Can bicycle tourism strength rural areas?
Date
2015
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English
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conferenceObject
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Albuquerque, H., Eusébio, C., & Varum, C. (2015). Can bicycle tourism strength rural areas? In International Conference Meanings of the Rural: Between social representations, consumptions and rural development strategies, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal, 28-29 September 2015. Disponível no Repositório UPT, http://hdl.handle.net/11328/2781
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Open Access
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Description
Tourism sector is considered as one of the most growing economic sectors nowadays (Eusébio, Anselmo de Castro, & Costa, 2013; Eusébio, Carneiro, Kastenholz, & Alvelos, 2013; Matias, Nijkamp, & Sarmento, 2011; Sinclair, 1998; Wall & Mathieson, 2006), and thus, as a “strategic vehicle for gaining prosperity” (Matias et al., 2011:1). Rural areas, highly valued for their biodiversity, attractive landscapes, distinctive ways of life and culturaldiversity, have become important tourism destinations worldwide. At the same time, tourism has become increasingly important as a potential source of income and employment for rural areas. Consequently, many rural communities view tourism as a major vehicle for addressing rural economic decline. However, some empirical evidences suggest that when tourism is not developed based on principles of sustainability its growth can bring various negative impacts (e.g. environmental, social and cultural) (Smith & Krannich, 1998). In order to maximize the benefits of tourism for rural areas and minimize the costs it is of utmost relevance to develop tourism products that simultaneously use the endogenous resources of these areas andcontribute to theenhancement of residents’ quality of life (Eusébio, Kastenholz & Breda, 2014).