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Tourists' perceptions of world heritage destinations: The case of Guimarães (Portugal)

Paula C Remoaldo, José C Ribeiro, Laurentina Vareiro and José F Santos
Tourism and Hospitality Research 2014 14: 206 originally published online 26 June 2014
DOI: 10.1177/1467358414541457

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Article
Tourism and Hospitality Research
2014, Vol. 14(4) 206–218
Tourists’ perceptions of world heritage ! The Author(s) 2014
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destinations: The case of Guimarães sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/1467358414541457

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Paula C Remoaldo and José C Ribeiro

University of Minho, Portugal

Laurentina Vareiro
Polytechnic Institute of Cávado and Ave, Portugal

José F Santos
Polytechnic of Porto, Portugal

Abstract
Guimarães is a UNESCO world heritage site, deemed as such in 2001 and hosted the 2012 European
Capital of Culture. This paper examines the profile, destination image, and motivations of tourists’ visiting
behaviors in Guimarães before the cultural event. Based on survey responses from 276 tourists, we found
that tourists arriving in Guimarães had previously visited the two most important cities in the northern
part of Portugal. These respondents were relatively young and well educated compared to the average
tourists that visited Portugal. The results suggest that many tourists were aware of the city status as a
world heritage site that encompasses a historic center, monuments, and architectural buildings.
Furthermore, these perceptions shape the image of Guimarães, as the factor analysis indicates that
‘‘historical background and functionality’’ was the most reliable and valid factor behind the choice of
visiting the city.

Keywords
Guimarães, tourists’ perceptions, tourist destination image, motivations, cultural tourism

Introduction or mass destinations (Yankholmes and Akyeampong,

Tourism is seen as one of the main drivers of socio-
economic progress in both developed and developing
regions. Although the evolution of tourism in recent
years has been somewhat irregular, domestic and
international tourism industries continue to expand
in response to the markets demand, stimulated by con-
sumers’ increased leisure time and relative wealth
(UNWTO, 2011, http://www2.unwto.org/).
The competition among tourist destinations is
fierce due to the increasing number of cities that envis-
age attracting international travelers. Cultural tourism
is one of the most growing segments of the tourism
industry. Many tourists who visit heritage sites seek a
value-added and authentic experience, when com-
pared with the traditional products (sea, sun, sand)
2010). In this context, destination images are import-
ant, as they influence people’s perceptions of places
and can affect their choices and behaviors (Chen and
Chen, 2010).
The city of Guimarães, in the northwest of
Portugal, was deemed a world heritage site
(UNESCO) in December 2001 and was one of the
cities that hosted the European Capital of Culture
(ECOC) in 2012. One of the main outcomes of this
Corresponding author:
Paula C Remoaldo, Department of Geography, Campus de Azurém,
University of Minho, 4800-058 Guimarães, Portugal.
Email: premoaldo@geografia.uminho.pt

