Perception, Motivation, and Satisfaction of Female Tourists with Their Visit to the City of Cordoba (Spain)

Abstract

The cultural and historical heritage of a city is a major resource for attracting tourists. Therefore, determining how to perceive and identify the characteristics of persons visiting a locality attracted by its heritage is relevant for the purpose of better meeting their expectations and needs. This research focuses on understanding the perceptions, motivations, and satisfaction of women visiting Cordoba (Spain). Thus, on the basis of a questionnaire completed by women visiting Cordoba between the months of June and November 2019, statistical analysis was conducted. Using various multivalent case-grouping techniques, segments of tourists holding similar perceptions of cultural heritage were detected. Moreover, non-parametric statistical techniques highlighted significant differences between the valuations obtained in the various segments. This analysis exposed a segment of women who, known as absorptive tourists, are characterized by a high cultural motivation to visit the city of Cordoba linked to the heritage sites they have visited. The conclusions obtained herein should be useful for adjusting the city’s provision of tourism services to satisfy the demand of female tourists visiting the city.

1. Introduction

The Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH), Heritage of Humanity at Risk, and the World Heritage Site (WHS) lists are published annually by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), and collate cultural legacies, both material and intangible, that are declared heritage of humanity throughout the world. Thus, the inclusion of any heritage, whether material or intangible, in one of these lists represents great recognition and value, but also the commitment to protect it for future generations.

Each of these inscriptions brings with it a powerful element of attraction for tourism [1,2]. However, the way in which to identify these places and the tourists that visit them on account of being attracted by their heritage status is still a topic for debate. Indeed, it is essential for this research to understand whether tourists are attracted to, and therefore visit, a particular place because of its registration as a WHS [3].

In light of the above, this research aimed to investigate the perceptions, motivations, and satisfaction of women when they visit a heritage site such as the city of Cordoba. In this respect, this research was intended to deepen and contribute to the demonstration of women’s preferences when they consume tourist products [4].

This is relevant for two reasons. The first is because the rational decision-making process for the purchase of tourist goods and services is different between women and men [5]. Women are usually more sophisticated consumers and pay greater attention to detail [6,7]. For this reason, in the case of heritage tourism, as pointed out in [8], it is appropriate to determine not only what gender differences may exist, but also to identify, where appropriate, the differences of groups of women in order to ensure that local tourist plans meet women’s needs.

Second, according to Wang and Hao [9], women have less of a predisposition than men to the choice of heritage tourist destinations. Therefore, separately analyzing the motivations and tourist experiences of women is useful for attracting their attention toward historical and heritage destinations such as Cordoba.

This analysis may have a double perspective: Analysis of the differences between women and men, and analysis of the perceptions and tourist experiences of women as a group, whether they travel alone or not. As for the first perspective, research on gender differences in the tourism sector has been conducted from various points of view, such as the image of the destination and travel options [9], the commitment and loyalty of the visitors [10], the risks [11], and, more specifically, in tourist areas such as golfing locations [12], archeological sites [13], or World Heritage sites [8].

As for the second, the study of women traveling alone has also been addressed by various research works, such as by Wilson and Harris [14], who analyzed the personal growth that can be experienced by women traveling alone; by Wilson and Little [15,16], who identified the constraints for women traveling alone and, on the basis of these, their fears associated with lone traveling; by Jordan and Gibson [17], who found that for women, traveling alone represents an experience that empowers them. More recently, Yang et al. [11,18,19,20] analyzed the experiences of women of Asian origin who travel alone.

However, as Pereira and Silva pointed out [21], little research into women’s motivations and experiences in terms of traveling on their own has been conducted. Even less research that addresses women’s perceptions, experiences, motivations, or satisfaction when visiting a heritage city can be found in the literature.

Thus, the subjects of this research were women, traveling alone or not, visiting a heritage city, i.e., Cordoba. The aim of this study was to identify, through statistical segmentation, their perceptions, motivations, and level of satisfaction during their visit to the city of Cordoba. The results can make it possible to better understand the characteristics and specificities of women visiting Cordoba, so as to better manage the city’s tourism resources and services and to better meet women’s expectations and needs through specific tourism products [22,23,24].

