Target markets are the different groups of customers who buy particular goods or services. Most leisure and tourism organisations have different types of customers who have varying needs and expectations. These different types of customers are known as market segments. For example a leisure centre offers a range of different products to different groups of people. For example it may offer swimming sessions for families on a Saturday afternoon and a disco swim for teenagers on a Friday night.

The five most common ways of segmenting a market are by:

• Age
• Social group
• Lifestyle
• Ethnicity
• Gender

Age

Leisure and Tourism organisations aim different products at a range of age groups. For example SAGA Holidays target over 50s.

Social Group

People place themselves in a social group or class according to their job. Institutions such as operas mainly target people in the higher social classes while bingo appeals mainly to those in lower social classes.

Lifestyle

This is a mix of work, income, family situation, social habits etc. Lifestyle is a very important segment because the lifestyle someone has will usually determine the leisure and tourism activities they participate in. A young single male will have different needs to a family.

Ethnicity

Different ethnic groups may have different needs. For example some independent cinemas are showing an increasing number of Asian films.

Gender

Traditionally many leisure and tourism organisation targeted particular sexes in their marketing. For example, rugby and football were male orientated sports and Yoga was female orientated. This is becoming less so nowadays.