The Image of Barcelona as a tourism destination: Russian market perception

Abstract

The purpose of this study has been find out what is the image that Russian tourists have of Barcelona focusing on the mental destination image perceived by asking the research question: “What is the image that Russian tourists have of Barcelona”.

To find out information, a theoretical framework taking into account the concept of destination image, a general study of the image of Barcelona and an analysis of the Russian tourism market has been analyzed. Furthermore, in order to arrive to conclusions, Russian tourist perception has been studied by doing a qualitative study by using In-­‐depth interviews. This methodology has been chosen as it allows to get inside tourist minds and to know more about their feelings, motivations and in-­‐depth feedback letting them total freedom expression, without influencing them.

After doing the interviews and by analyzing the obtained results, in a general way and without specifying the destination, Russian tourists interviewed are attracted by destinations that offer a variety of cultural issues rather than only sun, beach and weather or also by the ones that offer a mixture between both. When talking about Barcelona, the factors changed and the image that Russian tourists have of Barcelona is the one of a city that offers sea, sun, summer and freedom. It is perceived as a kind of “holiday resort” with beach and good weather by the large majority of the participants although some respondents interviewed claimed that it could be also seen as a city that also offers cultural, architectural and historical attractions, specially with the magic of Gaudí.

To conclude, Russian market perceives Barcelona with a positive image. In fact, after being on vacation the image of Barcelona is even better or the same as the one they previously had before visiting the city.