Using a VGI and GIS-Based Multicriteria Approach for Assessing the Potential of Rural Tourism in Extremadura (Spain)

Abel González-Ramiro, Gil Gonçalves, Alonso Sánchez-Ríos and Jin Su Jeong
Additional contact information
Abel González-Ramiro: Dpto. de Expresión Gráfica, Centro Universitario de Mérida, Universidad de Extremadura, 06800 Mérida, Spain
Gil Gonçalves: Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade de Coimbra and INESC Coimbra, Apartado 3008, EC Santa Cruz, 3001-501 Coimbra, Portugal
Alonso Sánchez-Ríos: Dpto. de Expresión Gráfica, Centro Universitario de Mérida, Universidad de Extremadura, 06800 Mérida, Spain
Jin Su Jeong: Dpto. de Expresión Gráfica, Centro Universitario de Mérida, Universidad de Extremadura, 06800 Mérida, Spain

Sustainability, 2016, vol. 8, issue 11, 1-15

Abstract: Extremadura (Spain), being one of the less-developed EU regions, is also eligible for European funds, including those related with the development of tourism activities in rural areas. To assess the spatial distribution of rural tourism potential (RTP), a methodological approach was followed by combining the synergetic use of geographic information systems (GIS) and the analytical hierarchical process (AHP). For the evaluation model, six factors were examined and hierarchized by a panel of eighteen experts: tourism accommodation offer, activities in natural areas, gastronomic offer, cultural activities, bath offer in natural environments, and activities in active tourism. These factors were then decomposed into thirty-two evaluation criteria and the relative importance of their weights was estimated using pairwise judgments. Using publicly available data and volunteered geographic information (VGI) platforms, the related spatial and non-spatial data were collected, collated, and standardized, employing appropriate tools developed with open-source GIS software. The results, represented by a series of intensity maps, indicate the RTP scores, highlight the strengths and weaknesses in each county, and could serve as a planning tool for public and/or private investments.

Keywords: VGI; GIS; AHP; rural tourism potential; Extremadura (Spain) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/8/11/1144/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/8/11/1144/ (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:gam:jsusta:v:8:y:2016:i:11:p:1144-:d:82275

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().