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Remoaldo et al.
event could be the reshaping of the image of the city,
both by attenuating the most perceived negative attri-
butes or by repositioning the city image according to
the objectives and goals of the strategic communica-
tion plan tailored by the Portuguese organizers of
the ECOC.
Until now, few studies have been undertaken in
Portugal regarding the destination image (Agapito
et al., 2010; Lopes, 2011). Besides, to our best know-
ledge, none has focused on heritage tourism destin-
ations. Having that in mind, the present study
examines tourists’ perceptions of Guimarães as a
world heritage tourism destination and the motivations
underlying tourists’ selection of the city. The identifi-
cation of the visitors’ profile is also envisaged.
The understanding of tourists’ perceptions of a
heritage destination is important in developing suc-
cessful marketing strategies to promote and position
a destination. In the case of Guimarães, the results
are even more important, due to the organization of
the ECOC 2012, as they suggest actions and tools to
reshape some weak and/or negative dimensions of the
image of Guimarães or to reinforce/reinvent a positive
one.
As mentioned, this paper addresses the motivations
and destination image in the context of a heritage city
and the profile of the visitors. ‘‘Introduction’’ section
clarifies the concepts of cultural and heritage tourism
and presents some tourist typologies. ‘‘Cultural and
heritage tourism’’ section describes the motivations
to visit a heritage destination. ‘‘Travel motivations to
heritage sites’’ section provides a brief overview of des-
tination image literature relevant to the study. Then,
‘‘Tourism destination and image’’ section describes the
general characteristics of the municipality of
Guimarães. ‘‘Guimarães as a heritage city’’ section
sets out the methodology used. ‘‘Methodology’’ sec-
tion presents the results and discussion. The final sec-
tion provides the study’s policy and managerial
implications and conclusions.
Cultural and heritage tourism
Cultural tourism refers to a segment of the tourism
industry that places special emphasis on heritage and
cultural attractions. This is one of the fastest growing
segments of the tourism industry (Chen and Chen,
2010; Ritchie and Inkari, 2006; Sharma and Dyer,
2009; Shin, 2010).
The changes in time and working conditions as well
as expectations about holidays and leisure are contri-
buting factors to this segment. The demand for
more active vacations with more cultural elements,
as opposed to passive and regenerative elements, has
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207
attracted more and more sectors of the population
(Ritchie and Hudson, 2009; Ritchie and Inkari,
2006; Yankholmes and Akyeampong, 2010). The
new middle class, with higher education levels and
income, has been responsible for the increase of this
segment of tourism (Richards, 1996).
According to Besculides et al. (2002: 303–304),
cultural tourism includes visiting historic or archaeo-
logical sites, involvement in community festivals,
watching of traditional dances and ceremonies, or
merely shopping for handcrafted art. In less-developed
regions, heritage and cultural attractions may
include archaeological or historic sites, museums,
traditional religious practices, handicrafts, gastron-
omy, or cultural performances.
The World Tourism Organization defines cultural
tourism as the movement of persons due to cultural
motivations such as study tours, performing arts, travel
to festivals and other cultural events, visit to sites and
monuments, travel to study nature, folklore, or art or
pilgrimages (WTO, 1985).
According to Richards (1997), cultural tourism
includes all movements of persons to specific cultural
attractions such as heritage sites, artistically and cul-
tural manifestations, and arts and drama outside their
normal place of residence. Silberberg (1995) states
that cultural tourism is a form of tourism motivated
by interest in the historical, artistic, scientific, or heri-
tage offerings of a region. Stebbins (1996) defines cul-
tural tourism as a genre of special-interest tourism
based on the search for and participation in new and
deep cultural experiences, whether aesthetic, intellec-
tual, emotional, or psychological.
Several authors (Cadima Ribeiro et al., 2012;
Henriques, 2007; Ritchie and Hudson, 2009;
Yankholmes and Akyeampong, 2010) emphasize the
desire to experience another culture, in multiple
forms and as a unique cultural experience that makes
the experience authentic and memorable.
Recently, creative activities and intangible heritage
were added to enlarge the definition of cultural tour-
ism (OECD, 2009), and the cultural experience
tended to be looked, more and more, as a holistic
process (Russo and Van der Borg, 2002). However,
as the time passes and tourism products diversify, it
is increasingly difficult to incorporate all of the activ-
ities offered by a community, region, group, or insti-
tution within a well-established definition of cultural
tourism.
The economic impact of cultural tourism is over-
whelming: according to the OECD (2009), cultural
tourism accounted for around 40% of all international
tourism, or 360 million arrivals, in 2007. A study by
the European Commission states that 60% of
European tourists are interested in cultural discovery,
208
and around 30% of tourist destinations are chosen
based on the presence of heritage sites, which can be
visited (EICR, 2004).
Narrowing the concept of cultural tourism, we can
find the one of heritage tourism, classified by Timothy
and Boyd (2006) as one of the most important and
widespread types of tourism, being one of the
oldest forms of travel. The main motivation for visiting
a site is based on the place’s heritage characteristics
according to the tourists’ perception of their own heri-
tage; that is, a phenomenon based on tourists’ motiv-
ations and perceptions rather than on specific site
attributes (Chen and Chen, 2010; Poria et al., 2001:
2006).
Frequently, includes visiting built (such as his-
toric buildings), cultural (such as traditional cul-
tural events), and natural arenas (such as national
parks). It is derived from past images of history trans-
lated into reality that is constructed into costume
dramas and re-enactments of past historic events
(Goh, 2010).
Using other words, its central definition has to do
with ‘‘the present day use of the past,’’ as focused by
Ashworth, 2003 and Graham et al., 2000, cited by
Timothy and Boyd (2006) and includes tangible and
intangible elements from the cultural landscape. Still
following Timothy (2011: 4), heritage tourism is
linked to travelers ‘‘(. . .) seeing or experiencing built
heritage, living culture or contemporary arts.’’
Taking a demand approach, the majority of research
undertaken on this issue has been centered on motiv-
ations and segmenting visitors’ markets (Timothy and
Boyd, 2006, following Poria, 2003). The present paper
is contributing to know more about motivations in a
Portuguese particular heritage destination, Guimarães.
From that empirical approach, one envisages to con-
clude if common empirical findings reported by the
literature do apply to this case or if there is something
singular to report.
Many tourists that visit heritage sites consider their
experiences as value-added, and this can be viewed as
a factor of differentiation between destinations and, at
the same time, a chance to increase the number of
returning visitors. Most of these tourists are disen-
chanted with traditional tourism products and mass
destinations, seeking more authentic experiences pro-
vided by heritage attractions (Yankholmes and
Akyeampong, 2010).
One of the reasons to explain the interest for heri-
tage sites is the profile of heritage tourists, which is
very different from the average tourist. In a pioneering
work, Silberberg (1995) concluded that the heritage
tourist earns more money and spends it more fre-
quently while he/she is on vacation. The same author
also identified that this kind of tourist is more
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Tourism and Hospitality Research 14(4)
educated, is older, and spends more time at the
destination.
In Hong Kong, McKercher (2002) identified five
segments of cultural tourists based on the importance
of cultural motives (centrality) and depth of experi-
ence: the purposeful (high centrality/deep experience),
the sightseeing (high centrality/shallow experience),
the casual (modest centrality/shallow experience), the
incidental (low centrality/shallow experience), and the
serendipitous (low centrality/deep experience).
In the case of Nyaupana et al. (2006), three distinct
segments were found among tourists visiting three
Native American cultural heritage sites in Arizona,
USA: culture focused (one-third), culture attentive
(one-half), and culture appreciative (less than one-
fifth). According to the authors’ conclusions, the first
segment (culture focused) is similar to the purposeful
