The Minho-Lima Sub-Region As a Common Destination: Agents’ Commitment on It

Empirical evidence shows that tourism can give a real contribution to regional development and, in the case of certain remote and economic lagged territories, it is the sector best placed to achieve this goal. This role of touristic activity as to do, namely, with the possibility of taking profit from endogenous resources of these territories and in the particular case of Minho-Lima sub-region an important tourist potential exists seating in the variety and singularity of its resources - the beauty of its landscapes, the architectonic wealth of secular buildings, the exuberance of the gastronomy and of many cultural manifestations are a reality of the identity of this portuguese sub-region. Taking this in consideration, this paper attempts to catalogue and evaluate the tourist resources of Minho-Lima, as well as to analyze the complementary elements and the external factors related with the image of the destination. The methodology followed relies on a two-stage process. Firstly, taking the primary components, the consistency of the territory as a touristic destination was analysed, evaluating its tourism potential and configuration. In a second stage, considering the secondary elements, the components of the image of the common tourist destination were analysed through the study of the local, regional and national promotion in what brochures and web sites is concerned. Simultaneously, as a second approach, contact was established with a sample of tourism operators, applying an inquiry-type to restaurants (special protagonists in the range of the touristic offer of the area of study), as well as interviews with the institutional agents, in order to check the perception of the destination as common destination and the agents’ commitment on it.