1225 | 951 | The relationship between the built environment and walking behavior of independent cruise passengers in a Mediterranean city | Veronica Mejia, Xavier Delclòs-Alió, Aaron Gutiérrez
Cruise tourism has increased significantly in recent years, which has led to part of the dynamics of its passengers influencing the configuration of certain territorial dynamics of the sites visited. A potential issue is derived from their intense use of space in certain sites and in specific moments in time, especially while on foot. In this context, we aimed to analyze the spatiotemporal walking behavior of independent cruise passengers in Barcelona (Spain), and to identify possible characteristics of the built environment that may influence their behavior, while considering their socioeconomic profile and the characteristics of their visit. Barcelona is one of the cities with the highest tourist flows in Europe, and home to the main cruise port in the Mediterranean. Also, Barcelona is characterized by a dense, compact and walkable nature, while offering various urban form configurations such as narrow and irregular streets of the old city, as well as the regular layout of the Eixample. We examined the spatiotemporal behavior of approximately 800 independent cruise passengers in 2022, using GPS tracking devices and a post-visit questionnaire. We explored their use of space, and we related their behavior with variables of the built environment in the over 14,000 street segments in the city (e.g., road width, land uses, and distance to main tourist centers). Preliminary results show a high concentration spatiotemporal behavior around the main axes of the city and around the main points of interest, which in turn implies a more reduced influence of the built environment in cruise passengers’ behavior compared to previous studies. We consider these results to be especially insightful in evidencing the clear concentration of tourist flows into certain areas of the city, which not only poses challenges for the city mobility systems but also the use of public space.
Veronica Mejia, Xavier Delclòs-Alió, Aaron Gutiérrez
Universitat Rovira i Virgili
ID Abstract: 951