subject: Tourism in Portugal - competition [print this page] Tourism in Portugal - competition
The Algarve region is 200 miles south of Lisbon and is a 20-mile wide strip situated along the entire southern coast of Portugal. The sun and beach are the main products associated with the Algarve. However, it is increasingly facing stiff competition from similar types of destinations.
After a boom of mass tourism and poorly planned development in this Portuguese tourist region, differentiation seems to be difficult and competition is primarily based on price. This situation has led to several management, quality, and environmental problems, making a more balanced spread of tourism desirable. Its stereotypical sun and beach image is largely interchangeable for the foreign tourist with the Spanish, Greek, Turkish, and North-African Coasts, which are all increasingly competing on price.
However, the Algarve is Portugal's main destination, and its product is largely responsible for Portugal's tourism image abroad. That is why Portugal is identified as a typically Mediterranean country (even if it is largely rather Atlantic in climate and vegetation) and thought of as competing with other Mediterranean countries. On the other hand, as numerous tourist guides point out, the country possesses resources that might attract more tourists to other parts of the country. However, many of these rural areas in the country's interior suffer from an exodus because of limited opportunities to support its population base.
On the demand side, particularly in the main tourist generating countries, there is a tendency toward split holidays, creating a demand for a broadening variety of tourist products. This growing demand has created a market looking for the characteristics of authenticity, thematic holidays, naturalism, culture, and healthfulness, which can all correspond to rural areas. It is true that rural tourism is not a totally new form of tourism.
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