Fonte: ROTUR. Revista de Ocio y Turismo; Vol. 18 No. 1 (2024): ; 98-115
Palavras-chave:
Resumo: Surfing is a sport, a lifestyle and a tourism product. Today, it is a global tourism industry that transforms nature into a tourism resource, conceives of the pursuit of the best waves as a primary travel motive, and has a direct impact on the places where it develops. Surf tourism has also been understood as a product capable of revitalising consolidated sun and beach destinations by offering tourists a specific experience. The aim of this article is to study the development of surf tourism in the municipality of Valdoviño (A Coruña), where the sport first became established in the 1970s. The locality came to international notice in the late 1980s as a result of the Pantin Classic championship and, more recently, through the Costa das Ondas tourism initiative. The study consists of a qualitative analysis of aspects such as the sector’s evolution, endogenous resources, and characteristics of supply and demand, as well as the agents involved in the sport’s management and planning, and the role of the championship and its connection to sustainability principles. The results show that surfing has become one of the driving forces of economic growth in Valdoviño based on its potential and capacity as a specialised, sustainable form of tourism.
