RCAAP Repository

Madeira Island is an Atlantic island, that was colonized by Portuguese in the year 1420. The first vineyards introduced in the island were Malmsey, imported from Greece, in the XV century leading to the production of liquorish wine, Madeira Wine. Recently, table wine is also produced. The present study aims to understand the contribution of Madeira Wine production on touristic experiences as well its role on landscape maintenance, local identity, natural resources conservation, job creation and economy. A questionnaire survey was delivered to tourists, and two too semi-structured interviews: to a local wine producer- Quinta do Barbusano and a Chef- Dúlio Freitas respectively, on December 2018. In Quinta do Barbusano two red wines, two white wines and one Rosé are produced. Since 2018, Quinta do Barbusano promotes a new product “Wine tourism”, offering wine tastings, farm’s visits and a lunch providing regional gastronomy, using local products. Secondary data was also consulted, such as governmental and national Official statistical data, concerning Madeira Wine production and Madeira Wine commercialization. The results presented in this study reflect that Madeira Wine production can play a key role in sustainable tourism. The authors also featured as research limitations the need to improve survey sample size, as well the number of interviews in order to reach particularly relevant actors in this field.

Rural tourism meets the needs of a growing group of urban consumers who seek to break away from everyday life and gain a reinvigorating, rural and authentic experience that integrates traditions, customs and local identity. Through its peculiar characteristics such as hospitality and its symbolic materials, rural tourism company owners have an opportunity to diversify their activities here.The offer of interactive and dynamic experiences refers to the singularity of places and the personalization of experiences, which are decisive factors in the affirmation of destinations with rural characteristics and for the differentiation of rural tourism establishments.The present research presents the first phases of an investigation using a set of semi-structured interviews with the owners of rural settlements (rural tourism), with selection based on their location in the county, their size and the experiential activities they promote and that are disseminated through communication channels. The aspects considered in the collection of data are related to the need to deduce the symbols of hospitality, characterized by history, local culture, gastronomy and tradition, along with other aspects that influence good service.From the analysis of the results, it was possible to conclude that rural tourism establishments, know well what tourists are looking for in rural space and develop several activities (individual or in partnership) to attend their needs. The managers also reveal distinguished behaviour to give a personalized and high-quality customer service.

This study sought to investigate the importance of cultural and creative tourism associated with ‘celebrations’ (i.e., festivais, festas, feiras and eventos [festivals, feasts, fairs and events]) in the Algarve region of Portugal. The resulting paper first discusses the significance of cultural and creative tourism and its interconnections with sustainable development in a region traditionally linked with ‘sun and sea’ tourism products. The methodological framework was a case study that focused on links between cultural and creative tourism and the dynamics of celebrations in 16 Algarve municipalities (concelhos municipais). The study was based on content analysis of data gathered with a questionnaire distributed to camara municipal (city council) culture and/or tourism responsibles from the 16 Algarve municipalities, namely, those (technicians) whose jobs are related to enhancing the attractiveness of the cultural resources associated with celebrations. The results reveal an increasing recognition of the importance of cultural patterns to municipals’ tourism offers based on popular and everyday culture, which contribute to the Algarve’s authentic identity and heterogeneous features.

This study aims to analyze the uses of industrial heritage as a possibility for tourism. The theme is new and offers a range of alternatives for tourism as it includes, in this field, demonstrations of industry histories and their relationship between the city's past and future. The tourist possibility focused on industrial heritage shows the construction of historical heritage, its memory and identity. The object of study chosen is a former metallurgist founded one of the main industries in Brazil, located in the northeast of the state of Rio Grande do Sul and that had a strong influence on the economic development of this region. The methodological approach is descriptive and used to support the theoretical studies about heritage, memory and identity, as well as cultural tourism. The discussion about industrial heritage opens the possibility of knowing and understanding how the productive processes that collaborated for the industrial development of regions that had technologies and workforce needed to make the transformation that has occurred. Thus, it is verified that the governmental recognition of heritage can be an instrument for stimulating cultural tourism, through new uses to the industrial heritage collections.

