Catalyzing creative tourism in small cities and rural areas in Portugal: The CREATOUR approach

This is a preprint versionIn recent years, tourism in Portugal has grown exponentially and it is currently one of the main drivers of the Portuguese economy. While all regions report visitors and offer various ‘attraction’ activities, historic sites, and beautiful locales, tourism still remains heavily concentrated in the large cities of Lisbon and Porto as well as the traditional beach-and-sun Algarve region. Growing concerns (internationally) with the negative impacts of overtourism and with tendencies toward tourism homogeneity at a time when travellers are increasingly seeking meaningful and authentic experiences loom over this picture. At the same time, from a domestic perspective, finding sustainable development options and possibilities for smaller communities in the interior, especially those that are remotely situated, is an ever-present concern. Turismo Portugal, the national tourism agency, has been making statements about the desire to pull tourists away from overvisited areas such as the big cities and redistribute them into other regions. These tourism flows provide a possible opportunity for many smaller communities if attractive offers can be designed and communicated to appropriate niche markets, and if these initiatives are developed with an eye to accentuating the quality of life for local residents, maintaining local control, and designing for local benefit