Browsing by Author "Lopes, Maria Carlos"
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- Dark tourism: proposta de roteirizaçãoPublication . Liberato, Dália; Liberato, Pedro; Alén, Elisa; Lopes, Maria CarlosO presente artigo pretende enfatizar a importância crescente da inovação na oferta de produtos turísticos ao nível do turismo cultural nas áreas urbanas. Nesta perspetiva, o Dark Tourism representa uma extensão do turismo cultural, numa abordagem inovadora. Os locais habitualmente associados ao Dark Tourism incluem campos de concentração, prisões inativas, casas de serial killers, cemitérios, e todos os outros locais que atendam aos padrões de morte, tragédia e sofrimento (Biran et al., 2011; Braithwaite & Lee, 2006. Dunkley et al., 2011; Kang et al., 2012; Luz, 2016, 2017; Podoshen, 2013; Podoshen et al., 2015; Stone & Sharpley, 2008, 2009; Pedra, 2012; Yan et al., 2016; e Zhang et al., 2016). Em Portugal existem alguns locais associados à prática do Dark Tourism, embora ainda não explorados de forma inovadora e integrados em redes internacionais mais amplas como as que propomos com a presente investigação, cujo principal objetivo é avaliar o potencial do Dark Tourism na cidade do Porto. Os objetivos parciais são: comprovar a existência de um nicho de mercado no Porto associado ao turismo sombrio; compreender se a cidade do Porto tem recursos turísticos e procura turística, capazes de desenvolver uma experiência turística no âmbito do Dark Tourism; e sensibilizar as Destination Management Organizations (DMO's) no Porto, para a oportunidade deste mercado. Os resultados obtidos a partir de questionários aplicados a visitantes/turistas permitem uma nova abordagem sobre o papel dos recursos turísticos na cidade, no âmbito do Dark Tourism. Esta investigação propõe, a partir dos resultados obtidos, a roteirização dos recursos existentes na cidade, integrados em redes internacionais, a partir da ideia de Sharpley e Stone (2009) que abordam o Dark Tourism como uma rota turística entre o lugar, a história e sua herança.
- Projecting an image: TV series Amor Amor and Lua de Mel and the impacts of film-induced tourism in PenafielPublication . Ferreira, Ana; Lopes, Maria Carlos; Alén, ElisaThe image of a touristic destination is a complex construction based on different sources of information. Among them we can highlight the films and television series as they are an excellent tool for promoting tourism for the territories where they are filmed. The appearance of a particular area in a film or television series can have a huge effect on the number of visitors of an already existing place and create a new kind of tourism to the area and generate a boost for the local economy. The main objective of this article is to analyze the impact of the soap opera “Amor, Amor” and “Lua de Mel” that was broadcast at prime time in a Portuguese television channel, in the image of the city of Penafiel as a touristic destination. We intend to assess the short-term impacts of the great media exposure felt by the general population and, in particular, by the various stakeholders, on the influx of domestic tourists to this city; and the way this influx of tourists is being fostered in order to generate medium- and long-term revenue turning the small town of Penafiel into a tourist hotspot. We have done some literature review as well as an exploratory and quantitative investigation. The data collection was carried out with a questionnaire designed to be answered online by the inhabitants of Penafiel. The results of the analysis highlight the importance of films and series as important sources of information giving visibility to destinations that are still little known or not at all.
- A relação entre o termalismo e a qualidade de vidaPublication . Lopes, Maria Carlos; Alén, Elisa; Liberato, Dália; Liberato, PedroO termalismo, no passado, foi associado a tratamentos ao nível da saúde baseados em recursos naturais caracterizados por elementos específicos, relativamente aos quais lhes era atribuída a função curativa. O termalismo evoluiu quer no que respeita ao tipo de clientela que foi captando quer no tipo de tratamentos, produtos e serviços que passou a oferecer aos seus utilizadores. Nas últimas décadas, as mudanças registadas no quotidiano profissional, social e familiar do indivíduo têm provocado desequilíbrios no seu bemestar físico e psicológico. É junto das estâncias termais que oferecem tratamentos de recuperação do corpo e da mente, complementares aos tratamentos clássicos, que os indivíduos procuram formas de recuperar dessa agitação e dessas agressividades, que lhe restituam o seu bem-estar e, consequentemente, melhorem a sua qualidade de vida. Pretendemos com o nosso estudo analisar a evolução do termalismo, e constatar que o termalismo da forma como o encontramos hoje, é um atrativo para todos aqueles que desejam usufruir de um relaxamento físico e mental proporcionador de uma melhoria na qualidade de vida. Este trabalho insere-se numa investigação mais alargada que pretende determinar os indicadores de qualidade de vida nos termalistas.
