Historical Tourism in Intramuros: Visitor Satisfaction and Engagement with Local Tour Guides

This study examined visitor satisfaction and engagement with local tour guides in Intramuros, Manila, and tested whether these outcomes differed by tourist profile. A cross-sectional quantitative survey was administered to 200 tourists who had experienced a guided tour in Intramuros, comprising equal numbers of Filipino and foreign visitors. The researcher-developed questionnaire assessed factors influencing the use of tour-guide services, post-tour evaluations of information and communication, tourist engagement, and proposed service-improvement strategies. The analyses used descriptive statistics, Kruskal-Wallis tests, Mann-Whitney U tests, and Pearson correlation. Respondents reported highly positive reasons for using tour guides (M = 3.58, SD = 0.411), high satisfaction with guide information and communication (M = 3.62, SD = 0.434), and high engagement (M = 3.62, SD = 0.415). Satisfaction and engagement did not differ significantly by age, gender, or nationality (all p > .05). Satisfaction was strongly and positively associated with engagement (r = .820, p < .001). Respondents strongly endorsed continued guide development, particularly communication and storytelling, feedback mechanisms, local cultural integration, multilingual provision, and digital support. The findings position tour guides as central interpretive mediators in heritage tourism and suggest that professional, communicative, and participatory guiding can support meaningful visitor experiences in Intramuros.