The purpose of this study was to explore creativity and wellbeing characteristics in a sample of Portuguese tourists while simultaneously building a creative tourist profile. A sample of 857 Portuguese tourists with ages ranging from 17 to 76 years was used. The Creative Personality Scale short form and the Tourism Experience Scale were applied for data collection. The results indicated positive and significant correlations between wellbeing and creativity. Women showed higher levels of wellbeing. Older tourists performed better in creativity. Age had a significant influence only on creativity and not on tourists’ overall wellbeing. Non-students obtained higher and significant scores for creativity, while overall wellbeing was not influenced by having a job (student vs non-student). A significant multiple linear regression model suggested that wellbeing and age are significant predictors of creativity in tourism settings. Wellbeing rankings showed positive emotions in first place, creativity in second place and meaning in third place. In conclusion, the results indicated that creativity and wellbeing are important factors for tourism experiences and that Portuguese tourists’ psychological profile already shows evidence that unique and memorable experiences are essential in tourism destinations.

Financial crises often lead to an increase of pathological symptoms which have a negative impact on life satisfaction. This study analysed the moderating role of social support on the relationship between perceived financial threat and life satisfaction, during austerity periods. Structural equation modelling (SEM) using multiple-group analysis was used to assess the obtained results. The collected sample was composed by 901 Portuguese individuals, 603 females and 298 males, with an average age of 37 years old. Overall, results indicated a model in which perceived financial threat and social support were negatively and positively associated with life satisfaction, respectively. The moderating effect of social support revealed that in the group with the highest level of support there was a significant decrease in the association between perceived financial threat and life satisfaction, i.e., social support mitigated the negative effects of perceived financial threat on life satisfaction. The implications of these results are discussed.

This paper aims to discuss the healing and wellbeing effects induced by places and landscapes such as coastal (blue) areas and green spaces. Adopting a holistic approach, the paper fills a gap by exploring the therapeutic benefits of other short-term experiences such as: spiritual/ introspective (gold), sensation seeking/excitement, achievement-oriented, symbolic and transformative experiences. “Dark” and “white” sceneries such as risk recreation and pilgrimage to “land’s ends”, dystopian places and (white) extreme wilderness were also analyzed. The negative externalities caused by neighborhood social and physical disorder (grey zones) complete the “pallet of colors”. This conceptual paper fills a gap providing a new tool to map place brands according to two positioning axis: 1) Physical Health (passive absorption/ residential exposure) (positive versus negative impact); 2) Spiritual versus Excitement/Self-achievement (active way/ short exposure). Furthermore, it proposes also a new theoretical framework for the “salutogenic health system” and for the “governance support system”. The paper’s contributions will help place brand managers, public decision makers and tourism operators to develop innovative place based policies using those health benefits as a driver for place branding positioning.

This paper sought to reflect on the methodologies of the carrying capacity assessment in ecotourism trails. After analyzing and defining the methodology presented by Cifuentes (1992) it was possible to estimate the Recreational Carrying Capacity for the "Caída do Morro Trail" in the Tatus community, in the Ilha Grande municipality, state of Piauí, in the Brazilian northeast. For the evaluation of the Recreational Carrying Capacity the specific characteristics of the limiting or correction factors (dune height, trail length and temperature) applied to the control and data collection were used. The method used showed that once an adequate management plan has been implemented with the construction of more support points and acquisition of more equipment by the agencies involved in this activity, the number of visits may increase, but it is also important that visits do not exceed the rate stipulated by the Real Carrying Capacity.

The behavioural approach to sustainable tourism has received considerable attention and interest from the academic community within various fields of study. It has particular value for developing sustainable social practices. In this article, we investigate the contributions of the behavioural approach in the economic sciences, psychology, and adult education. Our objective is to reinforce the notion that individuals have the capacity to alter their behaviour to achieve active participation in unity with nature that firmly favours both their own well-being and environmental protection. We distinguish the term tourism as not only as a leisure activity, but also as a turning or changing point (while individuals adapt their performance in tune with nature to find the ways to achieve physical, mental, and spiritual equilibrium. Thereby, we make a further step to discussions on how exploration of the behavioural approach can support initiatives that promote environmental protection, and innovative tourism education programmes.