- Senior tourism as a key element for quality of life, wellness and lonelinessPublication . Lopes, Maria Carlos; Liberato, DáliaThe ageing of the world's population is a contemporary reality and will continue to be so in the near future, with a much sharper ageing pattern than in the past. The ageing of the world's population is associated with increasingly recognised future trends, and it is crucial to design actions and strategies that promote healthy ageing, a fundamental objective of all global policies and organisations, from the WHO to the UN, including the 2030 Agenda. Various studies show that tourism experiences lead to positive psychological and physical states, improving well-being, happiness, quality of life and overall life satisfaction. The aim of this research is to determine whether the elderly live alone by personal decision (voluntary) or whether the situation is imposed (compulsory). This research focused on the distinction between sociodemographic variables and the dimensions of loneliness. The study was carried out through a questionnaire targeted at Spanish people over the age of 55, using mostly personal surveys. A stratified sampling process based on gender and age proportions was followed. At the end of the process, 439 valid questionnaires were returned. The results were consistent with the relationship between living alone and the tendency to feel lonely, but with certain variations since the relationship was not always present. The risk of loneliness increases in widows/widowers since sharing a life with a spouse reduces the likelihood of emotional loneliness. Regarding the profiles obtained, a distinction is made between the results for those who live alone and feel lonely (the objective and subjective dimensions of loneliness) and for those who only feel lonely (the subjective dimension). Thus, looking only at the elderly who live alone, gender and professional status are common elements, but there are differences in terms of education, income and age. There is a direct relationship between loneliness and being a woman and being retired, i.e., no longer working. Considering the dimensions of loneliness, living alone is not synonymous with feeling lonely, but living alone increases the likelihood of feeling lonely more often, although this is not always the case. The largest group who feels lonely lives alone, but some who do no live alone feel lonely too. It is important not to treat older people and their perceptions of loneliness homogeneously if the ultimate purpose is to improve their quality of life and well-being. Research has shown that activities related to tourism have a significant impact on the wellness, quality of life and overall life satisfaction of older tourists, being recognised as a social solution to alleviate loneliness, rebuild social relationships, enhance individual well-being, and foster a positive image of ageing.
- Social tourism development and the population ageing: case study in Portugal and SpainPublication . Lopes, Maria Carlos; Liberato, Dália; Alén, Elisa; Liberato, PedroThe growth of the elderly population is a transversal phenomenon to almost all the countries in the world. In recent years we have seen a growing elderly desire to improve their quality of life and well-being, while increasing interest in this segment of life by governments and, especially, by tourism companies [15]. Studies developed by [9,10,19,27,34] show, in European continent, the will of each of the parts to participate in social tourism. Portugal and Spain follow the global trend and, to mitigate the constraints inherent to advanced age, and others related to health, social and economic difficulties, promote, respectively, the social tourism programs by INATEL and IMSERSO.
- Soft skills & turismo: do mercado à academiaPublication . Melo, António; Melo, Carla; Vasconcelos, Sandra; Liberato, Dália; Lopes, Maria CarlosA educação e formação em turismo tem vindo a ser alargada significativamente nas últimas décadas, concomitantemente com a importância da atividade turística para Portugal nomeadamente em termos sociais, culturais e económicos. As exigências dos desempenhos profissionais têm vindo a demonstrar a importância da formação técnica e a relevância da posse de competências transversais, ou soft skills, por parte de todos os atores deste setor. As competências transversais, entendidas como um conjunto de competências pessoais e interpessoais, podem ser utilizadas e são importantes em múltiplas profissões, independentemente da área específica de conhecimento (Vieira & Marques, 2014). Através da realização de um trabalho interdisciplinar, no âmbito de cinco unidades curriculares, os estudantes finalistas da Licenciatura em Gestão de Atividades Turísticas, foram motivados a recolher e analisar perceções relacionadas com as soft skills nos diferentes subsetores do Turismo, no sentido de perceber quais as competências exigidas/procuradas pelos seus potenciais empregadores. Para tal, através da aplicação de uma metodologia qualitativa, com recurso a entrevistas para a coleta de dados, os estudantes realizaram um trabalho investigativo, entre março e abril de 2021, do qual resultaram por grupo, um short paper e uma apresentação final em inglês. A realização deste trabalho interdisciplinar contribuiu, para os estudantes, na aquisição de competências relacionadas com a área do curso, designadamente a utilização de linguagem técnica, a capacidade de fornecer informações sobre o percurso académico, experiência profissional e o desenvolvimento de competências transversais, e, não menos importante para os docentes a construção de diálogos interdisciplinares e aprendizagens dialéticas.