The scientific literature uses two models (i.e., McKercher’s [25] and Poria’s [26] models) for the segmentation of foreign tourism of WHSs, and this research attempts to innovate by using a new segmentation model based on these two models. The first model, i.e., McKercher’s model [25], uses two different dimensions for segmentation: (1) The importance it has for tourists when they decide on a specific place to visit, i.e., cultural motivations; (2) the satisfaction that the expectations of these persons have been met by the destination visited. McKercher’s model allows us to obtain five different groups of visitors: Serendipitous cultural tourists, purposeful cultural tourists, incidental cultural tourists, sightseeing cultural tourists, and casual cultural tourists [25].

The second model, Poria’s model [26], is guided by more emotional elements and uses two aspects for segmentation: On the one hand is the relationship established between the destination and the visitor in regard to emotions, and on the other hand is the relationship between the personal inheritance and the patrimonial heritage of the destination. The Poria model allows us to obtain three types of visitors: (1) People visiting places as they are considered part of their cultural heritage, (2) persons who have no cultural link to the places they visit, and (3) persons who are unaware of any cultural link to the place visited.

2. Theoretical Background

2.1. Heritage Tourism

There is a relationship between monumental and artistic heritage and the tourists visiting them, which is recognized in the academic literature linked to heritage tourism [3]. On the basis of this relationship, visits to heritage sites that cause a particular living experience are known as heritage tourism. In other words, beyond recreational practice, which can be obtained from other destinations, visiting a WHS represents, for the visiting person, a reunion with his or her own cultural heritage [27]. The patterns of a visit are based on the perception that a person has of the destination as part of their heritage; therefore, such a visit is aimed at seeking and perceiving the heritage of the destination [26]. In brief, a person has their own characteristic behaviors that will differ from those of other people when experiencing a special link, whether historical or cultural, to a destination. In the case of women, identifying this behavior will lead to different strategies, by private companies and different governments, to better manage destinations and to improve tourism services [24].

Cultural tourism is not a new topic of discussion. As early as the 17th century, English nobility could enhance their travel by experiencing a “Grand Tour”; such travel was understood as a visit to a destination highlighted in their heritage interests. On their return, they were personally enriched and had received wider intellectual training, bolstering their knowledge of European heritage sites and landscapes [28,29].

Over time, heritage destinations have become some of the most visited places, especially those registered by UNESCO as being a “Heritage of Humanity”. This type of cultural tourism has been expanding its social base, and so the flow of people interested in visiting heritage sites has been gradually increasing [30]. Such registration is similar to a quality stamp or a mark that increases the attractiveness of a place from a tourist point of view [31,32]; it is as if the place acquires, with its registration, an added value more similar to universal excellence, thus making it more attractive to tourism [30]. Therefore, a clear correlation can be observed between the inclusion of a place in one of the UNESCO lists (although this is rather intended to preserve such sites) and the number of people visiting this destination, especially foreign nationals [33].

Indeed, this increase in visits naturally increases tourism revenues, which entails a change in the management of the area, both environmental and business [3]. The academic literature supports the relationship between tourism and heritage legacies, particularly for WHSs, for example: Remoaldo et al. [8], Antón et al. [34], and Vong and Ung [35]. Furthermore, there have been studies focused on establishing this relationship in various countries, such as Ecuador [36], Macao [2,35], China [37], Vietnam [3], and Portugal [38]. This is why, according to Lourenço-Gomes et al. [39], a close link can be established between tourism and the cultural and patrimonial heritage endorsed by UNESCO. Thus, within the heritage tourism category, a subcategory could be established, called “tourism in World Heritage sites.”

Furthermore, while the literature that supports the same relationship with the immaterial Heritage of Humanity is not so extensive, research can be highlighted such as that of Gómez et al. [40] in terms of the tango dance in Buenos Aires or that of González Santa-Cruz and López-Guzmán [41] in relation to how the “Fiesta de los Patios de Cordoba” involves motivation to travel to the city.

As indicated by Del Barrio et al. [42], the idea of cultural and heritage legacy has followed an evolution since the end of the last century, through two different process: (1) Increasing the Heritage of Humanity. Although the registration of monuments, historical buildings, or archeological sites was restricted, the registration of other cultural aspects such as gardens, traditional manufacturing techniques, or rural areas was possible. (2) Adding other elements that seek the recognition of different collective identities, such as folklore or customs, and which, of course, form an indivisible part of the cultural legacy of peoples.

