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Typology of Visitors using Tourism Motivations: a Case Study of Galápagos Archipelago

Researchers have been interested in ecotourists' characteristics and their impacts. However, there are not many study results to identify visitors themselves on ecotourism destination or to make typology of ecotourists. The purpose of this study was to develop a motivational profile of a distinct segment of tourists who visited archipelago Galápagos. The study used a factor analysis and confirmed five dimensions of tourism motivation; ‘observations of nature setting’, ‘learning and experience’, ‘relaxing’, ‘being in nature setting’, and ‘adventure’. From the scales, three clusters were identified; ‘nature tourists’, ‘learning tourists’, and ‘ecotourists’. This study found some differences among these tour types in the ecotourism destination. Theoretical and practical implications of the study are also discussed.