cultural tourists proposed by McKercher (2002) and
to Silberberg’s (1995) greatly motivated tourists
(Nyaupane et al., 2006).
In the European case, Pérez (2009: 125), following
Bywater (1993), found three profiles of cultural tour-
ists: ‘‘(a) the culturally motivated are a small market
segment that is attracted to a destination due to cul-
tural reasons or causes, which leads them to spend
several nights at the place of destination; (b) the cul-
turally inspired are inspired by cultural sites and heri-
tage such as the Alhambra in Granada and Venice.
They want to see the same places, which imply prob-
lems of asset management. These tourists spend short
periods of time in culture destinations and are not
motivated to return to the same place; (c) the cultur-
ally attracted are those who carry out a day visit to
cultural sites and heritage, but are not strictly moti-
vated by cultural reasons.’’
According to Perez (2009: 126), following Richards
(2004), the profile of cultural tourists has not varied
much over time. These groups include more women
than men, younger people, and higher educational
attainment, which is associated with higher consump-
tion of culture.
Travel motivations to heritage sites
In the literature, travel motivations have been assessed
in relation to the push and pull forces or demand
stimulation. Crompton (1979) identified seven push
motives and two pull motives. The push motives
were escaped from a perceived mundane environment,
exploring and the evaluation of self, relaxation, pres-
tige, regression, enhancement of kinship relationship,
and facilitation of social interaction. The pull motives
were novelty and education.
Gnoth (1997) suggests that motivation formation
could be expressed in terms of inner-directed values
Remoaldo et al.
(emotional drives) and outer-directed values (cogni-
tive). However, in addition to push and pull factors,
a hedonic factor could be added, showing that emo-
tional and experiential needs are relevant to pleasure-
seeking and choice behavior (Goossens, 2000).
In general, motivations to travel could be related to
physical motivators (physical rest, participation in
sports, need for recreation at a beach, and person’s
bodily health), cultural motivators (desire to gain
knowledge about other countries), interpersonal
motivators (desire to meet new people, visit friends
or relatives, get away from routine or to make
new friendships), and status and prestige motivators
(self-esteem and personal development) (Jang and
Cai, 2002).
According to Poria et al. (2004), the two most
common reasons to visit a heritage site reported in
the literature are education (i.e. the tourists’ willing-
ness to learn) and entertainment (i.e. the tourists’
desire to be entertained). In the same way, according
to Pérez (2009), among the main travel motivations
stand out the atmosphere and environment of the des-
tination, the opportunity to see interesting things, and
the desire to learn more about the local culture.
Based on a sample of English-speaking inter-
national tourists leaving Israel through the Ben-
Gurion airport, Poria et al. (2004) found three
groups of reasons for visiting heritage sites: heritage
experience, learning experience, and recreational
experience. These reasons were linked to the tourists’
perceptions of the site in relation to their own heritage
and their willingness to be exposed to an emotional
experience (Poria et al., 2004).
In a study of potential visitors to the Anne Frank
House in Amsterdam, Poria et al. (2006) reveal the
existence of the emotional involvement and bequeathal
of the site’s narrative. The findings also indicate a dis-
tinct relationship between tourists’ perceptions of a
site relative to their own heritage and the motivations
for visiting the site.
A more recent study by Yankholmes and
Akyeampong (2010) shows that tourists’ perceptions
of Danish-Osu (Ghana) reflect their knowledge of the
site in relation to its cultural heritage attributes. They
also found that tourists have dual experiences at the
site: those that relate to recreational pursuits of heri-
tage sites and those that ascribe meanings based on
their background.
The results related to Australia suggest that tourists
are motivated differently when deciding to visit heri-
tage destinations. According to Goh (2010), the edu-
cational value was the most frequently stated reason
for visiting a heritage destination, followed by positive
feedback from previous tourists and the famous repu-
tation of the site.
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209
In Taiwan, Chen and Chen (2010) suggest that the
total experience the tourists seek from the heritage site
can be obtained through leisure, culture, education,
and social interaction.
Tourism destination and image
The World Tourism Organization defined a tourism
destination as ‘‘a physical space in which a visitor
spends at least one overnight. It includes tourism
products such as support services and attractions,
and tourism resources within one day’s return travel
time. It has physical and administrative boundaries
defining its management, and images and perceptions
defining its market competitiveness. Local destinations
incorporate various stakeholders often including a host
community, and can nest and network to form larger
destinations’’ (WTO, 2007: 1). The other side of the
mirror is the destination image, which could be con-
sidered a subjective interpretation of the destination
by tourists.
This image is based on the perceptions each tourist
has of all destinations they have been to or have heard
of (San Martin and Rodriguez, 2008). Thus, the des-
tination image is ‘‘formed through interpretations of
rational and emotional context, which comprise two
interrelated components: cognitive or perceptual
(attributes) and affective or evaluative (feelings)’’
(Agapito et al., 2010: 92–93).
Destination image is a central cue in the destination
selection process and, thus, contributes a lot to the
understanding of the tourist’s behavior (Baloglu and
McCleary, 1999).
One of the great challenges in the management of a
destination image is the differentiation that needs to be
done in order to gain sustainable competitive advan-
tages regarding other places’ images. This differenti-
ation strategy is based on attributes (tangible or
intangible) but also involves the sum of all beliefs,
ideas, and impressions that people associate with a
destination (Crompton, 1979; Kotler et al., 1993).
Therefore, the role played by destination image sur-
passes the reality of the destination, as tourists based
their decisions mostly on image.
From a marketer’s point of view, the management
of destination personality is also important. According
to Ekinci and Hosany (2006), a destination personality
could be described according to sincerity (reliable, sin-
cere, intelligent, successful, wholesome), excitement
(exciting, daring, original, spirited), and conviviality
(friendly, family oriented, charming). Pike and Ryan
(2004) approach the destination image from the pos-
itioning point of view describing Auckland (New
Zealand) as having good life/infrastructure, getting
away from it all, outdoor play, and weather.
210
As mentioned, the empirical research available
shows that a destination image positively influences
consumer perceptions and ultimately the demand for
a place. In Lagos (Portugal), the attributes that explain
the tourists’ recommendations to friends and family
are, in descending order, ‘‘interesting cultural heritage,
good value for money, interesting cultural events, calm
sea, and good sports facilities’’ (Agapito et al., 2010:
105). In the case of the Amasra region (Turkey), the
visitors are affected by the history and cultural heri-
tage, shopping and food, peaceful and clean environ-
ment, and architecture and infrastructure of the region
(Aksoy and Kiyci, 2011). In the case of Ios (Greece),
the findings revealed that visitors enjoy the relaxing
atmosphere and the party mood of the island
(Stylidis et al., 2008).
Tapachai and Waryszak (2000) studied the image of
Thailand and the United States using five dimensions
(functional, social, emotional, epistemic, and condi-
tional). The results show that Thailand was perceived
as a country of cheap purchases, exotic food, historical
places, virgin tropical rural regions, and gorgeous
sights (functional dimension), thus providing a culture
experience and climate (epistemic dimension) with
proximity, cheap travel, and accessibility to other
close destinations (conditional dimension). Similarly,
the attributes found for the United States include a
functional dimension, characterized by a fascination
for purchases, famous theme parks, well-known land-
marks, big cities, gorgeous sights, and scenery; an epi-
stemic dimension, which includes the experience of
the destination, and a lot of things to be seen and
done; and a conditional dimension supported in the
lack of linguistic barriers, cheap and quality transport,
and special sports events (Tapachai and Waryszak,
2000).
Therefore, in the process of decision making, des-
tinations with stronger positive images are more
likely to be chosen. However, the destination choice
should be based not only on the perceived destin-
ation images but also on the attitudes formed from
the available sources of information, the position of
the destination compared to other competitors, and
the ability to satisfy the perceived needs (Truong and
King, 2009).
In conclusion, for a tourism destination to be suc-
cessful, it must project an image that conveys the spe-
cific benefits desired by tourists (both tangible and
intangible) and, at the same time, search for differen-
tiation in a meaningful way to visitors.
Having in mind the empirical evidence provided by
the literature on heritage tourism and travelling motiv-
ations to those sites, in our empirical approach, we will
try to capture both the Guimarães visitors’ profile and
the perceived attributes and of the city.
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Tourism and Hospitality Research 14(4)
Guimarães as a heritage city
Guimarães is located in the northern part of Portugal
and is one of the most important towns of that terri-
tory, after Porto, Vila Nova de Gaia, and Braga
(Cadima Ribeiro et al., 2012). The city was declared
by UNESCO to be a World Heritage Site in 2001. The
main reasons for this designation were the historical
center and its role as the ‘‘cradle of the nation’’ (place
of birth of D. Afonso Henriques, first king of
Portugal), with the castle being a symbol of the inde-
pendence of the country against Spain (Cadima
Ribeiro and Remoaldo, 2011).
In 2012, the municipality hosted one of the 2012
European Capitals of Culture (ECOC), after Lisbon
(the capital) in 1994 and Porto (the second most
important city) in 2001. This was the first time that
a Portuguese medium city hosted such a mega-event,
and so, several challenges could be pointed out.
Speaking of mega-events, it seems useful to retain
that we can define such kind of event as a large-scale
one (cultural, sporting, and, even, commercial), which
has a dramatic character, mass popular appeal, and
international significance (Liu, 2012; Ritchie, 1984;
Roche, 2000).
Like other mega-events, a European Capital of
Culture tends to generate long-term impacts on host
communities (Gursoy et al., 2011; Palonen, 2011),
which can be of economic, sociocultural, psycho-
logical, environmental, and political nature. It can
also reinforce the image of the city at national and
international level (Deccio and Baloglu, 2002; Kim
et al., 2006).
As highlighted by the official study about the
ECOC 2012 undertook by the University of Minho,
the city faced in 2012 a strong growth in the tourism
demand, with the tourist offices of Guimarães register-
ing an increase of 106.7% in the amount of visitors
compared with the average of the previous 3 years
(Universidade do Minho, 2013). Besides, according
to the same source (Universidade do Minho, 2013)
and following the results of a survey implemented in
January 2013, covering a sample of small retailors of
the city, 80% of the respondents considered positive
(64.9%) or very positive (23.9%) the business impact
of the ECOC 2012. Regarding the reshape of the inter-
national image of the city, it seems to be too soon to
derive a conclusion.
During the last decade, the city experienced a slight
decrease in the population (0.9%), and the hosting of
the mega-event provided an opportunity to reinforce
the pride of residents and, as underlined, attracting
new visitors to the city. As a matter of fact, tourism
was looked by local authorities as a major driver for
regional growth. Therefore, the organization of the
Remoaldo et al.
ECOC 2012 in Guimarães was an opportunity to rein-
force the image of the city as a cultural destination
both within the country and internationally.
In a previous study, Vareiro et al. (2011) concluded
that residents’ perceptions toward tourism in
Guimarães were very positive, due to job-creation
expectations and the association kept between tourism
development, economic opportunities of tourism, and
the preservation of historical buildings, traditional
events, and culture.
If ‘‘heritage is not simply the past, but the modern-
day use of elements of the past’’ (Timothy and Boyd,
2006: 4; Yankholmes and Akyeampong, 2010: 603),
then Guimarães municipality can be seen as an exam-
ple of modern view and use of its past.
Methodology
The methodology was quantitative in nature and
employed a survey research design as a common
method to investigate motivations to travel and per-
ceptions of destination image. Before the design of
the questionnaire, we conducted an in-depth interview
with those responsible for the office of tourism of the
city to obtain information on the attributes and motiv-
ations of tourists. Also, secondary data (statistics) and
previous surveys related to tourists’ behavior were
considered.
After the design of the questionnaire (both in
Portuguese and English), a pre-test was performed to
ensure the internal and external consistency of the
questions. The final self-administered structured ques-
tionnaire was applied in the two tourist offices in the
city of Guimarães, both located in the classified area of
the city (cultural heritage) between December 2010
and August 2011.
The final questionnaire includes three parts. The
first part of the questionnaire dealt with cities visited
before or after the tourists arrived to Guimarães. The
other is a closed, multiple-response question about
tourists’ motivations asking why tourists had chosen
this specific heritage destination (such as touring, busi-
ness, culture, and sports). The second part explored
tourists’ perceptions of destination image using 21
attributes (such as monuments, gastronomy, historical
center, and accessibility), measured by a five-point
Likert scale. Another question aimed to ascertain
whether the city could be recommended by tourists
to relatives and friends with a multiple-response ques-
tion (yes/no/perhaps). The third part covered the
demographic characteristics of the respondents (such
as gender, age, and education).
The final self-administered structured question-
naire was applied in the two tourist offices located in
the classified area of Guimarães. Given the seasonality
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211
of tourism in the city, which also occurs elsewhere in
the country, it was decided that the questionnaire
would be applied during three different periods:
December 2010, corresponding to the low season
(90 questionnaires); April 2011, corresponding to
the middle season (90 questionnaires); and July and
August 2011, corresponding to the high season (96
questionnaires). A total of 300 questionnaires were
filled in, of which 276 were properly completed and
provided usable data.
The amount of questionnaires applied had in mind
the costs incurred and the figures used in other studies,
as Poria et al. (2006), where 205 interviews were con-
ducted at an historic site (Anne Frank House in
Amsterdam, the Netherlands), and as Yankholmes
and Akyeampong (2010), where 218 questionnaires
were applied at another heritage site (Danish-Osu,
Ghana).
The questionnaire used did not envisage distin-
guishing between domestic and international tourists,
even we were aware that these two types of visitors
could have a different perception toward the city of
Guimarães. Either domestic or international tourists
tend to make use the two tourist offices located in
the classified area of Guimarães. One being aware of
that, it was there that the questionnaire was applied.
Annually, the local authorities use to collect data
regarding the city’s visitors (www.guimaraesturis-
mo.com). From there, we were aware that the tourists
came, mostly, from Spain, Portugal, and France.
Additionally, official statistics about the year 2011
told us that 35% of the hosted visitors were foreigners
versus 53% that had come from Portugal (Instituto
Nacional de Estatı́stica, 2012). Remaining figures
refer to Portuguese visitors that were living abroad.
Since we had several variables (21) by which to
measure tourists’ perceived images of Guimarães, we
decided to use factor analysis (with varimax rotation
and principal components as the extraction method) to
reduce data, transforming the original set of 21 vari-
ables into a smaller set of representative factors.
The use of factor analysis in this study relies on a
previous diagnosis based on the computation of the
Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin (KMO) statistics and on the
Bartlett test. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients evaluate
the reliability of the obtained factors.
Results and discussion
Table 1 presents the profile of the survey respondents.
The low, medium, and high seasons are equivalent in
number to avoid bias in the analysis of the data. The
tourists that visited Guimarães are relatively young,
with more than half of the sample under 46 years
old. Most of them are married and well educated
212 Tourism and Hospitality Research 14(4)

