The Minho-Lima sub-region as a common destination: tourist potential and agents’ commitment on it

Empirical evidence shows that tourism can give a real contribution to regional development and, in the case of certain remote and economic lagged territories, it is one of the best placed sectors to achieve this goal. This as to do, namely, with the possibility of making use of endogenous resources of territories. In the case of the Minho-Lima sub-region, an important tourist potential exists coming from the variety and singularity of its resources - the beauty of its landscapes, the architectonic wealth of secular buildings, and the exuberance of the gastronomy and many of its cultural manifestations. Taking this in view, this paper attempts to catalogue and evaluate the tourist resources of Minho-Lima, as well as to analyze the complementary elements and the external factors related with the image of the destination. The methodology followed relies on a two-stage process. Firstly, taking the primary components, the consistency of the territory as a tourist destination was analysed, evaluating its tourism potential. In a second stage, considering the secondary elements, the components of the image of the common tourist destination were evaluated through the study of local, regional and national promotion strategies, in what brochures and web sites are concerned. The ultimate goal is to check the perception of the territory as a common destination and agents’ commitment on it