The current paper aims to provide a theoretical and conceptual analysis of wine tourism in Lubuskie, Poland, to relate the experiences underlying the current state of the art and to formulate some guidelines for directions for future enotourism development. Lubuskie winemaking was reborn at the beginning of the present century, after half a century of the tradition remaining dormant. The redevelopment of Lubuskie winemaking has been accompanied by numerous manifestations of the development of enotourism and is noticeable in each of the examined cases below. The article is based on the author’s research, which includes quality interviews with vineyard owners who state that, in addition to wine production, wine tourism is an equally important trend in their professional lives. Lubuskie’senotourism promotion is consistent with the patterns developed in countries with well-established wine traditions, although it is not as diverse. An important component of Lubuskie’s tourism promotion is the reference to its pre-war tradition, combined with an exposition of its material wine heritage. The recommendations for further activities in the field of enotourism are related, on the one hand, to the expansion of the vineyards’ enotourism packages and, on the other hand, to the implementation of new concepts for the popularization of Zielona Góra’s wine heritage, including the development of the wine route in the city.

The purpose of this article is to characterise the concept and discuss the possibilities of applying exploratory walking as a method of research in urban tourism spaces. In the article, the original concept of the method is characterised and discussed based on a pilot study. The place chosen for the pilot study is Charles Bridge in Prague. The conclusions about further work on improving the method and adapting it to the research needs related to the use of urban spaces by tourists are confirmed. Such walks can be a useful research method and a potential tool for recognising and introducing social and spatial changes. The exploratory walks help to obtain more material than sedentary interviews. Despite the positive functions of the walks, the pilot study also showed that the method could not function alone. Other methods and techniques should complement it. The analyses in the article method can contribute to a better understanding of the phenomena and processes observed in urban tourist spaces, as well as to the design and implementation of changes serving improving tourist services.

The tourism cluster is certainly a key sector study for any mainland or island economy. The paper reviews the extent and emerging perspectives on and approaches to tourism cluster and island economy. We adopted a systematic literature review using a bibliometric approach, focusing on the creation of maps and networks of visualization of intellectual structure in the period of 30 years (1987-2017), through the Web of Science database. The authors identify and classify the various theoretical lenses in the domain of cluster tourism and insular economy and suggest the future research agenda. The paper contributes by conceptually categorizing and mapping the extant research into five groups of clusters or approaches to the tourism cluster and insular economy: i) impacts; ii) islands; iii) satisfaction; iv) insularity, and v) tourism. The authors argue that tourism is undoubtedly the sector linked to island regions and that is an engine of the economy of an island.

The hotel industry is certainly a key sector study for any regional competitiveness. The aim of this study is to review the extent and emerging perspectives and approaches to the hotel industry and regional competitiveness. We adopted a systematic literature review using a bibliometric approach, focusing on the creation of maps and networks of visualization of intellectual structure in the period of 18 years (2000-2018), through the Web of Science database. The author argues that the hotel industry is undoubtedly the sector linked to regional competitiveness and that is an engine of the regional economy.

Historically, the Caribbean tourism destinations have competed based on their largely undifferentiated marketing mix. More recent evidence from the Caribbean tourism promotional practice, however, indicates the realization in the practitioner community that developing a distinct brand equity is critical for success. This paper aims to identify and measure elements of brand equity for Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, compare the brand equity of the two destinations, and provide branding recommendations. In this study, these destinations were subjected to a customer-based brand equity for tourism destinations (CBBETD) model comprising the five dimensions of brand equity – i.e., social image, price/ value, trustworthiness, identification/attachment, and brand performance. The CBBETD scores were then compared in order to understand better the differences in brand equity between these two similarly placed US territories in the Caribbean.

The development of adventure tourism destinations through good service quality brought a new perspective for the perceptions of foreign tourists. This study analysed the impact of the attributes of tourism service quality (TSQ) - monetary advantages, convenience advantages, and safety and security - and tourists’ behavioural intention to engage in mountaineering in Pakistan. The study also analysed the moderating role of the destination’s image in creating the tourists’ intentions. A conceptual model was developed after the literature review. The research model was validated through exploratory factor analysis and Cronbach’s alpha values. The findings show that international tourists focus on the monetary and convenience advantages in their intentions to visit Pakistan. Personal safety and security had no significant impact on attitude, because tourists focused on mountaineering perceive “there is no way to avoid all risks”, although these risks can be minimized by taking courses and training in mountain climbing. Physical and environmental risks may occur because of travellers are unaware of the natural characteristics of the destination and their effects, just as personal risks may occur due to dangerous practices in leisure activities. The destination’s mountaineering image has a role in creating positive intentions to visit Pakistan in the near future.