- Soft skills in action: developing tourism students skills through interdisciplinarityPublication . Vasconcelos, Sandra; Melo, António; Melo, Carla; Liberato, Dália; Lopes, Maria CarlosTourism research has highlighted the strategic need to identify and assess relevant skills for the sector to ensure organizations’ competitiveness. Describing an interdisciplinary project carried out at the School of Hospitality and Tourism (Polytechnic Institute of Porto), this paper aims to contribute to the ongoing debate on the importance of soft skills in the tourism industry and the role played by higher education institutions and tourism education in promoting their development. Working toward bridging the gap between academia and the labor market, this project covered five different courses and challenged students to write research papers, drawing from interviews with stakeholders from different tourism subsectors. Making use of a collaborative approach, based on complementarity and field work, the project succeeded, exceeding initial expectations and enhancing participants’ teaching and learning experiences. In addition to being aligned with current trends in tourism education, it also provides valuable insights on the affordances and attainability of interdisciplinarity, ultimately informing further joint initiatives within this scope.
- Technologies at the service of education: present and futurePublication . Azevedo, Patrícia Anjos; Lopes, Maria Carlos; Liberato, Dália; Liberato, PedroThe confinement caused by the spread of the disease COVID-19 transformed the way of teaching in the education sector during confinement, leading to the intensification of the development of virtual learning. This includes the use of many educational tools, applications, and Websites at zero cost for its users, the emergence of the STEM (STEAM education is a revolutionary approach that respects the particularities of students allowing them to develop different skills simultaneously, streamlining and optimizing teaching to make it much more complete) lockdown digital school and the emergence of remote education. Although knowledge and use and information and communication technologies (ICT) are considered a premise for the good performance of students in working life, complete knowledge is only achieved with active participation and accompanied by the pedagogical aspect that teachers are capable of impute to the teaching/learning process, which does not always happen because not all students and teachers are equipped with these technological tools, or even due to social and cultural reasons. Regarding the advantages and disadvantages of using technology to teach and learn, we will see that the use of technologies is a competitive advantage for students while they are in the education system and for those who need those same technologies in the performance of their profession. Still and in order to analyze the technologies at the service of education, as well as the goals foreseen for the coming years, we verified that action plans must be introduced that, covering a significant number of the active population, provide external and independent training from the education system. Compulsory education that makes contact with ICT by interested parties a reality.
- Technology applications in the competitiveness of tourism destinationsPublication . Liberato, Pedro; Pereira, Diogo; Liberato, Dália; Lopes, Maria CarlosThe development and emergence of new technologies in tourism have revolutionized the sector and business operations and have also become an important factor in the competitiveness of tourist destinations. The use of these technologies contributes to the differentiating factor between destinations, which is why their implementation is seen as a priority. On the other hand, the use of technology in destinations also improves tourism products and services and thus provides innovative experiences for tourists. This article aims to understand the importance of technology in the development of a destination by researching and analyzing information on innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, and robotics. The importance of applying these technologies to the competitiveness of tourism destinations will be assessed and a comparative analysis undertaken of the destinations in the northern region of Portugal with the greatest degree of use in the promotion and information of these destinations. Finally, recommendations and proposals will be drawn up for improving technologies in the region. The main conclusions point out that the application of technology in tourism in the northern region of Portugal is insufficient. In addition, there is not enough variety in the technologies implemented, since most of them are related to virtual and augmented reality.
- The evolution of thermalism in Portugal - the current state of health and wellness tourismPublication . Lopes, Maria Carlos; Liberato, Dália; Alén, ElisaIn Portugal, as in other European countries, thermal activity was developed under the influence of the Roman people. In the fifteenth century, the first thermal hospital in the world was established in Portugal. In the centuries that followed, the practice of going to the baths to cure illness developed across the continent. In 1928, the first legislation was passed that gave thermal activity the same importance as other economic activities. However, the Second World War dictated the closure of many spas. Other factors, such as drug development and the tendency to go to beaches, led to a decrease in thermal frequency. Several strategic plans to boost tourism in Portugal followed and legislation was created (DL n. º 142/2004, of 11 June) aimed at the development of thermal tourism. In turn, the National Strategic Plan for Tourism-2007 [1] advocated the consolidation and development of health and well-being tourism, which naturally includes spas. From that moment on, the conditions were in place to increase investments in the spa sector, aiming at the modernization and offer of new products and services, in the scope of relaxation, beauty, and anti-stress treatments, among many others, with which intended to attract new audiences and markets. This work intends to elucidate the evolution of thermal frequency and demand in general, verified over the years. It is also intended to understand the current state of classic thermalism and wellness thermalism in Portugal and to assess the profile of tourists who seek this type of tourism. In this sense, we resorted to the compilation and analysis of statistical data existing in the General Directorate of Energy and Geology (DGEG), the General Directorate of Mines and Geological Services (DGMSG), and the Geological and Mining Institute (IGM), from 1979 to the year 2021. As conclusions of this study, we emphasize that there is a growing propensity to frequent thermal springs, caused, mostly, by users seeking wellness treatments and services. This finding has an effect on the annual seasonality of the demand for thermal springs, which now reaches lower levels, since the frequency of wellness users has become constant throughout the year, giving rise, this time, to a weekend seasonality that is the period in which wellness users can enjoy leisure time.