Segmentation of the spiritual tourism market

This exploratory pilot study acknowledges the value of segmentation in deepening a positioning strategy when the market segments are effectively defined. To avoid criticism of the technique used to expand spiritual tourism segmentation knowledge, a theoretically justified approach supported the exploration of the research query; the first part of the four phase segmentation process model provided a framework for the study (Goller, Hogg and Kalafatis 2002). In-depth interviews were conducted with spiritual tourism consumers and providers in Australia and Pakistan. The transcriptions of the collected information were analysed using open and axial coding. It was concluded that a distinctive attitudinal characteristic of spiritual tourists, their tendency toward inclusivity/exclusivity, offered the most appropriate base for segmenting the spiritual tourism market.