As is assumed, this has meant that the relationship between the Heritage of Humanity sites (both material and intangible) and tourism has expanded in terms of scientific typology to an increasingly wider field, allowing the development of both culture and sustainable tourism [43]. Thus, the scientific literature has also increased in volume, highlighting, among other studies, those of Timothy and Boyd [44], Timothy [45], Di Giovine [46], and Park [47].

Regardless of the environment in which they occur (cultural or natural) or the location of the destination, heritage tourism refers only to those activities arising from visiting a particular place and the experiences encountered therein [3]; in other words, the traveling person seeks precisely the link of his roots to that heritage legacy [8]. That is why, sometimes, the designation as a WHS is made to encourage visits to that destination, because of the authenticity sought in travel or the special experience that can be enjoyed [47,48].

According to Su and Wall [49], two lines of research can be drawn up for the study of heritage tourism: The definition and segmentation of the legacy, both historical and heritage, and the legacy linking tourist flows to historical and patrimonial legacy. These two lines can finally provide two different answers to what heritage tourism is [26]: One based on visits to places where there is a significant material heritage, and the other on the perception of tourists about these places linked to their own personal heritage.

In light of this, and along the same vein as Poria et al. [27], visiting a place with a historic legacy is linked to tourism via two components: The opportunity to visit a place of recognized excellence or a reunion with part of the cultural heritage itself [50]. Thus, by way of introducing this investigation into the perception, motivation, experiences and level of satisfaction of women visiting Cordoba and taking into account the abovementioned review of the literature, it is hypothesized that female tourists show different emotional perceptions of their visit to Cordoba (H₁).

2.2. Tourist Segmentation

As Muñoz-Fernández et al. [51] indicated, a correct segmentation of tourists visiting a WHS is essential for managing such visits in a suitable way and for then achieving differential services covering all possible demands. For a correct segmentation, it is necessary to understand the behavior, perceptions, and motivations [3] of tourists, in addition to their specific predispositions and knowledge [52]. If this segmentation is carried out properly, it will be easy to distinguish between tourism by means of “simple” visitors [53] and that of heritage tourists who acknowledge the place as a Heritage of Humanity site.

As a pioneer in the segmentation of tourists by their motivations [54], Silberberg [55] suggested four types of tourists: (1) Greatly cultural tourists, people “greatly motivated” by culture; (2) in part cultural tourists, people traveling both for cultural and personal reasons; (3) adjunct cultural tourists, people for whom culture is not the primary reason for traveling, but who can enjoy historical heritage; (4) accidental cultural tourists, people who do not plan their journey for cultural reasons, but who may become involved in a cultural activity or visit.

However, one of the most important typologies is that of McKercher [25]. McKercher, from two dimensions—namely, the weight of culture and heritage in the final decision to visit a place, and the extent and depth of the pre-tourist site to be visited—defines five visitor profiles: (1) Purposeful cultural tourists: Such tourists have a high interest in knowing the culture or heritage of the place they visit, and they have a deep cultural experience; (2) sightseeing cultural tourists: Such tourists’ interest in visiting a place is determined by culture and heritage, but they have a more superficial cultural experience, with their interest mostly focused on entertainment; (3) casual cultural tourists: Culture and heritage have limited weight in travel decisions, and these types of tourists are only superficially involved with their destination; (4) incidental cultural tourists: Culture and heritage influence travel decisions, although when visiting a destination, these types of tourists are superficially influenced by cultural experiences; (5) serendipitous cultural tourists: Culture and heritage are insignificant in travel decisions, but these types of tourists have a deep cultural experience when visiting a destination.

McKercher’s model can also be found in studies such as that of Nguyen and Cheung [3] to segment tourists who visit Hue City (Vietnam); that of Chen and Huang [56] who analyzed cultural tourism in China; that of Gonzalez et al. [57] to segment the tourists in an intangible heritage setting, i.e., the Holy Week processions in the city of Popayan (Colombia).

On the other hand, Poria et al. [26] conducted a triple segmentation based on the perception of visitors’ own heritage, which was thus based on the relationship between the tourist and their destination. In this way, it is possible to differentiate between visitors who do not relate to their legitimate heritage, visitors who want to complete and deepen their knowledge of their heritage, and, finally, visitors who are unaware of their own heritage when visiting a place. The Poria model has been used in various research works, such as that of Pérez-Gálvez [57] and Gonzalez et al. [57], allowing for the segmentation of tourists based on heritage destinations. It is also important to mention the segmentation of Ramires et al. [38], who, based on the historical city of Porto (Portugal), introduced two elements: Culture and leisure and economic value. Thus, tourism can be divided into three types: Conventional, spontaneous, and absorptive.

