IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jtourh/v6y2025i1p23-d1587009.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Strategies for Building Accessible and Inclusive Rural Tourism Ecosystems in Cross-Border Regions: The Case of Rural and Border Territory

Author

Listed:
  • Teresa Paiva

    (BRIDGES—Biotechnology Research, Innovation and Design for Health Products, Polytechnic Institute of Guarda, Av. Dr. Francisco Sá Carneiro, 50, 6300-559 Guarda, Portugal)

  • Teresa Felgueira

    (School of Technology and Management, Polytechnic Institute of Guarda, Av. Dr. Francisco Sá Carneiro, 50, 6300-559 Guarda, Portugal)

  • Catarina Alves

    (School of Technology and Management, Polytechnic Institute of Guarda, Av. Dr. Francisco Sá Carneiro, 50, 6300-559 Guarda, Portugal)

  • Adriano Costa

    (School of Tourism and Hospitality, Polytechnic Institute of Guarda, Av. Dr. Francisco Sá Carneiro, 50, 6300-559 Guarda, Portugal)

Abstract

The research contributes to developing and implementing four tourist hubs in Salamanca, León, and Zamora (Spain) territories and the District of Guarda (Portugal). These hubs will act as innovation pivots promoting innovative, sustainable, and inclusive rural tourism and creating specific territorial ecosystems in each region. The main objective is to boost new economic activities and generate employment, especially for priority groups, through smart specialisation and strengthening local economies. The research also focuses on strengthening tourism value chains, making them more competitive and resilient, emphasising accessibility and inclusion. Within a focus group methodology, a SOAR analysis was undertaken. Three stakeholder groups from Portugal and Spain participated in this study: consumers, distributors/marketing professionals (tour operators, tourist offices), and producers (hotels, restaurants, and museums). They participated in collaborative activities within the SOAR framework to understand the needs of tourists, especially those with reduced mobility, and to identify barriers and opportunities for innovation in the sector. The results offer a framework for tourism providers to develop Accessible and Inclusive Rural Tourism Ecosystems by enhancing understanding and improving accessibility for groups with specific needs. It outlines actionable methods for creating inclusive tourism hubs as “innovation pivots,” establishing performance metrics, and fostering stakeholder collaboration to guide evidence-based policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Teresa Paiva & Teresa Felgueira & Catarina Alves & Adriano Costa, 2025. "Strategies for Building Accessible and Inclusive Rural Tourism Ecosystems in Cross-Border Regions: The Case of Rural and Border Territory," Tourism and Hospitality, MDPI, vol. 6(1), pages 1-21, February.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jtourh:v:6:y:2025:i:1:p:23-:d:1587009
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2673-5768/6/1/23/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2673-5768/6/1/23/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Small, Jennie & Darcy, Simon & Packer, Tanya, 2012. "The embodied tourist experiences of people with vision impairment: Management implications beyond the visual gaze," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 941-950.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lusha Huang & Newman Lau, 2020. "Enhancing the Smart Tourism Experience for People with Visual Impairments by Gamified Application Approach through Needs Analysis in Hong Kong," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(15), pages 1-27, August.
    2. Agapito, Dora, 2020. "The senses in tourism design: A bibliometric review," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    3. Rickly, Jillian M., 2018. "Considering service animals in tourism," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 57-58.
    4. Agapito, Dora & Valle, Patrícia & Mendes, Júlio, 2014. "The sensory dimension of tourist experiences: Capturing meaningful sensory-informed themes in Southwest Portugal," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 224-237.
    5. Agapito, Dora & Valle, Patrícia & Mendes, Julio, 2012. "Sensory Marketing and Tourist Experiences," Spatial and Organizational Dynamics Discussion Papers 2012-5, CIEO-Research Centre for Spatial and Organizational Dynamics, University of Algarve.
    6. Terzidou, Matina & Scarles, Caroline & Saunders, Mark N.K., 2017. "Religiousness as tourist performances: A case study of Greek Orthodox pilgrimage," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 116-129.
    7. Randle, Melanie & Dolnicar, Sara, 2019. "Enabling people with impairments to use Airbnb," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 278-289.
    8. McManus, John, 2020. "Football tourist trips: a new analytic for tourism studies," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    9. Tomej, Kristof & Duedahl, Eva, 2023. "Engendering collaborative accessibility through tourism: From barriers to bridges," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    10. Fangfang Liu & Jian Kang & Yue Wu & Da Yang & Qi Meng, 2022. "What do we visually focus on in a World Heritage Site? A case study in the Historic Centre of Prague," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 9(1), pages 1-16, December.
    11. Paul Symonds & David H.K. Brown & Valeria Lo Iacono, 2017. "Exploring an Absent Presence: Wayfinding as an Embodied Sociocultural Experience," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 22(1), pages 48-67, February.
    12. Agapito, Dora & Pinto, Patrícia & Mendes, Júlio, 2017. "Tourists' memories, sensory impressions and loyalty: In loco and post-visit study in Southwest Portugal," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 108-118.
    13. Brielle Gillovic & Alison McIntosh, 2020. "Accessibility and Inclusive Tourism Development: Current State and Future Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-15, November.
    14. Jensen, Martin Trandberg, 2016. "Hypersensitive tourists: The dark sides of the sensuous," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 239-242.
    15. Qiao, Guanghui & Song, Hanqi & Prideaux, Bruce & Huang, Songshan (Sam), 2023. "The “unseen” tourism: Travel experience of people with visual impairment," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    16. Trejbal Jan & Zelenka Josef, 2019. "Mobile Technologies as Support of Travelling of People with Disabilities," Czech Journal of Tourism, Sciendo, vol. 8(1), pages 65-79, June.
    17. Jillian M. Rickly & Nigel Halpern & Marcus Hansen & John Welsman, 2021. "Travelling with a Guide Dog: Experiences of People with Vision Impairment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(5), pages 1-13, March.
    18. Jensen, Martin Trandberg & Chambers, Donna & Wilson, Sharon, 2023. "The future of deaf tourism studies: An interdisciplinary research agenda," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    19. Agapito, Dora & Lacerda, António, 2014. "Marketing and Brand Design of Destination Experiences: The Role of ICT," Journal of Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being, Cinturs - Research Centre for Tourism, Sustainability and Well-being, University of Algarve, vol. 2(3), pages 201-216.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jtourh:v:6:y:2025:i:1:p:23-:d:1587009. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.