Tourist choice of heritage sites in Romania: a conjoint choice model of site attributes and variety seeking behavior

Romania owns a significant number of UNESCO listed heritage sites, but comparatively negligible tourist inflow. The information-seeking and the variety-seeking behavior of tourists among various types of heritage sites in Romania and associated peripheral attractions were explored from the TripAdvisor website and other resources. The travelers' choice of heritage sites was clustered using a modified K-mean clustering technique, resulting in five clusters based on certain attributes of heritage sites, influencing the tourist's choice of visit. Subsequently, a conjoint choice model is used to understand the role of heritage sites' location along with their attributes and peripheral attractions that influences the choice of tourists. This study proposes strategies to the policymakers and tour operators to enhance Romanian tourism potential. The findings suggest that trips with low travel time and cost encourage the tourist decision. Policymakers should also develop peripheral attractions in most of the UNESCO heritage sites, which are remotely located. In addition, peripheral locations should promote the local culture and products with enhanced quality so as to attract more international as well as national travelers. Potential strategies to enhance tourist visits to various types of heritage sites viz religious, historic, and parks, in Romania have also been proposed.