Abstract:

The paper is organized around two main topics: 1. Presentation of a piece of research conducted in France in 1975. The basic survey involved a representative sample of the French public and was focused on the attractiveness of tourism abroad and the motivations supporting the desire to spend holidays in a foreign country. The survey design provides opportunity for a segmentation of the sample into types of attitudes. Eight types of potential tourists are described and commented upon; 2. Critical discussion of this piece of research involving general remarks on its limits and values. The author who has specialized in tourism research for the last ten years seizes this opportunity to place this particular approach within the frame of reference of the tourism market.