Tourism through the gaze of stakeholders: the case of Óbidos Lagoon in Portugal

Coastal lagoons are valued and sensitive ecosystems often threatened by human pressure. In our study we focused on the development of local activities in the Óbidos lagoon and we aimed to understand the stakeholders’ view about the best solutions for local development. Stakeholders were divided into residents, tourists, groups of interest and surveys and interviews were applied. The results indicated that although the lagoon is considered a dynamic economical resource for the local economy communities, tourism was identified by all stakeholders as the strategic tool for development in the lagoon. These results suggest the urgency to promote sustainable guidelines for the local tourism development

It is all about safety: an experience in Pico Mountain, Portugal

Mountain adventure tourism represents 20% of the current tourism flows and will continue to grow, and, consequently there is a great need to better understand this segment. Pico Mountain, a mountain destination, in Portugal has followed this growth trend; however the lack of knowledge about this phenomenon is still a reality. Therefore, our goal is to define the Pico Mountain visitor’s profile as well as to assess the importance of the mountain guides’ roles in the Pico climbing. To achieve this goal a quantitative analysis was employed based on a survey applied in the territory. Our main results indicated that visitors of Pico Mountain are mainly young, European, inexperienced, and “package” adventure tourists that undertake “soft” adventure activities. For 90% of the respondents the mountain guides played an important role in the trip as well as great influence on it. Furthermore, the feeling of safety assured by guides is the most valued characteristic of mountain guides for all the respondents and it is the main reason why they are hired.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio