PROFILES OF TOURISTS AT INDIANA STATE PARK INNS DEVELOPED FROM PSYCHOGRAPHIC AND SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS (VACATION CLASSIFICATION, LEISURE)

The Problem. The problem of the study was to develop realistic portraits of tourists by examining demographic/socioeconomic and psychographic factors that influence vacation behavior.;Findings. The results of the cluster analysis determined that there were three mutually exclusive groups. The MANOVA tests indicated that the three clusters were significantly different based upon the four variable categories. The series of univariate F tests and discriminant analysis indicated the individual variables, within each category, that were also significantly different across the three clusters.;Conclusions. The patrons of Indiana state park inns can be divided into three unique vacation groups based upon a combination of psychographic, sociodemographic and vacation behavior characteristics.;There appears to be no vital source of information that strongly influences the travel decisions of patrons in Indiana state park inns.;Procedures. A modified version of the Leisure Time Activities Questionnaire, developed by Perreault, Darden, and Darden, was administered to a systematically selected sample of 1200 individuals who stayed at an Indiana state park inn during the summer, 1983. The questionnaire was developed to elicit information related to vacation activities, generalized behavior predispositions, sociodemographic characteristics, and measures of vacation travel behavior. A partitioning cluster analysis technique known as k-means clustering was utilized to group individuals on 26 vacation-specific life style variables. A multi-variate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted to analyze the differences between the groups based on the following variable categories: generalized behavior predispositions, sociodemographic characteristics, vacation behavior measures and vacation source of information. To better understand the effects of a significant MANOVA, a series of univariate F tests and discriminant analysis were conducted.;Recommendations. Further research should be conducted to study patrons who use state park inns throughout the entire year.;The promotional campaign for the Indiana state park inns should be based upon the three target markets determined in this study.