Table 1. Sample characteristics. Table 2. Destinations visited by tourists.

Characteristics n % Destination n %

Gender Guimarães only 32 11.6

Male 102 37 Braga 145 52.5
Female 174 63 Porto 196 71.0
Age Viana do Castelo 76 27.5
0–25 years 40 14.5 Douro 63 22.8
26–45 years 133 48.2 Others 52 18.8
46–65 years 89 32.2
More than 65 years 14 5.1
Education
The results presented in Table 2 suggest that tour-
Basic/secondary 36 13.3 ism around the region is very important for cities such
University 149 55.2
as Guimarães, which depend on attraction capacity of
other medium-sized cities in the region. When con-
Graduate/Master/PhD 85 31.5
sidered as a set of cities (Guimarães, Braga, Viana do
Marital status
Castelo), the total attraction capacity improves signifi-
Single 94 35.9
cantly. However, Porto still is the main ‘‘entry door’’
Married 146 55.7
(71%) to the northern part of Portugal.
Divorced/widow 22 8.4 This occurs, first, because Porto has an inter-
Season national airport and a network of public transports
High 90 32.6 (railways, buses, underground) and is the place of
Middle 90 32.6 departure for boats that travel to Douro. A second
Low 96 34.8 reason for the attracting role played by the Porto
metropolitan area is its critical dimension, which
enhances the supply of accommodation in quality
(above 86.7% possess an university degree), a higher (multi-star hotels) and quantity (number of beds).
percentage when comparing to other studies on heri- Finally, a wider range of attractions and experiences
tage sites, such as the one conducted by Yankholmes is available to different typologies of tourists in the
and Akyeampong (2010), where 63.8% of the visitors metropolitan area, such as beaches, museums, Porto
had received university education, and the one of Poria wine caves, and shopping.
et al. (2006), where 72.6% had completed, at least, an In addition to the importance of Porto as a tourism
university degree. destination, it is very important that all the cities
The level of education is one of the characteristics belonging to the northern region could benefit from
that Silberberg (1995) identified as part of the heritage tourism as well. Creating thematic itineraries (such as
tourist. On the contrary, significant differences were religious and wines routes) that link the different
found between the age cohort of tourists visiting towns and rural communities outside the Porto metro-
Guimarães (mostly under 46 years old) and the politan area is one strategy to increase the potential
Silberberg (1995) study (where visitors were relatively contribution of those places to regional development.
older). Meanwhile, one should have in mind that tourism
However, Perez (2009: 126, citing Richards, 1996 seasonality is a major constraint. Different strategies
and 1997) has indicated that the profile of cultural have been implemented to attenuate this phenom-
tourists was increasingly younger. This is consistent enon, which includes attracting selected typologies of
with the results of the study of Yankholmes and tourists (such as seniors), organization of special
Akyeampong (2010), as the modal age group was events, academic conferences, and professional sem-
18–34 years old. Poria et al. (2006) found something inars, among others.
slightly different, as the mode answer of their sample Table 3 shows the main motivations of tourists for
was 20–29 years old (51.9% of the sample). visiting Guimarães. As we can see, a particular attri-
These different age profiles may be explained by the bute of the city (its status as a world heritage site)
context (country, region, heritage site type) and time seems to shape the image of Guimarães and has a sig-
(year, seasonality) in which these studies have taken nificant effect on tourists’ choices. This particular
place. Given the nature of our sample (composition reason could be associated with the ‘‘tourists’ willing-
and size), no further considerations will be made ness to learn’’ (Poria et al., 2004) or ‘‘educational
regarding a definitive and specific typology of heritage value’’ (Goh, 2010) that motivates tourists to pursue
tourists. a learning experience.