For women traveling alone, the investigation of McNamara and Pridaux [58] is particularly relevant, in which two types of tourists were identified: Women who are used to traveling alone and women who are traveling alone for the first time. For the former type of tourist, the primary motivation for the journey is typically to visit small destinations and, generally, friends and family, while for the latter, it is usually to visit places for nature.

2.3. Sociodemographic Profile of Tourists

The sociodemographic profile of tourists has been studied by various research works in relation to tourist preferences—in particular, gender, age, level of education, and income [59]. In terms of gender, various studies have indicated significant differences between women and men with regard to their behavior: Women can be more expressive [60], more interactive [61], and more emotional [62] than men; on the other hand, men can be more solidarity [63], more useful [64], and more focused on tasks [65]. Gender is therefore not only an important variable to consider in relation to behavior and the ways in which consumers make decisions [66], but also women, as a group, are increasingly important as consumers in general [67] and as consumers of tourist products in particular [6].

In this regard, the research of Đeri et al. [68] revealed, in the context of making travel decisions, that men make decisions more quickly and intuitively, while women take into consideration the views of their families and friends and, as Karatsoli and Nathanail pointed out [69], are influenced by their social networks. However, taking gender as a reference to identify differences in relation to motivations, the experiences or satisfaction of tourists visiting a Heritage of Humanity site are a source of dispute. For example, research such as that of Adie et al. [70], Chen and Huang [56], and Correia et al. [30] identified no gender differences, while the research of Ramires et al. [38], Wang [24], and Huete-Alcocer et al. [71] did, noting that women are more willing to visit heritage destinations. However, this research, according to Pereira and Silva [21], is not focused on exploring gender differences, but more on how women perceive their travel, how they construct their experiences, and how satisfied they are in their visit to a place—in this case, a heritage site.

In terms of age, most of the scientific literature focuses on visitors that are typically of a younger age. For example, Chen and Huang [56] set the age of visitors to between 21 and 35 years; Remoaldo et al. [8] to between 26 and 45 years; while Antón et al. [34], Correia et al. [30], and Ramires et al. [38] raised this age range to over 45 years for tourists visiting Lisbon and Porto. This difference in age range leads to a lack of clarity regarding the experiences of different age groups; perhaps the older a tourist, the more emotional they perceive their experiences to be.

As regards education level, there is little controversy; most studies conclude that heritage site visitors generally have a university education [8,30,34,38,55,72]. That is, as Asthon and Hall [73] and Remoaldo et al. [8] conclude, the higher the educational level of the people, the greater the motivation to visit a historical and patrimonial place, and it is expected, therefore, that the lived experience is greater.

It is also argued that heritage destinations are attractive to students, who visit them for educational purposes, and that this group of visitors should therefore be included in such analyses [56].

In addition, previous investigations agree that visitors of heritage destinations have, except for students, medium–high income levels [30,38,56,72,74]. According to the above literature review, it is hypothesized that the older the woman, the more emotional they perceive their experience to be (H₂), and the higher their education level, the more emotional they perceive their experience to be (H₃).

2.4. Assessment of Destination Attributes

Those elements that attract tourists to a particular destination and that set it apart from others are called attributes [75]. These attributes, due to their unique character, have a huge weight in the positioning of tourist destinations [76]; therefore, their identification and development are necessary to encourage tourists to choose a particular destination [77]. In addition, these attributes largely explain the attraction of tourists to places, as they are key elements in travel experiences [78,79]. In addition, when assessing tourist satisfaction of a destination, the overall assessment of the evaluation of multiple attributes from two perspectives should be distinguished; the first is linked to desire and emphasizes emotivity, while the second relates to tourists’ expectations in the consumer context [30]. The assessment of multiple attributes can realize any necessary adjustments to be made, which can then lead to an improvement in the quality of a travel experience—primarily through improved products and services and the implementation of effective destination management strategies. As the level of overall satisfaction increases, it will positively influence tourist loyalty [80,81,82,83].

