THE IMPORTANCE OF UNDERSTANDING THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE CHARACTERISTICS AND MOTIVATION OF VISITORS: EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF A CROATIAN TOURIST EVENT

The purpose of this paper is to examine the characteristics and motivations of event visitors. The goals are to systematically identify socio-demographic characteristics of visitors to tourist events and identify key motivation for visiting tourist events. In addition, the research aims to investigate the correlation between the socio-demographic characteristics of visitors and their motivations for visiting a tourist event. The research was conducted among the visitors of a tourist event (103 respondents), using the survey method and a pre-designed structured questionnaire. The survey was conducted in April 2017, during the duration of an event which is held every year in the city of Zagreb in the Republic of Croatia. The results of the conducted research have shown significant differences between the different socio-demographic characteristics of the respondents and their motivations. Thus, women are more highly motivated by a desire for cultural experiences (34%), while men are motivated the most by curiosity/desire for new experiences (45%). Furthermore, correlation analysis has led to the conclusion that there is a significant correlation between motivation domains and the socio-demographic characteristics of respondents (gender, age and education). Understanding the visitors' characteristics and event motivations could serve as a useful tool for event managers. It could help them to develop and manage events, with the aim of improving the event offering to meet the needs and demands of different visitors. Given the growing importance of events as an enrichment element of the tourism offering, this research can contribute to the advancement of knowledge in this field.