Segmenting Inbound Tourists Using Destination Image

The purpose of this study was to segment inbound tourists to Tanzania using destination image. A self-administered structured questionnaire was conveniently distributed to inbound tourist to Tanzania in two major international airports in Tanzania. The questionnaire captured destination image using a five point Likert type scale while the demographics, sources of travel information, and travel behavior were captured using dichotomy or multiple choice questions. A total of 625 dully filled questionnaires were used for data analysis. A factor-cluster analysis was used in analyzing the data, with factor analysis serving in reducing the items into few dimensions that were subsequently subjected to stepwise cluster analysis. A hierarchical cluster analysis was used to explore the possible numbers of clusters followed by hierarchical cluster analysis (k-means) that confirmed the appropriate number of clusters. A three cluster solution was obtained with follow up one way ANOVA, t-tests, and Chi-square indicating statistical significance differences between the clusters basing on travel motives and travel behavior. The findings offer practical implications to destination managers on the use of destination image in marketing destinations to different tourist segments. This study explored the possible tourist segments basing on destination image of less researched African context.