Residents’ Perceptions about Tourism Development: A Comparative Analysis of Selected Locations in the North of Portugal

Silva Goretti () and Oliveira Mariana
Additional contact information
Silva Goretti: Polytechnic University of Viana de Castelo; Center for Tourism Research, Development and Innovation (CiTUR), Viana de Castelo, Portugal
Oliveira Mariana: Polytechnic University of Viana do Castelo; Center for Tourism Research, Development and Innovation (CiTUR), Viana de Castelo, Portugal

European Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation, 2024, vol. 14, issue 2, 190-205

Abstract: Residents’ perceptions of tourism’s impacts (either negative or positive) are of utmost importance as, ultimately, they will influence their support for the industry. This paper aims to present the results of a study focusing on tourism development and its impacts based on residents’ perceptions and how tourism affects their lives and places of living, applied to specified areas within the northern region of Portugal. A comparative analysis of the historic centre of Porto, the historical centre of Guimarães, and two parishes of the Peneda-Gerês National Park is presented. Tourism is a relevant economic activity with significant volume despite the perceived range of intensity levels and related impacts. Notwithstanding the acknowledged benefits, these areas are associated, to some extent, with tourism pressures, potentially generated among the historic centre of Porto, the historical centre of Guimarães, and two parishes of the Peneda-Gerês National Park. These regions presented negative impacts that provoke antagonistic feelings from residents. Thus, a questionnaire-based survey was conducted among people living in these areas. The results reveal that residents generally recognise the benefits of tourism, despite some concerns about its negative impacts on the local culture and infrastructure, particularly the overcrowding effect in smaller historic town centres and natural areas.

Keywords: North Portugal; residents’ perceptions; social impacts; sustainable tourism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.2478/ejthr-2024-0014 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:vrs:ejothr:v:14:y:2024:i:2:p:190-205:n:1002

DOI: 10.2478/ejthr-2024-0014

Access Statistics for this article

European Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation is currently edited by Joanna Kosmaczewska

More articles in European Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation from Sciendo
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Peter Golla ().