WHO ARE CULTURAL TOURISTS ?

There are five types of cultural tourist. Here they’re ranked in terms of how important and how relevant they are to London. Most visitors to London are likely serendipitous and sightseeing cultural tourists. These are the bedrock of London’s visitor economy. However, as this report will show, there is a big growth of purposeful cultural tourists to London. 

A new generation of visitors who like to explore further, stay longer and spend more, whether they’re visitors from overseas, the UK or London. “I can have culture in America, I can have culture anywhere. What I really want to see is the distinct, unique, varied part that makes it different to everywhere else… what makes somewhere distinct.” USA serious considerer, VisitBritain’s Leveraging our Heritage and Culture research 2014 Who are cultural tourists?

 Types of cultural tourists 

1. Purposeful cultural tourist: for these highly motivated and early adopters, culture is their main reason for choosing a destination. They want a deep cultural experience.

 2. Sightseeing cultural tourist: culture is one of the main reasons they visit, but their experience of it is not as deep. They might be business tourists, students, or knowledge tourists.

 3. Serendipitous cultural tourist: don’t travel specifically for culture but are interested in seeking out experiences and, ultimately does have a deep cultural experience. They’re part of the mass tourism market already visiting London. 

4. Casual cultural tourist: culture is not a motivation for their visit and as a result, they don’t have a deep cultural experience. 

5. Incidental cultural tourist: this type of tourist does not travel for culture, but does engage in some very light touch cultural experiences