As regards the above, and in relation to the satisfaction of a visit to a heritage destination, Huete-Alcocer et al. [71] argued that women have higher levels of satisfaction than men; however, this is in contrast to the findings of Rasoolimanesh et al. [10]. Therefore, the questions that need answering are, according to the scientific literature [80,82,84,85], what are the relevant attributes for effectively evaluating the impressions of the tourists of a place, and then, how can their key mechanisms be identified?

Thus, considering the aim of this investigation and taking into account the above literature review, it is hypothesized that women who demonstrate deeper emotional experience in relation to the rich heritage sites they visit have a positive assessment of tourist resources (H₄).

3. Methodology

3.1. Questionnaire and Proceedings

The methodology used herein was based on a structured questionnaire disseminated to a representative sample of women who visited the city of Cordoba (Spain). From the available options, a closed questionnaire design was chosen for ease of self-administration. In order to ensure the validity of the questionnaire, the formulation of the items was based on several previous investigations [8,26,30]. From an initial set of items, a three-stage cleansing process was followed: (1) A tourism researcher analyzed the proposed items; (2) the resulting questionnaire was reviewed by several people responsible for tourism activities in the city; (3) a pre-test was carried out with 20 tourists. During the purification phase, it was found that the respondents struggled to understand some of the questions, which were then corrected, and after assessing the questions and the validity of the questionnaire, the final field work was performed.

The final version of the questionnaire was intended to: (1) Ensure maximum clarity of the questions and the greatest adjustment of the answers to achieve the proposed objectives, and (2) avoid, as much as possible, overextended interviews. The questionnaires were carried out at different locations across the historical sites of Cordoba, assuming that the interviewee had been within the city for a certain time and could therefore provide strong opinions [8,30].

As for the structure of the questionnaire, it was divided into three large blocks. The first, with closed questions, was aimed at collecting the characteristics of the visit: Number of pre-city visits, time of stay, type of establishment used overnight, medium that raised awareness of the city, etc. The second, using a five-point Likert scale, focused on motivations to visit the city of Cordoba, emotional perceptions of historical and monumental heritage sites visited, assessment of the main attributes related to the visit, level of satisfaction achieved based on experience, and attitudinal loyalty. Finally, a third subparagraph, with closed questions, collected the sociodemographic characteristics of tourists: Age, gender, economic level, and education level.

A total of 437 questionnaires were completed by women between June and November 2019, of which 422 were valid. A non-probabilistic technical sampling technique was used, commonly employed in this type of research where interviewees are available for surveys in a given space and time [86]. No stratification of the sample was carried out by age, education, nationality, or by any other variable as there were no previous studies that supported this stratification.

The rate of refusal to complete the questionnaire was low and non-significant according to all variables. In no case did the duration of the questionnaire exceed 10 min.

3.2. Sampling and Sampling Error

The specific framework for our research involved female tourists visiting the city of Cordoba, regardless of whether or not they stayed overnight or visited other places in the Andalusian region. The number of tourists visiting this city totaled 967,503 persons in 2019, according to the reports of the Cordoba Tourist Observatory [87], of whom 50% were women. Therefore, and based on this number of visitors, the sample error for a 95% confidence level was ±4.77%, which should show the diversity of the selected sample in relation to the true characteristics, features, behavior, and qualities of the population under study, and the number of tourists arriving in the city of Cordoba if random sampling had been carried out. On the contrary, the field work was designed for convenience sampling, where people were available in one place and at a single time for completing the questionnaire.

3.3. Data Analysis

Tabulation and statistical analysis of the data were carried out using SPSS software V. 24. Cronbach’s alpha was used to validate the internal consistency and thus reliability of the responses obtained. Subsequently, to identify segments with similar emotional perceptions of cultural heritage, various multivariant case-grouping techniques were applied, including results obtained from the analysis of K-media conglomerates as the most consistent—a technique that aims to classify individuals by maximizing homogeneity within groups, for which it uses a measure of distance or a similar Euclidean distance.

Following this, and with the aim of validating the relevance of the clusters obtained in the segmentation, discriminatory analysis was carried out. Finally, in order to analyze the possible existence of statistically significant differences in the scores of items between the different segments, non-parametric statistical techniques (i.e., Kruskal–Wallis H and Mann–Whitney U) were used because the characteristics of the sample did not meet the requirements for parametric analysis.

