this study is to create a demand segmentation of a costal marine destination in terms of tourists’ motivations as related to their sociodemographic parameters and trip characteristics. The empirical work was carried out in situ in the city of Manta, Ecuador, by administering a questionnaire to 390 visitors to the city and conducting multivariate statistical techniques on the data collected. The results show that there are three motivational dimensions which might be termed: ecotourism / gastronomy, sun / beach / entertainment, and relaxation and which determine three tourist clusters. Firstly, the ‘beach lovers’ tourists, who have high motivations for resting, and enjoying the sun, beach and entertainment activities. Secondly, the ‘eco-coastal’ tourists who, besides their high motivations for resting, sun, and the beach, also enjoy the typical cuis...