Market analysis of value-minded tourists: Nature-based tourism in the Arctic

This study examines the underlying tourist markets in peripheral destinations in relation to visitors' perceptions of service values, deploying a series of self-administered, questionnaire-based, onsite surveys of 579 tourists visiting four Norwegian Arctic destinations. The key research variable is a value-related scale, which contains 19 indicators explained by five value dimensions. A cluster analysis based on value measurement was performed to discover the underlying tourist sub-market. Subsequently, the study identifies three mutually exclusive markets: (1) escapist, (2) utilitarian, and (3) nature chaser, based on tourists' perceived trip service values and behaviors. Functional values emerge as the most important value for these tourists, which implies that major attractions in northern Norway offer satisfactory experiences due to their good standards in service provision and amenity design.