Tourism potential analysis of the castles of Vinalopó, Spain: an opportunity for social and tourist development of cultural heritage

Within the overall framework of the renewal process of coastal tourist destinations, cultural heritage has frequently been used as a key argument for the introduction and development of strategies for the diversification and differentiation of the traditional tourist product based on sun and sand. This is the situation of the province of Alicante, identified with the Costa Blanca geotourism brand, where there are important economic issues that could contribute to the renewal of this coastal tourist destination. One of the most significant heritage values of this space consists of a series of medieval fortresses located along the axis of the Vinalopó River, which has acted since prehistoric times as a natural route from within the provincial mainland to the coast. It is precisely the argument of this historical, territorial and landscape content that has been used repeatedly in recent years to develop initiatives aimed at the creation of a tourist product, currently inexistent, based on the route of the castles of Vinalopó. This communication aims to analyse the degree of tourism potential of the fortresses located in the towns of Biar, Banyeres de Mariola, Sax, Villena, Novelda, Elda, Petrer and Elche, which constitute the core of municipalities where these medieval fortresses are located, finally pointing out some proposals for the creation of a heritage tourism product.

A demand-driven analysis of tourist accommodation price: A quantile regression of room bookings

Tourist accommodation expenditure is a widely investigated topic as it represents a major contribution to the total tourist expenditure. The identification of the determinant factors is commonly based on supply-driven applications while little research has been made on important travel characteristics. This paper proposes a demand-driven analysis of tourist accommodation price by focusing on data generated from room bookings. The investigation focuses on modeling the relationship between key travel characteristics and the price paid to book the accommodation. To accommodate the distributional characteristics of the expenditure variable, the analysis is based on the estimation of a quantile regression model. The findings support the econometric approach used and enable the elaboration of relevant managerial implications.