The Impact of the Sociodemographic Profile on the Tourist Experience of the Fiesta de los Patios of Córdoba: An Analysis of Visitor Satisfaction

Abstract

The Festival of the Patios of Cordoba, declared an Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) by UNESCO in 2012, serves as an emblematic case of how this designation acts as a tourist brand, attracting a greater number of visitors and granting a competitive advantage to the city’s tourist market. This research is focused on analyzing the differences and similarities in the satisfaction, lived experience and behavioral intention of tourists according to their sociodemographic profile during the 2022 edition of the Patios Festival. The study’s main objective is to understand the sociodemographic profile of the tourist who visits this event and if there are features of this profile that influence the satisfaction and lived experience with the event. Using a quantitative methodological approach, field work was carried out during the Fiesta de los Patios of Cordoba (Spain) in its 2022 edition, which took place between 3 and 15 May 2022, obtaining 383 valid surveys. The results reveal differences in the perception and satisfaction of the experience depending on the sociodemographic profile of the visitors. These findings highlight the need to adapt the tourism offerings to improve the visitor experience and also contribute to the scarcity of studies on ICH to help tourism managers formulate strategies that maximize the cultural and economic benefits of these Word Heritage inscriptions.