THE CONTRIBUTION OF CULTURAL AND CREATIVE EVENTS TO THE CREATION OF A DISTINCTIVE IMAGE OF THE MATURE TOURISTIC DESTINATION. THE CASE OF THE FESTIVAL MED IN LOULÉ, ALGARVE

Authors

  • Rui Carvalho Instituto Politécnico de Tomar
  • Ana Maria Ferreira Escola Superior de Gestão, Hotelaria e Turismo. Universidade do Algarve
  • Luís Mota Figueira Instituto Politécnico de Tomar

Keywords:

Cultural tourism, Creative Tourism, Image of the Touristic destination, Events and the Algarve

Abstract

The research problem intended to know if creative tourism elements, present in cultural events, could influence the image of a mature destination. Focusing on the supply, the research intended to analyze not the traditional impacts of events but the adoption of new cultural and creative measures in the context of urban regeneration.

The methodology focused on the bibliographic review of the variables of the study (cultural and creative tourism, destination image formation and events), content analysis, "snowball" sampling technique and surveys.

The case study concentrated on the city of Loulé, Algarve, where the festival was analyzed on these issues. Not only was identified the will to create a cultural district in the city, but also the fact that the event is seen as the main force behind the revitalization of the local historic centre. The surveys showed that, despite the adoption of new cultural and creative measures, a single event isn’t strong enough to create a distinctive image which corresponds to the whole mature destination of the Algarve, contributing to differentiate the touristic supply in the region of Loulé.

Author Biographies

  • Rui Carvalho, Instituto Politécnico de Tomar
    Mestre em Desenvolvimento de Produtos de Turismo Cultural
  • Ana Maria Ferreira, Escola Superior de Gestão, Hotelaria e Turismo. Universidade do Algarve
    PhD, Professora Adjunta
  • Luís Mota Figueira, Instituto Politécnico de Tomar

    PhD, Professor Coordenador do Departamento de Gestão Turística e Cultural

Published

22.01.2012

Issue

Section

Papers/Extended Abstracts in Portuguese

How to Cite

Carvalho, R., Ferreira, A. M., & Figueira, L. M. (2012). THE CONTRIBUTION OF CULTURAL AND CREATIVE EVENTS TO THE CREATION OF A DISTINCTIVE IMAGE OF THE MATURE TOURISTIC DESTINATION. THE CASE OF THE FESTIVAL MED IN LOULÉ, ALGARVE. Tourism & Management Studies, 457-466. https://tmstudies.net/index.php/ectms/article/view/210