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share). The next category contains answers
related to regional cuisine, food and beverages
(11% share). The sixth column gathers all ele-
ments related to religion, such as Saint Therese,
monasteries, churches, catholic religion etc. (6%
share). The following four columns have less
interest in the context of the current research
because they refer to answers not really related
to tourism issues such as agriculture, cattle farm-
ing, backwardness, progress, good economy
and others, with a total share of 10%.
Figure 10.4 represents the main results of
the analysis of Ávila's meaning maps. The same
previously mentioned categories appear again,
plus two more variables: Depth and Links. In the
representation of the meaning map, each ele-
ment is linked to the city with a variable depth
level, which is measured by the number of other
elements placed between them. If the depth is
minimal, or in other words, if the element ana-
lysed is close to the centre of the meaning map,
it means that the depth is 1. If there is an element
between them, it means that the depth is 2, and
so on. The nearer an element is to the centre of
the meaning map, the more relevant it is for the
subject who answered the survey. In general, the
maximum depth reached by the elements of a
meaning map suggests a higher complexity in
the mental representations. Meaning maps in
towns are usually very complex and deep.
Because of depth and complexity, the
attraction and the marketing strategies should be
more elaborate than in the cases where the aver-
age meaning maps prove simple and not too
deep. An analysis of the potential tourists of
Ávila brings up the following remarks. First, the
Local
people
Folklore
Village
fiestas
Catholicism
Countrylife
Agriculture
Other
Cattle farming
Saint Theresa
Cakes
Progress
The Wall
Tourism
Local typical
cuisine
Ávila
Meat, beef
steaks
Built heritage,
architecture
Other specific
monuments
Art
Surrounding
villages,
outskirts
Iberians, Celts,
Jews, Visigoths
Cathedral
Culture
Generic notions
about its
geographical
position
Muslims
Plants
Nature,
environment,
landscape
History
Romans
Animals
Ancient place
Weather
Fig. 10.4.
Graphic representation of Ávila's meaning maps analysis. Copyright UAM, PICTURE.
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