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Remoaldo et al.
Table 3. Tourists’ motivations.
Motivations n %
World heritage site 221
Touring, visiting cities in the region 158
Business 10
Religious 7 2.5
Gastronomy and wines 47
Conference and seminars 4 1.4
Cultural activities 53
Sports events 4 1.4
Visiting family and friends 14
On the opposite side of the motivations, spectrum
are tourism-related activities, such as touring (57.2%),
cultural activities (19.2%), and other minor motiv-
ations. These motivations could be associated with
the ‘‘tourists’ desire to be entertained’’ (Poria et al.,
2004), which motivates tourists to pursue a recre-
ational experience.
We know that historic sites can attract visitors due
to a wide range of reasons (Chen and Chen, 2010;
Poria et al., 2006). Does Guimarães provide an atmos-
phere of medieval age? Perhaps, the results we got are
consistent with the ones of Poria et al. (2004, 2006)
when they concluded that the tourists’ perceptions of a
site may have a close relation to their own heritage and
their willingness to be exposed to an emotional experi-
ence. The rising of such hypothesis seems making
sense as visitors are, mostly, from neighbor European
countries.
Table 4 presents the perceptions of all respondents
regarding the different attributes of Guimarães as a
heritage destination. Those results show that
Guimarães is perceived by visitors as a heritage and
cultural city encompassing monuments (castle), a his-
toric centre, architectural buildings, and artistic jewels.
Respondents completely agree or agree with this asser-
tion (80.4% and 72.8%, respectively), assigning each
item with a mean values of higher than 4. Those attri-
butes of the city are according with what is expected
from a heritage destination, as has been underlined by
Timothy (2011), namely.
This is also in line with the declaration of Guimarães
as a UNESCO world heritage site in 2001. The item
‘‘welcoming city’’ was also pointed out by most of the
tourists (67%) visiting Guimarães, who considered it a
friendly city in which the residents are helpful and sym-
pathetic. Another salient attribute of Guimarães was
the linkages to the birth of Portugal as a nation and
king Afonso Henriques.
The least relevant perceived attributes of the city
were ‘‘health services’’ and ‘‘business dynamism’’
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213
(mean values around 3), probably because they did
not experience the health services, and the business
environment was difficult to envisage.
80.1 Table 5 presents the results of the factor analysis.
57.2 The KMO test and Bartlett’s test of sphericity were
3.6 computed to assess the appropriateness of factor ana-
lysis to the data. The KMO value was 0.859, and
17
Bartlett’s test was significant at the 0.00 level. Both
results demonstrate the factorability of the matrices
being considered (Hair et al., 1995).
19.2
The principal component factor analysis with vari-
max rotation was used to identify the underlying
5.2 dimensions. After inspection of item content for des-
tination image, two items were deleted corresponding
to a fifth factor with a Cronbach’s alpha of less than
0.6. A final four-factor model was estimated with 19
items. The factor solution accounted for approxi-
mately 52.7% of the total variance explained, with all
communalities ranging from 0.316 to 0.697.
The factors represent the overall perception of all
respondents regarding the destination image of
Guimarães and were labeled as ‘‘historical background
and functionality,’’ ‘‘shopping and entertainment,’’
‘‘convenience,’’ and ‘‘efficiency.’’
Factor 1 is related to the basic characteristics of the
city, and it is responsible for explaining 31.33% of the
total variance found, with a reliability coefficient of
0.798. It is followed by Factor 2 (9.82% of total vari-
ance and Cronbach’s alpha level of 0.730), which
comprises items related to shopping and entertain-
ment, as expressed by good range of entertainment
in terms of quality and quantity and good shopping
opportunities. Complementary to Factor 2 is the
youth population and regional centrality. Factor 3,
labeled ‘‘convenience,’’ contains the accommodation,
gastronomy, and sympathy of the host population
(6.22% of total variance explained with the alpha
level of 0.663). The final factor, ‘‘efficiency,’’ repre-
sents 5.39% of the statistical variance and had a reli-
ability alpha of 0.662. This factor is associated with
the good promotion of cultural events and of the city
and with the professionalism and prices of services.
Considering the internal consistency of the items
within each dimension measured by examining the
Cronbach reliability alphas, these show a high level
for factors 1 and 2 but lower for factors 3 and 4, sug-
gesting lower reliability. In fact, Nunnally (1978) sug-
gests that reliability alphas close to 0.70 indicate a high
level of internal consistency between the individual
scale items and the related factors.
The results of Table 5 indicate that tourists’ percep-
tions can be described in four dimensions: ‘‘historical
background and functionality,’’ ‘‘shopping and enter-
tainment,’’ ‘‘convenience,’’ and ‘‘efficiency.’’ The
dimensions were found to be reliable and valid, with
214 Tourism and Hospitality Research 14(4)

Table 4. Attribute Perceptions of Guimarães as a heritage destination.

Attribute CD D N A CA Meana SD

Monumental and artistic heritage 2.9 1.1 15.6 19.9 60.5 4.34 0.976
Gastronomy 1.1 3.6 54.0 23.2 18.1 3.54 0.867
Welcoming city 1.4 0.7 27.9 37.0 33.0 3.99 0.979
Historic centre 1.8 1.1 24.3 31.9 40.9 4.09 0.924
Accessibility 4.3 5.8 30.1 33.7 26.1 3.71 1.052
Shopping opportunities 0.7 2.5 80.4 11.6 4.7 3.17 0.575
Business dynamism 0.0 2.9 93.8 1.8 1.4 3.02 0.324
Portuguese birth place 2.9 2.9 33.7 20.7 39.9 3.92 1.053
Weather 3.3 10.1 40.6 21.4 24.6 3.54 1.070
Safety 1.1 0.7 62.7 18.5 17.0 3.50 0.820
Entertainment quantity 0.0 1.4 83.3 10.5 4.7 3.18 0.524
Entertainment quality 0.0 0.4 86.6 7.2 5.8 3.18 0.524
Quality hotels 1.4 0.7 73.6 13.8 10.5 3.31 0.727
Signage and information 3.6 5.4 38.8 24.6 27.5 3.67 1.050
Dissemination of cultural events 0.7 0.7 69.6 16.3 12.7 3.39 0.743
Effective promotion 0.0 5.1 60.1 19.2 15.6 3.45 0.814
Youth population 1.4 0.7 77.9 16.7 3.3 3.20 0.570
Value for money 1.1 0.4 66.7 21.7 10.1 3.39 0.718
Regional centrality 0.7 2.5 60.5 24.3 12.0 3.44 0.763
Health services 0.4 0.0 97.8 1.8 0.0 3.01 0.181
Services professionalism 0.4 0.4 58.0 25.4 15.9 3.56 0.772
Notes: A: agree; CA: completely agree; CD: completely disagree; D: disagree; N: neutral; SD: standard deviation.
a
Items measured on a five-point Likert-type scale.