In recent decades, the Internet, evolving technologies, and social media have led to the evolution of consumer behavior. The changes in customer behavior driven by digital developments provide many opportunities and challenges that businesses also need to deal with online. The better companies know about the behavior of their customers, the easier they can engage with them using strategies such as content marketing, User Experience (UX), influencers marketing, User-Generated Content (UGC), or Electronic Word of Mouth (eWOM). These strategies are essential to get more sales and to develop businesses online, as such strategies increase the engagement with users and influence their behavior. This Special Edition of JOSD focuses on the analysis of consumer behavior in the digital age and, by doing so, contributes to extant knowledge about digital marketing strategies, online consumer behavior, and new digital business models such as mobile applications or shared economy.

Over the years, the dynamic advancement of technology has shaped the food and beverage industry in Malaysia. Today, the huge shift in the industry has resulted in consumers seeking readily accessible information. As such, various platforms, mostly social media, have influenced consumers’ pre-purchase opinions before purchasing. Nevertheless, limited studies have been conducted in Malaysia, focusing on consumers’ purchasing behaviour, specifically in the food and beverage industry in Malaysia. Thus, this study examines the impacts of social media on consumers’ purchasing behaviour in Malaysian restaurants. Therefore, this study has incorporated recently proposed factors including E-WOM, social media and online community marketing, higher accessibility of information, and online ordering system, which stimulate the consumers’ purchasing behaviour in Malaysia. This study utilised the critical review process of secondary sources to identify the determinants and measurements used in the surveying instrument. Purposive sampling was applied to select the restaurants, whereas the non-convenience random sampling technique was employed to collect data from 270 consumers over three months. Later, PLS-SEM was used to analyse the data. The results proved that the electronic word of mouth (E-WOM), social media advertisement and online ordering system significantly determined consumers’ purchasing behaviour. However, highly accessible information via social media does not have a positive implication on consumers’ purchasing behaviour. The study is contributing much to the food and beverage industry.

In recent years, the emergence of new digital platforms of sharing economy has given rise to considerable changes in consumer behavior. These new ways of consumption in online environment have to be driven by specific digital strategies adapted to sharing economy. This Systematic Literature Review aims to cover an existing gap in the literature and to organize the main digital marketing strategies, techniques, or tactics that can be implemented on these platforms in accordance with the objectives and core values of this business model. First, we outline a framework of the sharing economy, including a discussion of the definition of the concept of SE, objectives, importance, and implications for consumer behavior. Then, a methodology of the literature review is developed based on previous literature on the two key terms—“sharing economy” and “digital marketing”—retrieved from databases such as Web of Science and Scopus. The interpretation and analysis of the results allow for the identification of the main digital marketing strategies and techniques to apply on collaborative platforms. Finally, the conclusion outlines the importance of digital marketing in the online environment, as well as of enhancing the user-generated content and e-word-of-mouth on these platforms.

The fashion industry, the world’s economic engine ahead of prominent sectors such as the automobile and energy sectors, has found an effective communication strategy on the Internet. Fashion brands reinvent themselves in their marketing and business strategies to adapt and approach emerging markets eager to consume fashion, which is why digital marketing becomes an essential tool for the communication of these leading brands in the market with its younger audiences. Digitization, a saturated market, consumer 2.0, influencers and a new way of communicating fashion that is more social and interactive are some of the challenges that companies in a sector in constant change and evolution, whose own visual nature, have had to overcome makes the social medium the most effective for its dissemination. The following work aims to offer an in-depth study of the new scenario that arises after the appearance of Web 2.0 and the Social Media phenomenon, which have modified the basic pillars of business communication in the Fashion sector.

This research analyzes the discrepancies respecting parents’ and their children’s perspectives on adolescents’ risky online behaviors and parental mediation. Rather than focus solely on youth outcomes, this study explores dyadic data, by comparing reports from adolescents attending 7th to 12th grades in Portuguese schools and those of their parents (N=1016). Moreover, this research considers the existence of defense mechanisms influencing adolescents’ reports, a factor that has been neglected in previous studies. Differences regarding adolescents’ gender, parents’ gender, and adolescents’ school year are considered and tested using One-way ANOVA. Within the family unit, the only members considered by adolescents to have the same or more online and computer skills than the teenagers themselves are their older siblings. Practical implications aiming to mitigate the risk involved in adolescents’ online experiences, and theoretical contributions to the field of prevention and youth well-being in the context of consumer behavior in the digital age are discussed.