How Can Rail Use for Leisure and Tourism Be Promoted? Using Leisure and Mobility Orientations to Segment Swiss Railway Customers

This study aims to explore how customer segments are characterised by leisure and mobility orientations. By means of a survey, Swiss rail customers’ socioeconomic and trip profiles as well as attitudes towards taking the rail in their leisure time were collected. Respondents were free to take part in the survey by telephone or online, resulting in 1235 full interviews. A principal component analysis followed by segmentation through cluster analysis was conducted to derive their socio-economic and trip profiles and collect data on their attitudes towards using rail in their leisure time. Five railway customer segments were established, each demonstrating typical leisure orientations and specific attitudes towards the use of rail in leisure time and on tourist trips. This paper contributes to understanding the salient preferences of each segment and provides transport companies with clear indications for developing market-oriented offerings.