A case study of the methodology implemented to develop the geographic information system of tourism offer in the Alentejo region

Abstract

A Geographic Information System (GIS) is a powerful tool to make an integrated study of the overall spatial expression of tourism resources in the territory, as well as the facilities and the infrastructures required for its development. Tourism policies and strategies are becoming more complex to define due to the diversity of variables and constraints that underlie them. The availability of accurate and update information about tourism offer is thus crucial for the public sector to guide and ground their planning initiatives and for professionals to guide their business management. This paper focuses on the methodological aspects of the project GIS of Tourism Offer in the Alentejo Regional Area, developed in the context of Regional Observatory for Tourism in the Alentejo. Its main purpose is to make an inventory, systematize existing information and gather basic information when missing, about the tourism resources of the Alentejo and represent them in a GIS environment, providing an important tool for decision support of the business sector and tourism planning in the region. The case study method will be used to present how the methodological structure of the project was conceived and implemented to achieve the established goals, considering both the existing scientific studies in this field and the reality of the region itself as far as the regional development of sustainable tourism is concerned.