Psychographic target group segmentation in tourism

Combination of Sinus-Milieus and BeST Types

Against the backdrop of various market developments, target group orientation has become increasingly important in destination management. Psychographic market segmentation approaches are often used to identify and select the relevant target groups for the destination.

Based on a further increase in the importance of target group orientation, the article addresses the question of the extent to which the combination of two market segmentation approaches can bring added value with regard to the target group strategy for destinations.

As an example, the Sinus-Milieus are linked with the BeST holidaymaker types. While the Sinus method is based on an overall social perspective, the BeST approach focuses on vacation benefits.

The combination of the two approaches shows that simple intersections are not expedient, but that a more detailed examination can certainly generate added value for the identification and selection of promising target groups and for the design of the destination's target group strategy.

The article was written in collaboration of Dr. Sabrina Seeler and Prof. Dr. Bernd Eisenstein (FH Westküste) with Manfred Tautscher und Norbert Schäuble (SINUS) and is part of the anthology "Klimaschutz und Nachhaltigkeit im Tourismus - Entwicklungen und Umsetzungsstrategien" by Monika Bandi Tanner, Samuel Wirth and Marcus Roller.