Abstract:

The image of a tourist destination should be worked by the various players in the tourism industry, to attract the destination, and promoted in various communication channels, including social media. Social networks are a source of information, content sharing and experiences, by the various users, and can condition the image created of a destination, favorably or not. The Douro Wine Region, World Heritage Site since 2001, presents itself as a tourist destination par excellence, for its various attractions. Thus, this exploratory study aims to analyze the presence in social networks of the destination Douro Vinhateiro and identify the dimensions of the destination image. To this end, it was developed a work according to the mixed research model, two methodological approaches were adopted - qualitative and quantitative. As a data collection method, in a first phase it was chosen the documental analysis, followed by a qualitative analysis of websites and social networks related to the Alto Douro Wine Region and in a second phase it was applied a questionnaire to tourists who visited this region. The results showed that the image of the region under study is formed by three main dimensions: the Douro River, the Vineyards, and the City of Porto. Tourists also point to these three dimensions as the main factors associated with this region.