‘‘historical background and functionality’’ and
‘‘shopping and entertainment’’ as the two main
factors.
The attributes found are in line with the profile of
other heritage sites and seem to be consistent with
what the visitors of those kind of destinations use to
look for, that is, not just history and cultural heritage
but also shopping opportunities, access to good food,
peaceful and clean environment, relaxing atmosphere,
and good infrastructures, among other attributes
(Agapito et al., 2010; Aksoy and Kiyci, 2011;
Stylidis et al., 2008). It is worthy to underline that
an enjoyable tourism visit comes from all the five
senses that allow tourists to get an intensive global
experience of the destination components.
The dimension ‘‘historical background and func-
tionality’’ aggregates the main attributes that tourists
perceived as unique and clearly distinct regarding
other cities in the region. Each tourist has an image
of all destinations where he/she has visited but only
remembers some of them, especially if that image is
truly remarkable. From the tourists’ perspective,
Guimarães is an accessible and safe city, the birthplace
of Portugal, with a historic center and monumental
and artistic heritage, easily visited by people.
This factor should support a differentiation strategy
aimed to position the city as a set of historical attri-
butes (tangible and intangible), beliefs, ideas, and
impressions that people associate with the birth of
Portugal (Crompton, 1979; Kotler et al., 1993). The
European Capital of Culture, a designation that took
place during 2012, provides an excellent opportunity
to reinforce this niche positioning and shape the image
of Guimarães.
Indeed, although tourists highly recommend this
cultural destination, they spent short periods of time
in it and were not motivated to return. Being so, these
tourists can be classified as ‘‘culturally inspired’’
(Pérez, 2009), and if Guimarães wants tourists to
stay longer, it needs to reinforce the cultural atmos-
phere and depth of the experience offered.
The dimension of ‘‘shopping and entertainment’’
contains less potential for differentiation. These attri-
butes are more deeply rooted in neighbor cities that
compete directly with Guimarães, such as Braga,
Viana do Castelo, or Porto.
The last two dimensions (convenience and effi-
ciency) are an integral part of a large set of attributes
that need to be fulfilled in order to attract tourism
(Agapito et al., 2010; Aksoy and Kiyci, 2011;

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Remoaldo et al. 215

Table 5. Principal component analysis with Varimax rotation (n ¼ 276).

Components Communalities Factor loadingsa Measuresb

F1—historical background and functionality

Accessibility 0.595 0.754
Monumental and artistic heritage 0.625 0.737
Signage and information 0.549 0.707
Historic center 0.517 0.622
Weather 0.531 0.538
Portugal’s birthplace 0.316 0.487
Safety 0.447 0.477
Meanc 3.82
Eigenvalue 5.953
Explained variance by factors (%) 31.331
Cumulative (%) 31.331
Cronbach’s alpha 0.798

F2—shopping and entertainment

Entertainment quality 0.664 0.792
Entertainment quantity 0.638 0.777
Shopping opportunities 0.414 0.586
Youth population 0.397 0.559
Regional centrality 0.457 0.464
Meanc 3.24
Eigenvalue 1.865
Explained variance by factors (%) 9.815
Cumulative (%) 41.145
Cronbach’s alpha 0.730

F3—convenience
Gastronomy 0.697 0.788
Welcoming city 0.606 0.599
Quality hotels 0.510 0.586
Meanc 3.61
Eigenvalue 1.182
Explained variance by factors (%) 6.219
Cumulative (%) 47.365
Cronbach’s alpha 0.663

F4—efficiency
Dissemination of cultural events 0.647 0.731
Services professionalism 0.424 0.547
Effective promotion 0.455 0.535
Value for money 0.533 0.518
Meanc 3.45
Eigenvalue 1.023
Explained variance by factors (%) 5.386
Cumulative (%) 52.751
Cronbach’s alpha 0.662
a
Items measured on a five-point Likert-type scale.
b
Factor with Cronbach’s alpha less than 0.6 omitted.
c
Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin measure of sampling adequacy—0.859; Bartlett’s test of significance—0.0.

