2011, Vol.35, No.4

Journal of Tourism Sciences 2023 KCI Impact Factor : 2.7

pISSN : 1226-0533 / eISSN : 2713-6388
https://journal.kci.go.kr/JTS

This study was design to segment visitors of Jeju Geomunoreum, a World Natural Heritage, based on the visitors' motivation profile. It also examined the socio-demographic and visit characteristics of each segmented groups. Data were collected from 373 visitors of Jeju Geomunoreum from July 10 to August 8, 2010. Results of a K-mean cluster analysis, which was based on five visitor motivations, yielded three different clusters solution of the visitors: sociability-seekers, escape-seekers and multi-purpose seekers. Results also showed that there were significant difference among the groups in terms of their socio-demographic and visit behaviors. From the result of the study, marketing strategies and political implications were also suggested.

The study analyzed how tourists' experiences World Cultural Heritage Sites and how their experiences were related to level of satisfaction and intention to revisit. Based on the review of previous literature, seven different types of tourist experience(e.,g. ‘novelty’, ‘familiarity’, ‘education’, ‘authenticity’ and ‘nostalgia’) were employed as the independent variables of this study. Data were collected from 400 visitors of four Korean World Culture Heritage sites on September 2010. Results of a structural equation modeling analysis showed that four different types of experiences(i.e., familiarity, education, existential authenticity, nostalgia) of the respondents were significantly associated with their level of visit satisfaction and revisit intention. Particularly, ‘familiarity’ and ‘nostalgia’, which were the newly suggested constructs of tourist experiences in this study, were proven to be as primary factors of heritage tourism experience.

Using a contingent valuation method, this study estimated the value of the Seoraksan National Park. Particularly, it compared the non-market value of the national park when it had a cable car and when it had not. Data were collected from 403 visitors of the national park on May of 2009. Results showed that the benefit value of the national park could be from 45.7 to 52 billion won per year when it had a cable car in the park. However, the benefit value could be only from 2.9 through 3.6 billion won per year when there was no cable car in the park. This suggested that the benefit value of the national park could be 15 times larger when the park had a cable car. Results also indicated that the respondents considered 'appreciation of beautiful scenery' as the major attraction of the Seoraksan National Park. The respondents also tended to think that installation of cable cars could be a new method of inducing tourists as well as preventing environmental damage of the Seoraksan National Park.