Visitor Perception and Expectation of Heritage Tourism at Mahabalipuram Monuments

Abstract

This chapter explores visitor perception and expectation of heritage tourism at Mahabalipuram group of monuments. Visitor opinions were collected in the form of constructed questionnaire to study the perception and expectation of Mahabalipuram as the visitors can act as ambassadors for heritage tourism development. The research objectives of this study were therefore to assess tourists' motives for visiting Mahabalipuram, their expectation of the heritage destination, and their perception after visiting the monument. The competitiveness as a destination and the gap between tourists' perceptions and expectations were assessed in the current study. The present study discloses the gap of visitor expectations and their perceived feelings of the heritage destination. Visitor perception on the major 5A's were assessed in this study, which pave the way for better positioning and planning of the destination.