Abstract (150 Words)
Heritage tourism, which is considered a popular form of tourism, includes two major types of attractions—sites and events. Based on the cognitive perspective, this paper aims to compare the perceptions, the sociodemographic characteristics, and the travel patterns of tourists visiting cultural sites and events. The results showed that while site visitors and event goers were homogenous in some variables, such as gender, age, number of children, education, income, accommodation, transportation mode, and travel party makeup, they were significantly different in the aspects of relationship status, employment status, information source, use of markers, repeated visit, geographic origin, and expenditure. Some management implications are discussed, including establishing more interactive activities in cultural attractions so that the social relations can be enhanced.
Exploring the Differences between Tourists Visiting Heritage Sites and Those Visiting Cultural Events: A Cognitive Perspective
Heritage tourism, which is considered a popular form of tourism, includes two major types of attractions—sites and events. Based on the cognitive perspective, this paper aims to compare the perceptions, the sociodemographic characteristics, and the travel patterns of tourists visiting cultural sites and events. The results showed that while site visitors and event goers were homogenous in some variables, such as gender, age, number of children, education, income, accommodation, transportation mode, and travel party makeup, they were significantly different in the aspects of relationship status, employment status, information source, use of markers, repeated visit, geographic origin, and expenditure. Some management implications are discussed, including establishing more interactive activities in cultural attractions so that the social relations can be enhanced.
