Image analysis of a tourist destination: Malaga, Spain

The destination image is multidimensional in nature and the knowledge the individuals have of the destination and also their personal traits and opinions play an important role in it. Therefore, it is a complex construction in which the different information sources are decisive. Thus, the destination image plays a key role in both marketing and tourism location. The city of Malaga, located in Southern Spain, lies on the Costa del Sol (Coast of the Sun), a tourist area largely identified with seaside tourism. In recent years Malaga city has been trying to distance itself from the “sun and sand” tourism segment and it has chosen to position itself as a cultural destination (Diario Sur, 2014; The New York Times, 2015). In this regard, the effectiveness of the image of Malaga differentiated from a seaside destination image is analysed in the present study. The main objective of this research is to perform an analysis of the current image of the city and of the target one. A detailed study of the obtained results will enable us to take a close look at the tourists’ attitudes towards Malaga city and it will provide us with information to improve or design new differentiation strategies. This is the first academic study on Malaga’s destination image. Malaga is a Spanish municipality in Andalusia and it is located, as already mentioned, in the Costa del Sol, beside the Mediterranean Sea. The city had 566,913 inhabitants (2014) and an accommodation supply of 9,598 bed places and nearly one million of tourists (2013). We decided to focus the research on Malaga city, on the Costal del Sol, Spain, a traditionally touristic place which in the recent years is trying to specialize in urban and cultural tourismUniversidad de Málaga, Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech2018-01-0

Effect of superabsorbent polymers (SAP) on fresh state mortars with ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS)

Although cementitious materials are the main construction materials and worldwide produced, there is still a major concern about their sustainability and durability, especially in terms of conserving resources, reducing wastes, and decreasing the environmental impacts of repair and replacement. In general, cementitious materials are very susceptible to cracking provoked by autogenous shrinkage due to their associated self-desiccation process. The problem is even more critical in concrete with blended cements, including Portland cement with ground granulated blast-furnace slag (GGBS). The current paper evaluates efficiency of superabsorbent polymers (SAP) as internal curing agents; shrinkage reduction in mortars with different levels of cement replacement by GGBS (0, 25, 50, and 75%) is presented. The study is focused on three types of SAPs with different water absorption/desorption capacities (SAP I: 10 g/g, SAP II: 25–30 g/g, and SAP III: 35 g/g in cement paste solution). Tests of consistency, density, air content of fresh mortar, setting times, and autogenous shrinkage are analysed. The results showed that mortars with SAP can significantly reduce autogenous shrinkage for any studied GGBS content in comparison with the reference mortar. The reduction of autogenous shrinkage by SAP may decrease the cracking susceptibility and hence increase the sustainability level of the material for more durable constructions