Digital communication strategy and tourism: Examining spanish Media coverage about Portugal as a tourist destination

Abstract

Online media can influence tourists’ decisions and help build the image of destinations, so monitoring media coverage is a crucial aspect of tracking a destination's reputation and evaluating the effectiveness of a digital communication strategy. Considering the relationship with international media is part of the Portuguese communication strategy to project its destination image and increase awareness in priority markets, this paper examines Spanish media coverage about Portugal as a tourist destination. For this purpose, the present study scanned Spanish online news over one year, identifying 81 mentions. Different types of online sources (e.g., news portals, online magazines, blogs, and Websites) were analyzed and then described based on several indicators, such as geographic reach, media names, type of coverage, and key messages. Results point to the fact that, although Portugal has been making online media efforts to reinforce its image as a diversified destination in terms of products and places, Spanish media coverage still associates Portugal with sun and sea tourism, mainly referring to destinations such as the Algarve. Therefore, this study aims to bridge the gap between theory and practice by discussing the relevance of digital media to tourism and describing the case of a destination communication strategy.