1 Address correspondence to Rob Hallak, Centre for Tourism & Leisure Management, School of Management, University of South Australia, Adelaide, 5000, Australia. E-mail: rob.hallak@unisa.edu.au Tourism Analysis, Vol. 18, pp. 000–000 1083-5423/13 $60.00 + .00 Printed in the USA. All rights reserved. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3727/108354213X13824558188749 Copyright © 2013 Cognizant Comm. Corp. E-ISSN 1943-3999 www.cognizantcommunication.com small businesses, with 93% of tourism enterprises in Australia employing fewer than 20 staff. Medium businesses (20–199 staff) comprise 6.5% of the sec- tor, while large businesses (200 or more staff) repre- sent only 0.5% (Tourism Research Australia, 2010). This is similar to other countries; for example, busi- nesses with less than 100 staff account for 98% of PROFILING TOURISM SMEs ACCORDING TO OWNERS’ SUPPORT FOR COMMUNITY: A CLUSTER ANALYSIS APPROACH ROB HALLAK,* GUY ASSAKER,† AND PETER O’CONNOR‡ *Centre for Tourism & Leisure Management, School of Management, University of South Australia, Adelaide, Australia †Département d’études urbaines et touristiques, École des sciences de la gestion, Université du Québec à Montréal, Montréal (Québec), Canada ‡ESSEC Business School, Cergy Pontoise, France This study profiles small and medium tourism enterprises (SMTEs) according to their level of support for local communities in order to investigate the relationship between such support and enterprise per- formance. Cluster analysis, chi-square, and MANOVA were used to explore data from 298 owners of SMTEs operating in South Australia. Results indicated that SMTEs are best grouped in two segments according to their level of support for community (Reluctants and Community Advocates). Segments can be differentiated by: 1) the number of family members working in the business; 2) the number of years the business has been in existence; 3) whether the owners have family members living in town; and 4) the type of business. Findings also demonstrate significant differences between segments in terms of business performance, with Community Advocates reporting greater levels of performance. As such, the findings have implications for scholars in tourism and entrepreneurial studies, and for tourism policy makers trying to support the sustainable development of regional tourism destinations. Key words: Cluster analysis; Segmentation; Small and medium tourism enterprises (SMTEs); Support for community Introduction The Asia-Pacific region has experienced significant growth in small and medium-sized tourism enterprises (SMTEs) (Chang, 2011). In Australia, tourism- related businesses comprised almost 29% of busi- nesses trading in 2007 (Tourism Research Australia, 2010). The sector is composed predominantly of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 PROOF