Understanding the Lisbon tourists

: characterization of different segments and identification of their needs and wishes

Abstract

To our knowledge, no previous studies focused on analysing tourists’ behavior by characterizing their motivations and identifying their needs and wishes when choosing which place to visit. Therefore, the aim of this thesis is to provide an understanding and a characterization of the different segments of Lisbon tourists, in order to identify their needs and wishes. To conduct this analysis a literature review was done on topics such as customers’ segmentation, tourists’ decision-making and travel motivations. Then, a case study was made with the company EastBanc, a real estate property management firm. Since the firm activity is mainly focused on the development of Príncipe Real area, a special emphasis was put on this location. The main purpose was to provide a set of recommendations that can be implemented in the future by the company. A presential survey methodology was conducted in the firm’s shopping gallery (Embaixada), allowing the author to perform a full characterization of the tourists visiting Lisbon and to identify their needs and wishes when visiting the city. With this research method, it was possible to identify four tourist segments; the empty nesters, the indulgent couple, the everyone’s best friend and the explorer. Finally, the main contribution of this master thesis is to offer relevant tourist information to EastBanc, to help the firm decide whether tourism should be an industry to invest or to remain unexplored. Moreover, this thesis provides interesting highlights for future research on Lisbon tourists and their motivations to visit the city.

Date of Award	15 Feb 2017
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Rita Coelho do Vale (Supervisor)