Abstract

ANDRADE SUAREZ, María José. The Formation of the Tourist Image from the Traveler's Cultural Distance Perspective. Estud. perspect. tur. [online]. 2011, vol.20, n.6, pp.1237-1257. ISSN 1851-1732.

Theoretical Framework and Case Study. The formation of the tourist image from the perspective of the cultural distance of the traveler. Theoretical framework and case study. This study builds on Baloglu & McCleary (1999 a & b) theoretical model of formation of the tourist image for an approximation to the moderating effect of internal factors of the tourist (demographic characteristics, reasons for travel and cultural values) on perception of destinations. The objective is to identify the nature and the components of the destination image and examine the role that takes the geographical origin or the tourist-cultural distance. In the application of the methodology, conducted through self-administered surveys of 391, is taken as a case study of rural tourism in Galicia and the results have verified a The empirical study applied to the rural tourism in Galicia, conducted with a total of 391 self-administered questionnaires, has shown that there is a moderate relationship between both variables.

Keywords : Tourist image; Personal factors; Socio-demographic characteristics; Motivation; Cultural values.