Rural tourism development in Portugal: Analysis of generations Y and Z

• Autor(a) principal: Runa, Inês Maria Adão
• Data de Publicação: 2022
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10071/27488
• topic: Turismo rural -- Rural tourism; Portugal; Routes; Generation Y; Geração Z -- Z Generation; Rotas; Geração Y

The demand for rural tourism is continuously increasing, because of its natural richness and beauty, the peaceful and quiet feeling it provides, and the proximity to the local community. Also, the Covid-19 epidemic impacted the rural tourism demand, as people were looking for places located far from the cities’ centers where they would feel safer. Rural areas are less developed than urban areas, salaries are lower, the demographic rate is low, there is a lack of logistics, and low technological development. Moreover, rural tourism’s characteristics are its unique selling point, all the environmental and natural richness and the feeling associated with it, such as escapism and freedom are the key. For all these stated reasons, rural tourism is key to the rural areas’ development in Portugal, and, for its expansion and valorization, tourism routes shall be considered. The purpose of this type of tourism should be to give a personalized experience to the visitors where the area’s attractions and products should be included, forming one single final product. This final product should include well-developed infrastructures, local people participation and awareness, local products and services, technology, and advertisement through online channels and most importantly it should be sustainable. This dissertation intends to analyze the different needs and preferences of Generations Y and Z and how can they be integrated into the rural tourism development in Portugal.