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The purpose of this paper is to characterize the international tourists who visit a cultural event, such as the Oruro Carnival (Bolivia), that is catalogued as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.

To achieve this purpose, a segmentation is made based on the combination of two theoretical models used and contrasted in similar research: the model of McKercher (2002), based on the cultural motivations to go to a destination, and that of Poria et al. (2003), based on the emotional perception of the visitor in relation to the heritage they visit.

Four types of tourists are thus identified: alternative, cultural, emotional and patrimonial. Likewise, the research includes an assessment of the most relevant tourist attributes linked to the Oruro Carnival, which is much more positive among international tourists with greater cultural motivation and emotional bonding.

The principal originality factor and innovation is analysing the cultural motivations and the emotional perception of the visitor in relation to the heritage they visit.