Author(s): Rebelo, Cátia Filipa Cerqueira ; Ezequiel, Graça Maria Gomes ; Mendes, Susana Luísa da Custódia Machado ; Carvalho, Mário João Paulo de Jesus
Date: 2018
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.8/4988
Origin: IC-online
Subject(s): Pico Mountain; Mountain guides; Nature-based tourism; Adventure tourists
Mountain adventure tourism represents 20% of the current tourism flows and will continue to grow, and, consequently there is a great need to better understand this segment. Pico Mountain, a mountain destination, in Portugal has followed this growth trend; however the lack of knowledge about this phenomenon is still a reality. Therefore, our goal is to define the Pico Mountain visitor’s profile as well as to assess the importance of the mountain guides’ roles in the Pico climbing. To achieve this goal a quantitative analysis was employed based on a survey applied in the territory. Our main results indicated that visitors of Pico Mountain are mainly young, European, inexperienced, and “package” adventure tourists that undertake “soft” adventure activities. For 90% of the respondents the mountain guides played an important role in the trip as well as great influence on it. Furthermore, the feeling of safety assured by guides is the most valued characteristic of mountain guides for all the respondents and it is the main reason why they are hired.