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216
Stylidis et al., 2008), as already mentioned. Good
food, sympathetic people, and quality hotels are only
pre-conditions, not differentiators of a welcoming city.
Also, a high level of professionalism in services and
communication mix is needed to maintain tourists’
satisfaction.
In brief, the four-factor solution offered by the ana-
lysis includes a major intangible factor of differenti-
ation that surpasses the other three; that is, the
historical heritage of the city and all the imagery
around characters (king Afonso Henriques), places
(castle), and stories. These attributes should be the
central element of the city image, positioning, and
communication mix, rather than entertainment and
shopping, convenience, or efficiency. If the strategy
to be followed envisages to reinforce the cultural
image of Guimarães and, this way, to make it more
likely to be chosen by tourists ‘‘culturally motivated’’
(Pérez, 2009), that seems the path that needs to
be taken.
Conclusions
This paper examines the profile, tourists’ motivations
toward visiting Guimarães before the hosting of the
2012 European Capital of Culture cultural, and its
destination image as a World heritage city. The under-
standing of tourists’ perceptions of a heritage destin-
ation is important in developing successful marketing
strategies to promote and position or reshape its
image.
According to the results of the empirical research
undertaken, many tourists who arrived in Guimarães
seem to have stayed previously at Porto and Braga.
This shows that the city remains as an emergent des-
tination and is part of tourists’ tours that incorporate
visits to more than one site. As the profile of the other
cities normally included in these tours has a few dis-
tinguishing attributes, this raises the questions of the
motivation behind the choice of the tourists and of the
segment of visitors we are facing, namely if they are
endowed with a more or less culturally inspired or
attracted profile.
The results gotten from the survey implemented
told us that, in average terms, the ‘‘historical back-
ground and functionality’’ are the most reliable rea-
sons behind the choice of visiting Guimarães.
Furthermore, the tourists that visit Guimarães are
relatively young and well educated compared with
the average tourists that use to visit Portugal and
show a few differences vis-à-vis the cultural tourist
profile reported by mostly of the empirical literature.
The perceptions they have toward the city as being a
heritage city (UNESCO destination site), with a his-
toric center, architectural buildings, and monuments
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Tourism and Hospitality Research 14(4)
(castle), shape the image of Guimarães and, as men-
tioned, seem to have a significant effect on tourists’
choices. The results also indicate that many tourists
were aware of the city status as a world heritage site.
Besides underlining the importance of ‘‘historical
background and functionality’’ as perceived major
attributes of the city, the factor analysis indicates that
‘‘shopping and entertainment’’ is also a reliable and
valid factor behind the choice of visiting Guimarães.
The combination of those two dimensions should be
regarded as showing that even heritage tourists do not
look for just history and cultural heritage when they
choose visiting a heritage site. In this sense, this result
is according with the findings reported by the
literature.
The city was considered as an accessible and safe
city, with a historic center and monumental and artis-
tic heritage easily visited by tourists. The dimension
‘‘shopping and entertainment’’ is more deeply rooted
in cities that compete directly with Guimarães, such as
Braga, Viana do Castelo, or Porto. Therefore, a differ-
entiated image must be based on the historical back-
ground of the city rather than on the other three
dimensions (shopping and entertainment, conveni-
ence, and efficiency). Thus, the positioning and com-
munication mix should be designed around characters,
places, and stories in order to detach the historical
background of the city.
The present study is a snapshot, assessing tourist
perceptions during a particular time (December
2010, April 2011, and July/August 2011) and at a cer-
tain location (Guimarães). More studies are needed to
cover more points regarding time and other locations
around the country in order to compare for differences
and similarities between the perceptions of heritage
destinations sites (such as Douro).
Having in mind that one of the main reasons to visit
a heritage destination is the tourists’ perceptions of the
site in relation to their own heritage and their willing-
ness to be exposed to an emotional experience, of par-
ticular importance is the knowledge of tourists’
features (country of origin, demographics, and social
and economic status) and image perceptions. The
results of these studies are critical for local tourism
organizations (such as hotels, travel operators, cultural
agents, and tourism planners) to design consistent
tourism products. Otherwise, even culturally moti-
vated tourists interested in exploring new places and
diversify experiences will tend to remain out of
Guimarães.
The investigation of the visitors’ profile in different
seasons of the year (low, middle, and high season) is
also likely to help authorities and private stakeholders
to supply an attractive tourism product along whole
the year. Destinations must be aware of the existing
Remoaldo et al.
fierce competition among cities with similar profiles
and according to the need of taking accurate action.
The main conclusion we got from our empirical
research is, perhaps, that the profile of the heritage
tourist is changing, namely that is becoming younger
and, following the results of other studies, is motivated
not just by history and cultural heritage when they visit
a heritage site. The tourism experience is made of all
the senses, and there is nothing better than to get both
an educational (cultural) experience and a relaxing
time. Following the results of the literature, we also
found in this case a segment of well-educated visitors.
Even if you got interesting insights in the
Guimarães tourism heritage destination, this empirical
study has a preliminary nature and, thus, does not
allow extracting conclusive answers. As already sug-
gested, there is place for going deeper in what regards
knowing better the tourists’ typologies and image per-
ceptions, besides the changing of the visitors’ profile
along the year. A broader understanding of tourism
implies also making use of a variety of research tools,
of quantitative and qualitative nature, that allow to
improve the rigor of the analysis.
Acknowledgements
We thank Dr Vı́tor Marques who collected the data.
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Author Biographies
Paula C Remoaldo is associate professor with habilita-
tion of Human Geography in the Department of
Geography of the Social Sciences Institute,
University of Minho, Portugal. She got her PhD in
Human Geography at the University of Minho with
collaboration of Louvain-la-Neuve University
(Belgium). She is author or co-author of several
books and published several papers in international
journals. Her main research fields are Regional and
Local Development, Cultural Tourism and Health
Geography.
Laurentina Vareiro is assistant professor of Economics
in the School of Management, Polytechnic Institute
of Cávado and Ave, Portugal. She has a PhD in
Economics (2008) at the University of Minho. Her
research interests include regional, rural and urban eco-
nomics, tourism economics, rural and cultural tourism.
José F Santos is full professor of International Business
at the Administration and Accounting Institute
(ISCAP), Polytechnic of Porto, Portugal and
researcher at NIPE/EEG, Minho University,
Portugal. He obtained his PhD in 1997 from the
Minho University, Braga, Portugal. His present
research interests are tourism and social entrepreneur-
ship. Besides presentations on these topics at various
national and international conferences, his articles
have been published in international journals.
José C Ribeiro is full professor of Economics in the
Department of Economics of the School of Economics
and Management, University of Minho, Portugal. He
got is undergraduation degree in Economics at the
Technical University of Lisbon (1980) and, later on
(1989), his PhD in Economics at the University of
Minho, Braga. He is author or co-author of several
papers dealing with industrial location, regional
policy, regional development issues and tourism eco-
nomics. He has also been involved in some territorial
planning projects.