Geotourism visitor’s motivations: the case of Paiva Walkways

Opened in 2015, the Paiva Walkways gave a strong impulse to the tourism dynamic of Arouca. However, this tourist attraction lacks scientific studies, in the context of tourism. Thus, it was developed a study about the tourist motivation of international visitors of this infrastructure, in the year 2018. The main goal of this research is to understand the relationship between the motivations of international tourists on the visit to the Paiva Walkways. The specific objectives are to understand the factors that influence the motivations of the visit to the Paiva Walkways (Push & Pull factors). It was used a quantitative methodology through survey by questionnaire, sent via e-mail to 3639 contacts contained in the database relating to the reservations that were made online. The results of the hypotheses show the following relation: motivation and trip characteristics (pull factors). It didn’t occur a relation between motivation and the visitor individual profile. Since the push motivation does not relate to the Paiva Walkways, only after the use of distribution channels and a better knowledge of the destination is when the tourist decides to visit this infrastructure. It can be concluded, then, that the attributes of the Paiva Walkways (pull factors) are related with the motivation.