Walking tourism in Malaga: a pilot survey to explore tourism behaviours with a GPS approach

Abstract

Walking tourism in urban destinations can be defined as a sequence of day visits and/or a sequence of walking tours. In this work, GPS tracking data on spatio-temporal behaviour of walking tourists in Malaga are reported as case study. Malaga is a booming tourist destination characterized by a city centre, particularly suitable for a pedestrian visit. From 22nd January to 19th March 2018 for a total period of 41 days, a survey was carried out with a specific protocol: 103 interviews were conducted and 101 GPS valid tracks were collected. Walking tourists were systematically sampled, starting from the population of all tourists staying in the surveying day at some selected hotels in the city centre. The approach was based on the use of GPS technology as a supplementary tool used in conjunction with the traditional questionnaire-based survey. The survey has achieved three specific objectives; the analysis of: - the most visited attractions and the characteristics of mobility of walking tourists in Malaga; - the main routes taken by walking tourists during the visit of the city and the corresponding movement patterns; - the factors that have significantly influenced the spatio-temporal behaviours of walking tourists within the city.