Glamping In Low-Density Territories: The Case Of Santo Aleixo Da Reastaura??O

The promotion of tourism in rural areas, in a sustainable and appealing manner, through the specification and diversification of tourist offerings, becomes fundamental for the valorization, visibility, and notoriety of the communities living in these spaces. This study analyzes a new concept of tourist activity, Glamping, whose mission is to promote territories in a sustainable and socially appealing way, where the articulation of natural heritage with tourism seeks to contribute to making territories and rural spaces more charming. In this context, this study emerges with the purpose of investigating "How does investment in enriching the tourist accommodation offer, particularly through the Glamping option, constitute an added value for the local development of an Alentejo village?" It was based on the need to identify the direction of change that a strategic analysis of a tourist project in rural areas was carried out, aiming to formulate recommendations with intervention proposals to support its implementation. The study thus sought to inquire about the strategic challenges and associated objectives, the actors involved, the conflicts, and alliances around these objectives, using the ACtors, Objectives, Force Relations Method (Saragoça et al., 2017 and Pescada, 2019) and resorting to the combination of different data collection techniques (interviews and documentary research) and analysis (PESTEL and SWOT). The results of the strategic analysis revealed that: the main alliances are structured around the objectives "contribute to a more sustainable tourism, aiming at the preservation and conservation of all natural and cultural heritage" and "create new jobs," with strong mobilization from the Local Authority, the Social Center, and the Regional Development Administration; the Local Development Association stands out as the most influential actor, and among the less dependent actors, the Social Center emerges, which, being a local institution, is largely unaffected by the influences of the actors involved. Observing some constraints, especially where trends that jeopardize the implementation and sustainability of the project intersect with the acquisition of financial and human resources, led to formulating as strategic recommendations the need for an economic and social feasibility study and the creation of partnerships and alliances among local and regional actors.