In a previous text published in the Sul Informação, we reflect on several aspects central to the tourist phenomenon. We found at the time that, if it is true that the sector has been creating opportunities, it also faces important risks. It will therefore be important to consider some of the main challenges relating to the Algarve tourist destination and the companies that develop their activities here.
Firstly, we will have a set of challenges related to the dimension of an Algarve committed to the Sustainability of its Tourism Development
As a result of the major global challenges related to sustainable development, Tourism has been incorporating this concept which, in the approach proposed by the World Tourism Organization, means that sustainable tourism development will imply an improvement in the quality of life of populations, in the experience of tourists and higher levels of economic profitability, without questioning the environmental quality and cultural heritage.
Ultimately, it will mean acknowledging the importance of all partners from a long-term and social cohesion perspective.
Taking on as a challenge the guarantee of the principles of tourist sustainability for the Algarve will mean bearing in mind the intimate relationship between sustainability and the challenge of competitiveness, because the former sustains the long-term dimension of the competitiveness of tourist activities.
On the other hand, growing concerns about the effects of climate change and the close links between the environment, climate and tourism, reinforce and make more urgent a research and development agenda on the links between climate change, sustainability and tourism in our region.
Secondly, we will have a set of challenges regarding the economic model and employment profile for a more competitive and innovative tourism in the Algarve.
The economic contribution of tourism to the development of our region, in particular with regard to its levels of productivity, innovation and quality of services, is strongly correlated with the training levels of its human capital, in the various dimensions linked to its skills, knowledge and talents.
The new dynamics of Tourism point to the creation of many companies in the areas of co-creation, experiences, culture, heritage, technologies, and entrepreneurship and social innovation. These areas undoubtedly require up-to-date and excellent training and research and development activities.
It is important to recognize that this contribution does not dispense with a greater integration of the various regional economic activities in the value chain of tourist activities.
Lastly, it is important to bear in mind a set of challenges associated with an integrated and sustainable management dimension of the Algarve tourist destination.
There are few economic sectors in which investment decisions are so dependent on consensus on the structuring of a tourist destination.
This is the case of Tourism, where investment decisions are strongly correlated with the presence of a harmonious planning of the territory, in which the public sector, companies and civil society actively intervene and cooperate; that there are bodies capable of promoting consensus and strategies, whose objective is to obtain economic, social and environmental profitability for all parties involved.
For this planning process to materialize in an effective and sustainable way, it is necessary to take on the challenge of an integral management of the tourist destination, having as its main support or decision support tool, a Tourism Observatory.
From the analysis of the experiences collected on this type of entity, it can be considered that the Tourism Observatories have emerged as indispensable supports in supporting a sustainable tourism development, working as information and analysis instruments on the evolution of tourist activity, in particular the markets, enabling decision-making support, and whose information is available to all destination agents.
More recently, the Tourism Observatories have also been presented as tools linked to smart destinations associated with stable technical structures, in charge of observing reality, analyzing the dynamics and making the results available to all agents in the destination .
The Sustainable Tourism Observatory for the Algarve, like other Observatories existing in other countries and regions, may be a structure that, in addition to contributing knowledge to promote good practices among companies, related to, for example, the management of the quality or the creation of tourist experiences, ensure the monitoring, investigation, dissemination and analysis of the evolution of tourist activity, in good time, in order to support the realization of sectorial diagnoses that facilitate decision-making and the activity of all the economic agents in the sector.
This challenge will involve the medium and long-term evaluation of the effectiveness of tourism in this region to create new products with high added value and new tourist areas based on cultural and environmental values, where the quality of services and high levels of environmental efficiency present themselves as the main attraction factor for new segments of tourist demand, a condition for the competitiveness of the Algarve's tourist companies.
The creation of this Observatory will enhance the development of a research and innovation strategy for the Algarve, centered on a partnership between the University of the Algarve, the Algarve Tourism Region and the companies and organizations in the sector, allowing for the creation of a knowledge community on Tourism.
The interconnections that can be made between the different actors will guarantee what can be designated as "bridging theory and practice”, allowing the obtaining and sharing of essential information and knowledge for the transformation of a complex system, which is tourism, and which is intended to be operationalized in the service of the competitiveness and sustainability of tourism in this region.
The challenges of the Algarve's tourism imply the overcoming of several risks, but they also require the necessary capacity to take advantage of the opportunities arising from key aspects for its development.
Perhaps the main objective will be the competitiveness on a sustainable basis of the Algarve's tourism, which will be achieved through the study of factors that allow boosting the productivity levels of its companies, such as innovation, technology, knowledge, image, quality and efficiency, partnerships between the public and private sectors and the relationship between the resident population and tourism.
Bearing in mind the fundamental link between the economy, the resident community and the environment, on the one hand, and taking into account its leading role in this region on the other, tourism in the Algarve should ultimately contribute to ensuring national and regional priorities in terms of economic competitiveness, environmental sustainability and social cohesion in this region.
Author Joao Albino Silva
Faculty of Economics, University of Algarve
Note: article published under the protocol between the Sul Informação and the Algarve Delegation of the Order of Economists
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