He has a degree in Geography (University of Porto -FLUP, 2002) and, in 2005 the Master in Natural Hazards Management in the same faculty. Since 2002, he has been teaching Geography at different secondary schools around the country, and since 2011, he has been teaching as an Invited Assistant in Instituto Politécnico de Bragança. In 2020, he completed his PhD in Tourism at the University of Aveiro with the thesis 'The backpacker phenomenon and its spatiotemporal movement patterns in Porto urban destination'. At moment, he holds the position of Adjunct Professor at Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, and he is a Collaborator Member of the research unit on Governance, Competitiveness and Public Policy, working in the group on Tourism and Development. He is also an author and co-author of several articles in national and international journals. Backpacker tourism and tourist spacetime behaviour are his main research topics.
Rui Augusto daCosta was born in Oliveira de Azeméis, Aveiro, Portugal. He graduated in Management and Tourism Planning at the University of Aveiro in 1988, completed his Master's degree in Innovation and Policy Development at the University of Aveiro and a PhD in Tourism at the same University in 2012.He is an Assistant Professor in the Tourism Area in the Department of Economics, Management, Industrial Engineering and Tourism at University of Aveiro. He is a member of the Executive Board of DEGEIT and he is also an Integrated Member of the Research Unit on Governance, Competitiveness and Public Policy in the Research Group on Tourism and Development. He develops his research in the planning and project in tourism, networks, governance and public policy, territorial dynamics of investment and financing of small and micro enterprises in the tourism sector. He participates in several projects of applied research nationally and internationally, and he is an author and co-author of several articles in national and international journals.He is also an Associate Editor of the Journal of Tourism & Development and a member of the Organizing Committee of the International Conference INVTUR.
xiii ACKNoWLedgeMeNtsIn 2014, I started doing my first academic research on backpacker tourism. Since then, I had the opportunity to publish some scientific articles and finalise my PhD thesis on the spatiotemporal behaviour of backpackers in an urban destination, under the supervision of my co-author Rui Augusto da Costa. This book is the result of six years of ongoing research. Some years ago, I had the opportunity to start working with my colleague and co-author Márcio Ribeiro Martins, which presented me the backpacker world! During these years, we had the opportunity to work together and to 'build' a very good friendship. Research is more than publishing papers … is to create ties between people!We will begin by thanking the series editor, professor Richard Sharpley who supported and encouraged our initial proposal suggesting relevant and valuable contributions.Thanks to all the publishing team, especially to Kousaly...