The Douro Wine Villages Project, 20 years on: the perceptions of entrepreneurs

Meneses, Daniela; Ferreira, Fernanda A.; Koerich, Guilherme Henrique

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.22/30046

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Authors

Meneses, Daniela

Ferreira, Fernanda A.

Koerich, Guilherme Henrique

Abstract(s)

The Douro Wine Villages (Aldeias Vinhateiras do Douro) project was an urban requalification project that covered five municipalities of the Douro region: Tabuaço, Alijó, Sabrosa, Tarouca and S. João da Pesqueira, based on Douro Integrated Territorial Action with objective to fortify the territorial and institutional cohesion of the Douro region, and promote and harness its internal resources while effectively structuring the regional economic system. The case study applied to Favaios Wine Village in Alijó municipality is innovative and aims to understand the effective impact of development and territorial cohesion plans from a tourism perspective and how they can positively affect the community. Based on the study’s objective, a qualitative methodology was applied and divided into two phases. In the first phase, the plans and programmes developed between the years 2000 and 2022 were observed. In the second phase, semi-structured interviews were conducted with economic agents and the local community. The results indicate that despite multiple concerted efforts, there continues to be an exodus of young people, resulting in an increasingly ageing population, and a lack of skilled labour for the tourism sector was mentioned. On the other hand, new tourism-related projects are being implemented.