ERSA 2022, Pécs: apresentação de comunicação (Senses, emotions and equipment gaps along the Portuguese` s St. James Way)

 

ERSA 2022: "Residents’ perceptions of tourism impacts in the Azores Archipelago (Portugal): a cluster analysis"

 

J. Cadima Ribeiro

NIPE and School of Economics and Management, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal jcadima@eeg.uminho.pt

Laurentina Vareiro

UNIAG and Polytechnic Institute of Cávado and Ave, Barcelos, Portugal lvareiro@ipca.pt

Paula Remoaldo

  Lab2PT and Institute of Social Sciences, University of Minho, Guimarães, Portugal

paularemoaldo@gmail.com

Isabel Cristina Monjardino

SREA-Regional Statistic Service of Azores, Angra do Heroísmo, Portugal

isabel.cristina@ine.pt 

Abstract

The tourism industry has been increasingly looked at as an essential component of development processes, especially in the case of some low-density territories and islands. By its turn, looking at the quality of tourists’ experiences and, thus, to the success of a destination, one has to convey that residents play a fundamental role. In this research, a cluster analysis was used to segment the Azores Archipelago (Portugal) residents according to their perceptions of the impacts of the tourism industry. The clustering procedure analysed 950 data observations from a resident survey applied in 2018 by SREA (Regional Statistics Service of Azores). The analyses revealed the existence of three clusters: the Optimistic, integrating the large majority of the respondents; the Moderately Optimistic; and the Unconvinced. The results achieved follow what is common to find in the empirical literature, namely when dealing with emergent destinations. Regional and national authorities must be aware of these results when designing their policies, namely in pursuing a sustainable development strategy.

Keywords: Residents’ perceptions; Social Exchange Theory; Tourism Area Life Cycle; cluster analysis; tourism benefits and costs; Azores Islands (Portugal).

JEL codes:     Z32; R11; R58

Access to statistical data used in this scientific investigation was permitted within the scope of a Protocol signed on December 29^th, 2014, between the Portuguese National Statistics Institute (INE), the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), and the General-Board of Education and Science Statistics of the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education (DGEEC-MCTES).