TOURISTS' EXPERIENCES AND SPATIO-TEMPORAL EFFECTS ON THE DESTINATION IMAGE. A THEORETICAL MODEL

In the present era of social and media mobility the importance of meeting and exceeding the tourists’ needs by offering added value is a key factor to the future and sustainability of any region or tourism destination. However, the financial resources available are gradually scarcer and managers need to find alternative ways to provide added value at lower cost. One option at their disposal is to deliver unique and powerful experiences that may enable tourists to feel engaged with the destination and ultimately satisfied. Despite of the extensive research of previous studies regarding the destination image and the tourism experiences, few have captured in a holistic perspective, the relationship between both constructs. Thus, this paper purpose is to assess the image of the Algarve, before and after the tourism experience at the destination to evaluate the impact(s) of the different tourists’ experiences and its relationship with the tourism destination. The spatio-temporal conceptual model presented, will be later verified using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation model (SEM).