A preliminary perspective on motivations in literary tourism: an exploratory study in orthern Portugal

Abstract

Literary tourism includes moments and visits to places related to literary works and their writers and is categorized as cultural tourism. The motivation of literary tourists can vary between the desire to find some intellectual exchange in these spaces or an interest in expressing their admiration, the desire to honor writers, their work or literature. The purpose of this chapter is to understand the specific moti-vations of literary tourism consumers in the northern region of Portugal. The main push and pull motivations of literary consumers in the study region are presented. A questionnaire was administered to tourist consumers between July and October 2023. A total of 301 responses were received, 191 from domestic visitors and 110 from foreign visitors. Authors hope to contribute to the promotion of tourism poli-cies geared toward the development of new products and experiences, based on the identity and specificities of the different territories involved, with relevant authors and works. From an interdisciplinary perspective, the chapter presents insights for literary tourism, marketing strategy and regional development.