Segmentation of Religious Tourism by Motivations: A Study of the Pilgrimage to the City of Mecca

The present study about the pilgrimage to Mecca aims to: (i) identify the motivational dimensions of the demand for religious tourism, (ii) determine the segments of the demand for religious tourism, (iii) establish the relationship between the segments and socio-demographic aspects, and (iv) establ...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Carvache-Franco, M. (Author), Carvache-Franco, O. (Author), Carvache-Franco, W. (Author), Hassan, T. (Author)
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI 2022
Subjects:
Online Access:View Fulltext in Publisher
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001 10.3390-su14137861
008 220718s2022 CNT 000 0 und d
020 |a 20711050 (ISSN) 
245 1 0 |a Segmentation of Religious Tourism by Motivations: A Study of the Pilgrimage to the City of Mecca 
260 0 |b MDPI  |c 2022 
856 |z View Fulltext in Publisher  |u https://doi.org/10.3390/su14137861 
520 3 |a The present study about the pilgrimage to Mecca aims to: (i) identify the motivational dimensions of the demand for religious tourism, (ii) determine the segments of the demand for religious tourism, (iii) establish the relationship between the segments and socio-demographic aspects, and (iv) establish the relationship between tourist segments and their satisfaction and loyalty in the religious tourism destination of Mecca. The research was carried out on pilgrims who had visited Mecca who lived in Bahrain, a country located on the Persian Gulf, where most of its population is Muslim. The sample consisted of 350 surveys obtained online. A factor and K-means clusters analysis were used to reduce and group the data. The results show three motivational dimensions: religious, social and cultural, and shopping. Additionally, there were also three segments of demand: the “Multiple motives,” with high scores in all the motivational variables, the “Passive tourists” with low levels of motivation and the “Religious,” with motivations in variables related to religion. The “Multiple motives” and the “Religious” segments had high satisfaction and loyalty levels. The results will serve as guides for the management of religious destinations and contribute to the academic literature on this subject. © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. 
650 0 4 |a loyalty 
650 0 4 |a motivation 
650 0 4 |a religious tourism 
650 0 4 |a satisfaction 
650 0 4 |a segmentation 
700 1 |a Carvache-Franco, M.  |e author 
700 1 |a Carvache-Franco, O.  |e author 
700 1 |a Carvache-Franco, W.  |e author 
700 1 |a Hassan, T.  |e author 
773 |t Sustainability (Switzerland)