Fonte: Journal of Tourism & Development; v. 3, n. 21/22 (2014); 201-2016
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Resumo: Business tourism is one of the most important tourist products at the international level. Representing more than 14% of international arrivals and more than 23% of the total tourist expenditure, this product is experiencing an incredible dynamics and has potential to create wealth at national and local levels. Being business tourism one of the ten tourism strategic products in Portugal, this work intends to evaluate its performance, as well as to provide insights on its weaknesses and strengths. For this purpose, an exploratory study based on a qualitative approach was adopted, targeting national, regional and local entities that are responsible for the development of this product. Results show that these entities attach a strategic relevance to business tourism in Portugal, namely in three particular regions – North of Portugal, Lisbon and Algarve – and it was possible to verify that Portugal, although holding a strong position at the international level, needs to meet some basics needs, such as the existence of convention centers with greater capacity and air connections with important generating countries for business tourism.