Understanding the aesthetic perceptions and image impressions experienced by tourists walking along tourism trails through continuous cityscapes in Macau

A destination attracts tourists not only by its aesthetically well-designed and functionally well-maintained urban scenes but also by its image and sense of place. Using Macau as a case study, this paper utilises perception-based assessment, photo analysis and statistical modelling to investigate the aesthetic perceptions and image impressions of tourists walking along travel trails that include must-see tourism nodes and urban street segments. This study aims to detect important urban and landscape attributes that affect tourists' perceptions whilst travelling through continuous cityscapes. Results reveal that spatial disparity exists between aesthetic perception and city image impression through different cityscapes. Landmarks and urban attributes that show local businesses and social life effectively shape tourists' image impression. Contemporary and sparsely built-up cityscapes have significant landscape diversity. Urban greenery along walking trails may negatively contribute to image impression if it blocks views in historical and densely built-up cityscapes. Findings provide new insights and discussion for urban design and management along travel trails to enhance walkability for Macau and similar tourism cities.