A Study Of Cultural Tourism: The Case Of Visitors To Prince Edward Island

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Culture is an important part of the tourism “product” and is one of the factors that can improve the competitiveness of a tourism destination. Cultural tourism covers all aspects of travel that provide an opportunity for visitors to learn about another area’s history and way of life. However, it has been difficult to demonstrate how important cultural tourism and cultural tourists are for a specific destination. This paper’s objective is to examine the meaning and significance of cultural tourism for a major Canadian tourist destination. In doing so, the paper attempts to identify cultural tourists and profile trip characteristics of cultural tourists in an island setting. The results indicate that there are significant differences between “cultural” and “non-cultural” tourists. Cultural tourists were more likely to use travel information sources, to stay more nights at the destination, to recall communities they visited, to engage in all other travel activities, and to spend more money than non-cultural tourists. Consequently, the results demonstrate that cultural tourists are valuable in terms of their economic contribution to the destination and cultural/social interaction with communities.

Stream: Cultural Sustainability

Paper: A paper has not yet been submitted.

Sean Hennessey is a Professor at the School of Business Administration at the University of Prince Edward Island (UPEI). He teaches in the areas of Corporate Finance, Investment Management, Business Research, and Personal Finance. Dr. Hennessey is also the Faculty Director of the Tourism Research Centre located in the School of Business. He has taught in the School of Business at UPEI since 1984. Dr. Hennessey is a co-author of two books: "Principles of Managerial Finance" published in 2003, and "Principles of Corporate Finance," published in April 2004. Dr. Hennessey has also published over 25 papers in peer-reviewed journals.