A geographic and cultural region of the South Europe – Portugal.
Published in Chapter:
Tourists' Awareness of World Heritage: The Case of Tourists Visiting the Algarve (Portugal)
Claudia Helena Henriques (School for Management, Hospitality, and Tourism (ESGHT), & Research Centre for Tourism, Sustainability, and Well-Being (CinTurs), University of Algarve, Portugal) and Isabel Teotónio (School of Management, Hospitality, and Tourism (ESGHT), University of Algarve, Portugal)
Copyright: © 2020
|Pages: 20
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-3156-3.ch012
Abstract
This chapter offers an in-depth analysis of cultural tourism and namely of tourists' awareness of Portuguese World Heritage (WH). In accordance, firstly, there is the discussion of a theoretical framework associated to a cultural role and cultural identity in the sustainable development of tourism is presented. Secondly, it follows a case study approach based on the evaluation of Algarvian tourists' awareness of Portuguese WH. A questionnaire was applied in the Algarve region with the aim to determine the importance of cultural motivation and the level of knowledge regarding Portuguese culture by tourists. The results of this exploratory analysis underline the growing importance of cultural motivation and the recognition of culture's importance in the sustainable development of destinations. However, it also shows the low level of cultural motivation by Algarvian tourists as well as the low level of Portuguese WH knowledge, namely by foreign tourists. Nationality, age, academic background are key variables in tourism knowledge about Portuguese culture.