Heritage tourism in ubeda y baeza (Spain). World heritage reinassance cities

Abstract

This research is focused on the cities of Úbeda and Baeza and aims to characterize the type of tourists that visit them. The study investigates the characteristics of the trip, as well as the assessment that visitors make of the tourist attributes, recognizing differences between the various types of tourists. For this, a segmentation was made based on the cultural and patrimonial motivations of the tourists. This research uses the multivariate technique of grouping cases (K-means clusters) to analyse the similarity existing among the surveyed persons. From the groups or segments obtained, statistics and measurements of association were applied that provide the information necessary to study the possible trends of association existing between variables from a table of bidimensional contingencies. In the same way, non-parametric statistical procedures were used (Kruskal-Wallis H test and the Mann-Whitney U test). The visitors have been segmented according to their perception of the heritage and their cultural interest resulting in four types of tourists being identified: alternative tourist, cultural tourist, emotional tourist and heritage tourist. Also, the results reveal a higher valuation among tourists who present cultural motivations. This article contributes to complete the academic literature existing on the links of the tourist with the historical and monumental heritage that he visits, and with the tourist’s behaviour.