Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Tourism Management Perspectives journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/tmp Analysis of domestic cultural tourism spend by segment in the city of Granada: An observational data approach José-Alberto Castañeda, Julio Vena-Oya ⁎ , Miguel-Ángel Rodríguez-Molina, Rocío Martínez-Suárez Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Granada, Campus Universitario de Cartuja. P.A., 18071 Granada, Spain ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Cultural tourism Tourist expenditure Tourist segments Expenditure distribution ABSTRACT This paper provides an analysis of expenditure among domestic tourists visiting a cultural destination, based on the case of the City of Granada, Spain. For that purpose, we constructed a sample of 145 domestic tourists who registered their travel expenditure via a mobile application that provided a basis for identifying tourist segments by different determinants. Using these data, first the study analyzes the determinants of spend according to tourist segment, using a latent class model. Four segments are identified, presenting significant differences in the determinants of the spend reported by the tourist, and different levels of total actual spend at the destination. Second, within the total spend, a distinction is made between a) the proportion spent on attractions and cultural activities and b) all other expenses. In particular, the study analyzes the differences in the number of purchases, the value of each purchase and the geographical distribution of the purchases across the destination. One of the main findings is that, across the four tourist segments identified in the study, there are differences in total actual spend and non- cultural spend. However, within cultural spend, similar behavior is found throughout the different segments. 1. Introduction According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) in 1985, cultural tourism comprises “travel for strictly cul- tural or educational purposes”. However, the International Council on Monuments and Sites asserts that cultural tourism can mean many different things to different people – a trait that can be considered both a strength and a weakness (McKercher & Du Cros, 2003). It is important to distinguish cultural tourism from other types of leisure, such as sun-and-sand tourism. More specifically, the literature states that the former differs from other types of tourism in terms of: the motives that lead the tourist to travel (Brida, Disegna, & Scuderi, 2013; Park, Reisinger, & Kang, 2008); the complexity of the market and the opportunities afforded by segmentation (Bowitz & Ibenholt, 2009) the diverse interests of each tourist (Kerstetter, Confer, & Graefe, 2001); the specificity of the geographical location (Stebbins, 1996) and the dif- ferences in spending patterns (Pérez & Juaneda, 2000). As regards the relevance of cultural tourism, we should not forget that, as affirmed by Chen, Lee, Chen, and Chen (2013), it plays a major role in heritage conservation for the destinations and, as such, makes a significant economic impact (Rypkema, Cheong, & Mason, 2011). Be- yond its qualitative relevance, this is the tourism sector that has re- ported the greatest growth over the last decade (Pahos, Stamos, & Kicosev, 2010). However, cultural tourism destinations also face a series of chal- lenges. For many cultural cities, Granada included, overexploitation is beginning to prove problematic. Granada sees an annual 15-fold in- crease in its population, in overnight hotel stays alone. This over- exploitation among destinations is triggering a range of challenging issues, such as overloaded public services, house price increases and higher cost of living. It is also leading to environmental damage, and puts the historical heritage of destinations at risk. Ultimately, these factors all contribute to diminishing the tourist's experience, reducing their satisfaction (McKinsey & Company and WTTC, 2017).Hence, those bodies responsible for designing a destination's policies and strategies need to must ensure an appropriate balance between the benefits that cultural tourism brings and the costs it generates. A further issue that tourism managers have to address is how to attract tourism that is of a certain quality. Many micro-destinations attract poor-quality tourism, such as in the case of Salou (known for its https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tmp.2018.10.001 Received 26 December 2017; Received in revised form 23 August 2018; Accepted 6 October 2018 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: jalberto@ugr.es (J.-A. Castañeda), juliovena@correo.ugr.es (J. Vena-Oya), rmolina@ugr.es (M.-Á. Rodríguez-Molina), rmsuarez@ugr.es (R. Martínez-Suárez). Tourism Management Perspectives 29 (2019) 18–30 2211-9736/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. T