Equestrian tourism: an opportunity for portuguese

Portugal provides a large number of factors that boost the development of the national equestrian tourism. It represents an opportunity for the qualification and differentiation of the national tourism, to stimulate rural economies, to combat seasonality and asymmetries.This study want to understand the importance, for the equestrian tourist, of the critical success factors such as the Lusitano horse, the national equestrian culture, the landscape diversity, among others. Also, how they can contribute to the differentiation of the national equestrian tourism for international destinations that are already deployed in the market.For this study is crucial to know the perspective of those involved in the various equestrian tourism activities. In this sense, a group of companies were selected and exploratory interviews were conducted that contributed to important outputs in the construction of the questionnaire.The research was attended by 110 individuals, with different profiles, motivations and types of involvement. From the analysis, it is concluded that the critical success factors are significant in motivating equestrian tourists, namely the quality of equestrian infrastructures, the Lusitano horse, the hospitality, among others. It is also possible to analyze that the equestrian tourist demonstrates a strong commitment: they are knowledgeable, read a lot about riding and belong to equestrian clubs.Finally, the factor analysis highlight the agreement between participants and a significant number of statements made in the questionnaire related to motivation and involvement. It is possible to conclude that equestrian tourists look for relaxing moments and opportunities to expand their equestrian knowledge.

The Koala and the Kangaroo effects: from Melbourne to Algarve

This communication is the result of several discussions between five researchers about consumers and consumer behavior. In fact, we only stated an analogy between consumers and two animals (koalas and kangaroos). We propose an original way to classify participants in a survey (or experiment) as one of these two animals. With this, we hope to rise up some minds about the need to become more realistic and less theoretical when we try to explain our decisions and behaviors.