Upper middle class women with college degrees: A portrait of tourists who take 'free tours'

An umbrella held aloft guiding a large group of tourists through the main squares of the historic center on a route lasting several hours and culminating in voluntary payment by the participants depending on their levels of satisfaction. This pattern is frequently repeated in major European capitals. They have been dubbed 'free tours,' characterized by their lack of any set prices, and often serve as tourists' first way of getting to know the cities they visit.

A study carried out by a research team at the University of Cordoba (UCO) has produced a sociodemographic profile of the tourists attracted by these popular routes, a kind of robot portrait depicting an educated, upper middle class woman in her 40s who is willing to pay around 10 euros.

Specifically, according to the results of the work, carried out using some 250 surveys, to which neural network learning systems were applied, three out of four participants are university graduates or have a higher degree, 60% of the people surveyed earn more than 1,500 euros net per month, and one in four earns more than 2,500. In relation to the willingness to pay for the service, half opt for a figure ranging from 6 to 10 euros, and practically no one pays more than 20. 

As for the main factors motivating tourists to opt for this type of experience, the work highlights the opportunity to become familiar with historic neighborhoods, the tour itself, and the guide's friendliness. "People, in general, no longer want to learn about the history of a city through a plaque. They want someone to talk to them about it. In this case, the guides play a key role, as they are able to tell stories," explains Tomás López, the researcher in charge of the "Tourism, Culture and Sports Economics" group.

A satisfying experience transcending collaborative tourism

According to the results of the study, the vast majority of the people surveyed indicated that they would do it again, and recommend this experience to other family members and friends, revealing that these types of routes generate high levels of satisfaction, increasing with the age of the user. 

According to the group's lead researcher, the results suggest that these types of guided tours have little or nothing to do with other tourism systems or the collaborative economy, characterized by exchanges of goods and services between individuals through digital platforms. In fact, according to the conclusions of the study, there is no direct link between participation in 'free tours' and the use of apps like Blablacar, Uber, Cabify or other collaborative economy or tourism services. 

The study, in short, as pointed out by another of the authors who participated in it, Antonio Menor, could be useful not only for companies that offer this type of service, but also for public tourism promotion agencies, as these free tours, he highlights, "have become tools important to these destinations' marketing, image and visibility."