Fonte: Journal of Tourism & Development; v. 1, n. 17/18 (2012); 249-264
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Resumo: With the growing importance of tourism as a key element capable of promoting and enhancing the socioeconomic development of rural areas, the possible impacts on the territories must be considered, due to competition regarding the use of the “common goods” with other activity sectors increasingly present in the rural areas, such as in the case of wind energy exploitation in wind farms. With this paper we will investigate which are the visitors’ perceptions regarding the presence of these elements in a tourist destination. In this way we try to understand the integration potential of the tourism sector with that of renewable energies, in order to set value, in a sustainable manner, into the existing natural resources. This might contribute to create new opportunities in the local tourism supply and to improve the rural tourism experience. The results of this exploratory qualitative study, the first on this subject in Portugal, suggests that, at the moment, wind farms seem to be perceived as neutral elements in a rural destination – visible in the case of the historic village of Linhares da Beira - revealing not to have a particular influence on the visitors’ tourist experience.
