Nautical Stations: catalysts for sustainable tourism development - the case of the Nautical Station of Sines

Abstract

The Nautical Station concept is achieved through the establishment and/or assertion (depending on the extent of maturity) of a tourist destination arranged from maritime products that value, in a unified way, all the resources of a territory (foundation, environment, and sociocultural roots) and all the touristic offer already existing in this regional area. It combines a set of nautical activities that forms the central element of product management, based on a local/regional partnership, according to a set of quality criteria to be defined by the certifying entity, which in the Portuguese case is Forum Oceano – Association of Maritime Economy. This chapter analyzes the development of the certification process of the Portuguese Nautical Stations, the theoretical model that manages it, and its application to reality based on the study case constructed by the Nautical Station of Sines, one of the first 15 certified in Portugal.