UNIVERSITY STUDENT PERCEPTION REGARDING THE TOURISM POTENTIAL IN THE CITY OF LLEIDA

This study analyses the opinion of students enrolled at the Lleida University in regards to the tourism potential of the city where they study. The survey was conducted on a total of 202 students, with the average age of 21.47 years. In order to participate in this study, the respondents had to meet a certain criteria ? to be passionate about tourism and to travel at least once a year. The sample population is made up of both Spanish (78.3%) and foreign students who came to study through the Erasmus mobility program (21.7%). The research was carried out in the city of Lleida, Spain between January and April 2015 and the data were processed using the SPSS statistical software. The analysis of the tourist profile showed that the students are familiar with the city's main tourist attractions and most of them have visited at least one of these sites. Even though financially they are highly dependent on their families, they do value the comfort level of the housing and transportation services while travelling. The students ‘opinion is that the city of Lleida has a low tourism potential and they would not recommend it to their friends as a tourist destination. The local transportation infrastructure level and very few leisure opportunities bring a large contribution to this negative image.