Assessment of residents' perception about the quality and image of a coastal tourism destination: the case of the Municipality of Inhambane in Mozambique

Abstract

This paper aims to identify the residents' perception of the quality of the tourist destination and the factors that determine this perception in the Municipality of Inhambane, a small urban area located in the south of Mozambique and considered one of the main tourist destinations in the country. For this purpose, we sought through the literature review to identify the attributes that best characterize the tourist destination, taking into account the attractions, infrastructure and equipment and services, to later understand the residents’ (n = 199) opinion about the quality and representativeness of each attribute within the global context of destination quality and image. Of the 24 selected attributes (4 associated with attractions, 12 associated with equipment and services and the rest associated with infrastructure), evaluated according to the 5-point Likert scale (1 = very bad, 2 = bad, 3 = fair, 4 = good and 5 = excellent), it was found that 12 attributes obtained a positive evaluation, with landscapes (with the highest score) and natural attractions considered class A attributes. The study reveals that from the residents' point of view, there are 8 factors that determine the quality and image of the tourist destination, with emphasis on the availability of information, leisure and sanitation on the beaches (which explains 21,397% of the total variance). These results can contribute to the improvement of relations between resident and visitor communities, as well as support the decision-making process on the actions to be created to ensure that the tourist destination attracts more and more visitors and that they have a great visitation experience.