Portuguese municipalities—local public authorities—face several challenges in supporting outdoor tourism. This type of tourism, associated with nature, adventure, religion, culture, health and wellness, represents an alternative to the traditional tourism supply that, together with a high potential to promote the regional economic development overcome seasonality or overtourism phenomena. The northern region of Portugal includes a vast set of municipalities rich in the supply of outdoor tourism activities, which contribute from the financial contribution to private touristic firms to the promotion of local events and traditions and the preservation of the local heritage. This research intends to understand how the northern Portugal municipalities support and manage outdoor tourism, assuming local authorities’ key role. In particular, it aims to understand the importance of this type of tourism on regional governance, how the local heritage contributes to and benefits from the development of outdoor activities, and how are promoted local public policies on this topic. A survey has been prepared and sent to all municipalities in the North of Portugal. The results allow an understanding that not all municipalities are fully aware of the importance of outdoor tourism to local development. However, local authorities have started to find that suitable outdoor tourism governance may positively impact the local economy by promoting the notoriety of the municipality, creating new jobs, fixing the population, and preserving local traditions and heritage.
This project is being carried out within the scope of the TURNOUT Project-Development of Outdoor Tourism of Northern Portugal, POCI-01-0145-ERDF-032289, financed by the European Investment Fund Regional Development (ERDF) through the Operational Program of Competitiveness and Innovation (POCI) and the Foundation for Science and Technology, IP (OE). The authors are also grateful to the UNIAG, R&D unit funded by the FCT – Portuguese Foundation for the Development of Science and Technology, Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education. "Project Code Reference: UIDB/04752/2020".
