Demand Segmentation for Sustainable Adventure Destination Management: A Study of Santa Elena, Ecuador

Adventure tourism has established itself as a growing sector that integrates physical activity, interaction with nature, and cultural exchange. Understanding the heterogeneity of demand is crucial for designing effective and sustainable destination management strategies. Despite the global growth of adventure tourism, there is a scarcity of empirical studies analyzing the motivations, segmentation, and loyalty of tourists in emerging coastal destinations. This study contributes to filling this gap by providing evidence from the case of Santa Elena, Ecuador. This study examines the motivations, market segmentation, and loyalty of adventure tourists in Santa Elena, an emerging coastal destination in Ecuador. Based on a survey of 318 visitors and using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and k-means cluster segmentation, five motivational dimensions were identified: learning, social, biosecurity, relaxation, and competence-mastery. The results revealed two distinct segments: (i) Relaxation seekers, primarily motivated by rest and stress reduction, and (ii) multi-motivation tourists, with high levels of motivation across all dimensions. This latter group showed greater loyalty, evidenced by the intention to return, recommend, and spread a positive image of the destination. The study contributes to academic knowledge by proposing a motivation-based segmentation model that integrates emerging dimensions such as biosecurity and offers practical implications for the sustainable management of adventure destinations. It recommends designing differentiated tourism products that cater to dominant motivations, thereby strengthening competitiveness and contributing to the sustainability of tourism in emerging contexts.