Living in a Rural Tourism Destination – Exploring the Views of Local Communities

Abstract

This paper addresses the views of the residents of two Portuguese small villages on tourism and tourists. Starting by discussing rural areas as tourism destinations, the paper aims at unveil local perceptions and attitudes regarding the impacts and the benefits of tourism activities in the communities, as well as local views on the interaction processes with tourists. Empirical evidence demonstrates that interaction, although appreciated, is not valued in the same way in the two villages, reflecting diverse stages of tourism development. However, perceptions on the impacts and main beneficiaries of tourism activities are quite similar in the two communities, following the main findings of literature regarding residents’ attitudes towards rural tourism and demonstrating a clear valorisation of the economic and social over the environmental impacts. In the same sense, local residents identify the main beneficiaries of tourism positive economic impacts with the agents related to the supply of tourism activities.