When Motivation and Cultural Participation Diverge: Measuring the Motive-Participation Mismatch and Its Economic Relevance

Cultural tourism research has long recognised that the reasons for taking a trip and the activities undertaken at the destination are not equivalent. This study measures that difference within the same population-based travel microdata and examines its economic relevance. Using 3551 trip records from the March 2026 public-use file of Spain’s Encuesta de Turismo de Residentes (ETR/FAMILITUR), we compare the primary cultural-motive indicator with a non-exclusive measure of reported cultural participation based on cultural visits, performances, and other cultural activities. Among the 3202 trips with an observed activity block, cultural participation accounted for 30.1% of weighted trips, compared with 15.8% identified by cultural primary motive; 56.4% of participating trips had a non-cultural primary motive (respondent-cluster bootstrap 95% confidence interval (CI): 52.2–60.8%). Exploratory multiple correspondence analysis (MCA) and weighted latent class analysis (LCA) identify heterogeneous activity portfolios; a culture-excluded LCA also shows large between-class differences in externally measured cultural participation. In adjusted models, reported cultural participation remains associated with approximately 13.0% higher total trip expenditure (95% CI: 5.8–20.7%), but its association with expenditure per night is smaller and non-significant. Model-selection criteria favour participation over motive, although the incremental R2 and respondent-grouped prediction gains are small. No independent association with global satisfaction is detected. The findings support a bounded measurement contribution: primary motive and reported participation capture different aspects of cultural tourism and should be reported separately.