Spatiotemporal behaviour of the urban multi-attraction tourist: does distance travelled from country of origin make a difference?

Abstract

The way tourists move in space and time is part of their travel
experience while at the same time moulding it. In the urban
context, tourists usually include multiple attractions on their intradestination
itineraries. Understanding tourists’ spatiotemporal
behaviour may help improve the quality of their experience as well
as provide useful information to the management of attractions and
destination. Nevertheless, tourists’ spatiotemporal behaviour is a
complex phenomenon, influenced by numerous factors related to
both destination and tourists. Distance travelled from country of
origin has been empirically found as one of these factors
influencing tourist spatiotemporal behaviour. Visitors from more
distant residential locations invest more time and money in their
trip; therefore, variety/multiple benefit seeking, risk and
uncertainty reduction and economic rationalization may impact
their time-space activity. However, there has been no research
examining the impact of distance travelled from country of origin
specifically on tourist spatiotemporal behaviour in an urban
setting. This article fills this gap both theoretically and empirically,
through a dual analysis of a time-space GPS tracking study and a
survey, conducted among tourists (n=413) staying at 10 different
hotels in Lisbon. Hypothesis testing allowed the identification of
statistically significant differences between long-haulers and shorthaulers
in their spatiotemporal behaviour when visiting this urban
destination.