Fonte: Journal of Tourism & Development; v. 3, n. 17/18 (2012); 1627-1638
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Resumo: The recent global financial crisis has negatively affected the tourism marketing as well as all sectors of the global economy. However, the crisis can create an opportunity for innovation in management and the emergence of new tourism products in tourism marketing. This study has two major purposes: 1) to introduce geotourism as a new niche tourism product for development of the local economy and 2) to investigate innovative strategies in geoparks, as geotourism destinations, for attracting more tourists to these territories. To this end, twenty five geopark strategies were analysed (20 in Europe and 3 in Asia – Malaysia, Japan and Iran, 1 in Australia and 1 in South America – Brazil). The results indicate that the authorities of geoparks try – on a small scale – to minimize the negative impacts of the crisis and develop the local economy by promoting geotourism and innovative strategies.
