Research Trends on Visitor’s Intra-attraction Spatiotemporal Behaviour: A Literature Review

The space–time behaviour of visitor’s, when investigated and understood, can provide the development of marketing strategies, better management of tourist attractions and gather information about experiences and emotions experienced in destinations, among others. This study aims to present and discuss the contribution of research on visitors’ space–time behaviour at intra-attraction level, stressing some theoretical aspects related to concepts, constructs and methodological options expressed in articles related with this topic published in Scopus database. The search carried out in the Scopus platform reveals a growing interest in the visitors’ space–time behaviour in tourism studies. The most productive authors, the most relevant journals and the research areas of published articles were identified. However, few articles specifically focus on visitors’ intra-attraction behaviour have been published. A content analysis was performed and the geographic scale of analysis was identified, as well as the methodology used. From the literature review and based on an existing conceptual model for the urban intra-destination context, it was also possible to adapt it to the analysis of the spatiotemporal behaviour of intra-attraction visitors. Analyse visitor’s space–time behaviour at intra-attraction level allows facility managers to better understand visitor behaviour in different seasons, improving attractions and the overall tourist experience, contributing to more sustainable facility management.