Fonte: Journal of Tourism & Development; n. 7,8 (2007); 83-91
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Resumo: Hiking has been identified as an important recreational and tourist activity in many countries. In Portugal, however, there are not many well developed opportunities for hiking, since the activity is not very common amongst the population and has not been discovered yet as a potential for tourism development. However, a system of well designed walking paths may be an interesting and relatively inexpensive infrastructure, attracting visitors to natural, rural and mountain areas, making corresponding heritage of these areas more accessible and visible and thereby motivating visitors to stay for longerperiods of time. The walking paths’ success should largely depend on the capacity of those responsible for their management in promoting their usage amongst residents and tourists, as well as in supervising visitor flows and behaviours. This should be enhanced by the understanding of these visitors’ profiles, desires and behaviours related to nature. In the present study, we show the results of an exploratory survey of Portuguese and foreign hikers (N=200), whose distinct interests and needs that may be accommodated by specific developments of walking paths and associated tourism products.
