Perceived image of Lisbon by foreign tourists

Mestrado em MarketingTourism destination image is one of the most approached concepts in tourism scientific literature. It has become a subject of great matter in the tourism management field once it is considered one of the most determinant factors in tourist‘s choosing process. Lisbon is currently the most important tourism destination in Portugal and one of the top visited places in Europe. According to recent data from Turismo de Portugal, in 2012 Lisbon was the first tourism destination in Portugal with the largest number of visitors, suggesting an increasing interest for the city as a tourism destination. Therefore, this work aims to contribute for a better understanding of which are the most important components of the image of Lisbon as a tourism destination for foreign tourists. After a brief literature review, we decided that this research should be based on the tri-dimensional model, developed by Echtner & Ritchie (1993), since it involves not only a tangible and functional perspective, but also a psychological and holistic one, allowing a complete representation of the perceived tourism destination image of Lisbon. The results obtained confirm a strongly positive appreciation by the international community when it comes to evaluate Lisbon’s tourism destination image, including a good evaluation of its attributes, as well as the recognition of important unique holistic elements