4. Results and Discussion

4.1. Segmentation of Tourists

The basis for segmentation was the perception of historical heritage by tourists visiting the city of Cordoba—specifically, on the emotions experienced when visiting the city, as set out in the Poria model [26]. The four items comprising the above model, which are listed in

Table 1. Segments based on the perception of historical heritage.

Perception	Tourist Clusters			Kruskal–Wallis H
	1 24.4%	2 50.5%	3 25.1%	χ2	Sig.
The historical heritage visit to the city has contributed to my education	3.56 *	4.43 *	4.75 *	126.804	<0.000
The historical heritage visit to the city has made me excited	3.31 *	4.38 *	4.98 *	227.828	<0.000
During the visit, I felt part of the heritage	2.80 *	3.7 *	5 *	292.961	<0.000
The historical heritage visit to the city has made me feel good	3.78 *	4.49 *	4.93 *	143.192	<0.000

* Values represent significant differences in two of the three groups of averages, having applied the Mann–Whitney U test. Source: Own elaboration.

, present a Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of 0.762, indicating good internal consistency of the scale values.

The drafting of segments based on theory was carried out through non-hierarchical conglomerates (K-media conglomerates). However, given the exploratory nature of the technique [88], the Kruskal–Wallis H test [89] was used to verify its validity.

Table 1 lists the three tourist segments obtained from the scores awarded by tourists to the four items set out in the Poria model and used to carry out the segmentation of the study. In addition, the table also shows the results of the Kruskal–Wallis H test, which revealed inequality in the items that make up the emotional perception of tourists from the different segments established. Since the previous test did not allow for differences between pairs of segments, the Mann–Whitney U test [90] was used, which revealed statistically significant differences in different combinations of segments.

For the three clusters obtained, and following the classification of Ramires et al. [38], the first one covered 24.4% of tourists surveyed, characterized by showing an emotional perception of their experience of Cordoba, referred to as “spontaneous tourists”. The second group comprised 50.5% of respondents, referred to as “conventional tourists”, characterized by showing a more accurate and lower emotional perception than the previous group in response to the destination under study, without this perception showing a high level. Finally, the third cluster, composed of the remaining 25.2% and referred to as “absorptive tourists”, showed a very strong emotional link to the destination, with their scores being very close to, and even reaching, the maximum value.

The results validate the first hypothesis: Female tourists show different emotional perceptions of their visit to Cordoba (H₁).

4.2. Socio-Economic Characteristics of Women Visiting the City of Cordoba

Table 2. Socio-demographic profile of the female tourists visiting Cordoba.

Characteristics		Clusters			Total N = 422
		Spontaneous Tourists N = 103	Conventional Tourists N = 213	Absorptive Tourists N = 106
Age (N = 421)	Under 30 years of age	48.5%	31%	27.6%	34.4%
	30–39 years old	18.4%	16.9%	14.3%	16.6%
	40–49 years old	12.6%	22.1%	17.1%	18.5%
	50–59 years old	17.5%	18.8%	23.8%	19.7%
	≥60 years old	2.9%	11.3%	17.1%	10.7%
Educational level (N = 418)	Primary education	3.9%	3.8%	4.8%	4%
	Secondary education	24.3%	16.5%	18.1%	18.8%
	University education	37.9%	51.9%	54.3%	49%
	Master’s/PhD	34%	26.9%	22.9%	27.6%
Professional activity (N = 419)	Liberal professional	14.7%	7.1%	10.5%	9.8%
	Entrepreneur	1%	3.3%	2.9%	2.6%
	Public servant	8.8%	6.6%	10.5%	8.1%
	Full-time employee	42.2%	41.5%	37.1%	40.6%
	Part-time employee	3.9%	6.6%	3.8%	5.3%
	Self-employed	2.9%	5.7%	6.7%	5.3%
	Student	15.7%	9.9%	9.5%	11.2%
	Unemployed	2.9%	4.2%	1.9%	3.3%
	Retired	5.9%	11.3%	15.2%	11%
	Household work	2%	3.8%	1.9%	2.9%
Country of origin (N = 422)	National	21.4%	28.6%	31.1%	27.5%
	Foreigners	78.6%	71.4%	68.9%	72.5%
Income (€/month) (N = 294)	>700 euros	4.8%	4.2%	4.5%	4.4%
	700–1000 euros	4.8%	6.9%	6%	6.1%
	1001–1500 euros	16.9%	16%	17.9%	16.7%
	1501–2500 euros	25.3%	30.6%	28.4%	28.6%
	2500–3500 euros	20.5%	17.4%	13.4%	17.3%
	>3500 euros	27.7%	25%	29.9%	26.9%

