Suchergebnisse

Today, destinations are evaluated by tourists according to safety and risk factors with regard to natural, terrorism and political problems. The portrayal of places in news reports can alter an area's image dramat ically, even in a short period of time. Often, natural disasters have impacts on the image of international destinations that endure for months if not years. Hence, media coverage of disasters or crises is of particular concern to destinations where such disasters occur. The Island of Madeira was not prepared for a catastrophe such as the one that occurred in February 2010, and its consequence has been a huge drop in the tourism industry. Driven by the generally accepted importance of destination image as a concept to destination mar keters and academics, this article proposes that previous destination image research has tended to under estimate the importance of safety, security and risk. It also proposes a strategic approach to Destination management from proactive pre-crisis planning through to strategic implementation and finally evaluation and feedback. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Rural and peripheral development is still a matter of concern in several western countries. Depopulation, low density of business activities, younger people emigra tion and better-qualified individuals feeling that such regions have been abandoned by the government, and incapable of moving on, are among the key indicators to "understand" rural and peripheral areas. Rural tourism has long been understood as an effective catalyst of change in depressed and deprived (of entrepreneurial capacity) areas and to explore a unique set of amenities. Because of funds directed to help private investment projects in rural tourism facilities, most peripheral areas are now relatively well endowed with key infrastructures. Nevertheless, the tourism lead approach produced mixed results due to low levels of demand in some areas and lack of a cooperative behavior among providers to maximize the opportunities offered by the wide range of attractions. In this paper, we investigate to what extent investments in infrastructure helped the rural tourism sector to attract more visi tors in Madeira. Based on the panel-data approach, this paper provides insights to analyze the development path of rural tourism in Madeira and to explores how local policy makers may be the "missing link" needed to improve the sector prospects based on tangible and intangible amenities. ; info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion