Perceived Impact of the Alqueva Dam on Regional Tourism Development

Abstract

The paper studies the impact of the Alqueva Multi-Purpose Dam on the Alentejo region (Portugal), focusing on tourism development. In 2002, the Alqueva dam originated the largest artificial lake in Europe and was widely believed to bring a great number of benefits for the region by creating conditions for intensive irrigated farming and enhancing a new tourism destination in interior Portugal. The aim of this study is to assess to what degree the latter has been achieved. Interviews were held with 35 local and regional stakeholders of the tourism and cultural heritage sectors to understand their perception regarding the changes that occurred in the regional tourism industry since the dam's construction. Findings show that, against initial expectations, the tourism industry is still largely underdeveloped, partly due to a lack of investment and an inadequate tourism planning model. Furthermore, conflicts were observed concerning the balance between the value of the traditional montado landscape for tourism and irrigated farming development.

Regional tourism axes identification using GIS and TOPSIS model (Case study: Hormozgan Province, Iran)

“…Furthermore, as Cox and Wray (2011) pointed out, tourism could act as a means of diversifying economic conditions in rural and regional areas, and this is of paramount importance for oil-based vulnerable economies such as Iran, in general, and Hormozgan Province, as one of the deprived regions in the country in particular. Historically, governments in Iran, despite all the potential for tourism and its role in diversification and economic, cultural and social growth (Dias-Sardinha and Ross, 2015; Müller and Jansson, 2007; Cohen and Cohen, 2012; Xue et al , 2017), have not paid enough attention to this industry as a catalyst for rural and regional development. Moreover, although there have been some promising perspectives since Iran's nuclear deal in 2015, improvement of the relations with the West and easing of international sanctions (Khodadadi, 2016), Iran's tourism industry has suffered significantly over the past three decades as a consequence of such issues as negative image in the tourism generating markets, political tensions as a result of Iran's nuclear program and poor management (Khodadadi, 2016).…”

“…There is a significant body of research confirming the positive economic (Dias-Sardinha and Ross, 2015; Eriksen and Ahmt, 1999; Kauppila and Karjalainen, 2012; Müller and Jansson, 2007), cultural (Wu and Pearce, 2013; Sharpley, 2002; Coccossis, 2008; Constantin and Mitrut, 2008) and social (Cohen and Cohen, 2012; Xue et al , 2017; Besculides et al , 2002) effects of tourism on regional development. Besides, diversification of a region's economy through tourism creates many career opportunities in terms of rural development (Jafarian et al , 2016; Kheiri and Nasihatkon, 2016; Su et al , 2018).…”

Window of Economic Opportunity or Door of Exclusion? Nandoni Dam and Its Local Communities

“…From early times, dams were constructed to control floods, transport water, and supply water for domestic and irrigation purposes [4,5]. Dams have also been built to produce power and electricity since the industrial revolution [3,6,7]. Electricity production from dams has become significant in the contemporary world.…”

Participative co-creation of archaeological heritage: Case insights on creative tourism in Alentejo, Portugal

“…For the tourism sector, however, the dam did not produce significant impact (Dias-Sardinha & Ross, 2015). Despite their tourism potential, the official strategic plan for the development of Alentejo's cultural tourism overlooks submerged archaeological monuments (Turismo do Alentejo, 2015).…”