How access transport mode to a world Heritage City affects visitors’ experienced quality

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to determine how visitors’ experienced quality (VEQ) is affected by the transport mode used by tourists when visiting the city of San Cristobal de La Laguna (a World Heritage City since 1999). San Cristobal de La Laguna is located in Tenerife, one of the seven islands in the archipelago of the Canary Islands, which is recognized as an outstanding mass tourist destination in the European Union. Tenerife is a world-known destination whose main product is based on sun and sand; however, other diversified products, like cultural visits to La Laguna, have been gaining more importance in recent decades. Analysing the complex linkages between transport and VEQ is paramount to city policy makers, as a good understanding of the performance for different dimensions of the product is crucial. Fuzzy logic has been demonstrated to be an effective way to deal with the subjective information provided by questionnaire responses addressing satisfaction and VEQ information. In this paper, the authors apply triangular fuzzy numbers (TFNs) to a survey of tourists who visited La Laguna in 2010. The results show that VEQ is highly affected by the transport mode used in the visit and, therefore, city policymakers may extract important implications for future visitors.