Source: Own elaboration.

shows the sociodemographic profiles of the female tourists visiting the city of Cordoba. It can be observed that most of the women surveyed were under 30 years of age, a characteristic that appears in each segment. However, it should be noted that, proportionally, tourists with the greatest cultural interest in the destination were older (Kruskal–Wallis H = 17.817; p = 0.000). This result corroborates the assumption that women’s emotional experiences increase with age (H₂).

As regards the professional category of respondents, most of them were full-time employees, followed by students, something that is usually common in WHS cities [56].

The level of education for female tourists in the field was high, with 76.6% of women surveyed graduating or having already graduated from university. In addition, it should be noted that the education level described did not differ from that of different groups of established tourists. That is, a higher educational level does not correspond to an increase in the emotional experience of female tourist during their visit; therefore, H₃ cannot be confirmed, which establishes that female tourists who have greater cultural interest and greater emotional experience in a WHS destination are those with the highest educational level (Kruskal–Wallis H = 0.933; p = 0.627).

It is also noted that 72.5% of female tourists are extraordinary, with a small ratio of their country of origin to their cultural interest of the city of Cordoba and the emotional linkage shown (contingency coefficient = 0.081; p = 0.248).

In the case of family monthly income, 28.6% of the respondents took home between EUR 1500 and EUR 2500 a month, while 26.9% received an income of more than EUR 3500. Therefore, it can be concluded that tourists visiting the city of Cordoba amount to medium–high purchasing power. In addition, there were no statistically significant differences in income level for the segments obtained from the cultural interest and emotional linkages (Kruskal–Wallis H = 0.327; p = 0.849).

Finally, it is worth noting the low rate of repetition of visits, as only 30% of tourists claimed to have visited the city previously.

4.3. Value Received by Women Visiting the City of Cordoba

Table 3. Assessment of female tourist attributes.

Attributes	Spontaneous Tourists N = 103	Conventional Tourists N = 213	Absorptive Tourists N = 106	Kruskal–Wallis H		Total N = 422	Ranking
				χ2	Sig.
The historical and monumental center	4.33 *	4.58 *	4.76 *	26.716	<0.000	4.56	1
Conservation of monumental and artistic heritage	4.18 *	4.35 *	4.74 *	34.265	<0.000	4.41	2
The beauty of the city	4.27 *	4.39 *	4.59 *	17.302	<0.000	4.41	2
Accessibility to flagship buildings and monuments	3.49	3.32	3.31	0.004	0.998	3.36	11
Tourist information	3.26	3.45	3.52	5.66	0.059	3.42	9
Attention and quality of tourist facilities	3.30	3.69	3.43	11.201	0.004	3.53	8
Attention and quality of restaurants and bars	3.35 *	3.63	3.58	9.022	0.011	3.55	7
Attention and quality of tourist guides	2.74	2.76	2.90	1.242	0.537	2.79	14
Diversity and quality of local gastronomy	3.44	3.42	3.37	0.249	0.883	3.41	10
Opportunity to purchase crafts and traditional food items	3.06	2.99	3.20	2.194	0.334	3.06	12
Additional leisure offer	2.49	2.53	2.59	0.174	0.917	2.53	14
Citizen security	3.55 *	3.87	3.86	11.842	0.003	3.79	4
Care and cleaning of the city	3.82 *	4.09 *	4.30 *	19.083	<0.000	4.08	3
Resident hospitality	3.41 *	3.87	3.90	18.823	<0.000	3.77	5
Public transport services	2.72	2.75	2.77	0.278	0.87	2.75	13
Quality–price ratio of the city	3.50	3.64	3.81	6.828	0.033	3.65	6

* Values present significant differences in two of the three groups of averages, having applied the Mann–Whitney U test. Source: Own elaboration.

shows the scores obtained from the items included in the questionnaire that were aimed at analyzing the city’s tourism resources, for each segment obtained and for the total sample. The Cronbach’s alpha (0.797) revealed good internal consistency in the data. Similarly, Friedman’s χ² (1241.74), whose critical value was less than 0.001, showed that the averages of the elements were not equal.

