Abstract

MARTINS, Márcio  and  COSTA, Rui. Space-time patterns of backpacker tourists in the urban destination of Porto: the sequential alignment method. Finisterra [online]. 2021, n.118, pp.201-222.  Epub Dec 01, 2021. ISSN 0430-5027.  https://doi.org/10.18055/finis22015.

The main goal of this article is to identify spatiotemporal behaviour patterns of backpacker tourists when visiting an urban destination. This information can be used by destination managers and local stakeholders to attract tourists from this segment, making their planning, management, and marketing strategy more efficient. A free and open access GPS app was successfully used to track the movements of tourists, demonstrating that smartphones are a powerful and efficient data collection tool in the field of tourism. The georeferenced data were also analysed using the ClustalG software, which aligned all the tracks obtained. Ten distinct visiting patterns were identified taking into account the sequences of activities carried out, both in space and time, and most visited areas were also identified. Crossing the information obtained through the sequential alignment with questionnaire data allowed to explore a set of characteristics related to the day of visit and to backpacker tourists. It is concluded that the backpacker segment is heterogeneous in its spatiotemporal behaviours and that its elements experience the urban destination in a different way.

Keywords : Backpackers; spatiotemporal behavior; sequential alignment; GPS tracking; Porto.

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