The attributes that constituted the greatest measurement of the satisfaction of female tourists, regardless of the reference cluster, were: “The historical and monumental center”, “the conservation of monumental and artistic heritage”, “the beauty of the city”, “care and cleaning of the city”, “citizen security”, and “hospitality of residents”.

On the contrary, the attributes that obtained lower valuations were: “additional leisure offer”, “care and quality of tourist guides”, “public transport services”, and “accessibility to flagship buildings and monuments”. These pose a disadvantage over other destinations, while providing an opportunity to improve the excellence of the city of Cordoba as a destination.

Regarding the differences between clusters, the evaluations are not homogeneous, observing differences in some of the attributes shown in Table 3 depending on the group of women. In this sense, the group of female tourists called absorptive is the one that gives the highest valuation to attributes of a historical and patrimonial nature, such as “the historical and monumental center”, “the conservation of monumental and artistic heritage”, and “the beauty of the city”, as well as other attributes such as the “care and cleaning of the city”. On the other hand, the least value of these attributes is given by the group of female tourists called spontaneous. Therefore, those female tourists included in the cluster called absorptive and who enjoy an emotional experience in their visit to the city of Cordoba that is superior to the other two clusters only more highly value those attributes of a historical and patrimonial nature, and those related with the “care and cleaning of the city”.

From the above, it is possible to partially confirm the hypothesis that women who demonstrate deeper emotional experience in relation to the rich heritage sites they visit have a positive assessment of the tourism resources of a destination (H₄).

5. Conclusions

As a UNESCO Heritage of Humanity site, a place receives cultural recognition and a commitment to being conserved, as well as important attention for promotion as a destination for a particular type of tourist; therefore, there is a need to manage such a place properly.

The cultural potential of the city of Cordoba requires investigation to search for key issues that are essential in planning and developing strategies for the improvement or promotion of tourism. Differential plans in tourism supply and city tourist strategies depend on the description of tourists visiting the city. This means not only analyzing sociodemographic variables, but also the perception that tourists hold of a destination, as well as their motivations, interests, and expectations.

This research contributes to the existing academic literature on the links between female tourists and the historical and monumental heritage sites they visit, as well as the behavior of female tourists. On the one hand and according to the Poria model, what emotions women perceive when visiting Cordoba’s historical and monumental heritage was studied, while on the other hand and according to the McKercher model, the greatest or smallest cultural motivations were found when deciding to visit Cordoba. However, according to the classification of Ramires et al., a model was obtained, providing empirical evidence of three types of foreign tourists that were considered valid for segmentation in terms of the city of Cordoba as a tourist WHS destination: “Spontaneous tourists”, “conventional tourists”, and “absorptive tourists”. With regard to the three identified clusters, “absorptive tourists” are those who show greater cultural motivation and greater emotional linkage to the heritage sites visited in Cordoba.

As regards the analysis of satisfaction, one of the main contributions of this investigation was that the level of satisfaction toward a WHS destination, such as Cordoba, is influenced by motivations for going to the city. The results achieved show that culture and heritage contribute more to the satisfaction shown with regard to a destination—in our case, Cordoba. The greatest interest is translated, at the same time, into particularly different perceptions as regards a destination’s tourist attributes, with a greater appreciation of cultural and heritage resources, as well as those related to the city’s conservation, care, and cleaning.

As a practical implementation of this research, it is important to understand the differentiating characteristics that women present as tourists, as this allows us to determine the assessment they make of visiting Cordoba. Ultimately, this may be useful both for public and tourism companies. The first can improve the management of a city’s heritage and tourism resources, while the latter can adjust their tourism supply, both in accordance with the principles of the sustainable management of historical and monumental heritage, and with the aim of meeting the expectations and needs of women visiting Cordoba. This can be useful in designing a tourism supply and tourism products, which, in accordance with the principles of sustainable management of historical and monumental heritage, can specifically meet women’s expectations and needs.

The tourism sector, on the demand side, was only partly limited in this investigation, since the results obtained may cause difficulties in the transfer to other actors, either public or private, in the field of tourism in Cordoba. Therefore, a future avenue of research would be to assess the activity that these other actors, either public or private, can create in the tourism sector in Cordoba.