Crossing frontiers between tourism and demography. An empirical analysis based on European travellers’ behaviour

This paper aims to establish possible tourism demand scenarios of European travellers to Portugal based on the relationship with changing population structures. A combination of the EuROBAROMETER report 370 (“Attitudes of Europeans towards Tourism in 2013”) and the cohort-component method for population projections will allow the development of different possible tourism demand scenarios. Following the European report, individuals who travelled in 2013 were most likely to live in a household with two or more individuals. Thus, if elderly couples are together till later in their life and in better physiological shape, it is possible that the number of elderly individuals travelling for tourism purposes will increase in the near future. If we can expect tourists from developing countries to be younger due to their demographic dynamics than those from developed countries, where the ageing population is growing fast, we can expect that the percentage of the elderly among tourists will increase. Furthermore, the 2013 European report found that the combination of socio-demographic variables, such as, age, population, gender, household dimension, country of residence and trip purpose explained tourism demand scenarios for Portugal, confirming that seniors and families evidence a paramount sense of importance for the destination. In the literature there is a lack of discussion about the effects of demography in the future and the role of an ageing population in tourism demand choice patterns. We aim to contribute to filling this gap. Consequently, we strongly believe that this paper contributes to the literature by introducing a new field of discussion about the importance of demographic changes in shaping travel trends.

Crossing frontiers between tourism and demography. An empirical analysis based on European travellers’ behaviour

This paper aims to establish possible tourism demand scenarios of European travellers to Portugal based on the relationship with changing population structures. A combination of the EUROBAROMETER report 370 (“Attitudes of Europeans towards Tourism in 2013”) and the cohort-component method for population projections will allow the development of different possible tourism demand scenarios. Following the European report, individuals who travelled in 2013 were most likely to live in a household with two or more individuals. Thus, if elderly couples are together till later in their life and in better physiological shape, it is possible that the number of elderly individuals travelling for tourism purposes will increase in the near future. If we can expect tourists from developing countries to be younger due to their demographic dynamics than those from developed countries, where the ageing population is growing fast, we can expect that the percentage of the elderly among tourists will increase. Furthermore, the 2013 European report found that the combination of socio-demographic variables, such as, age, population, gender, household dimension, country of residence and trip purpose explained tourism demand scenarios for Portugal, confirming that seniors and families evidence a paramount sense of importance for the destination. In the literature there is a lack of discussion about the effects of demography in the future and the role of an ageing population in tourism demand choice patterns. We aim to contribute to filling this gap. Consequently, we strongly believe that this paper contributes to the literature by introducing a new field of discussion about the importance of demographic changes in shaping travel trends.

Survey of demographic and phenotypic data of local pig breeds of Treasure Project

Local genetic resources represent an important reservoir of biodiversity in the animal sector. Sustainable use of these resources can be an important source of income for farmers taking advantage of the peculiar characteristics of their products. The different European local pig breeds have a different level of knowledge of their characteristics both at demographic and phenotypic level. This information, however, is fundamental to the management of the breeds and represent one of the first steps in a project for the enhancement of production. This paper reports the results of a survey on the demographic and phenotypic characterization of the 20 European local pig breeds involved in the TREASURE* project. The first part of the survey shows, for all populations involved, the available demographic parameters, the structure of the breed (i.e. number of males, females and replacements), the main morphological features, the reproductive information as well as some additional information collected at herd-level (i.e. temperament, holding, mating practices). A second module reports the results related to the origins and development of the breeds, to market characteristics and the presence and distribution of niche products. The survey concludes with a module related to the specific characteristics of each breed and the management of the same in relation to food and the environment. The survey is the starting point of the genetic and productive characterization of the breeds involved that are future actions of the TREASURE project.

Determinants of European tourism demand in a demographic ageing society

This study identifies the senior European tourists determinants that explained their decisions to go on holidays. The empirical study was conducted among European tourists by applying a logit model. The model intends to explain the determinants related to the decision to go on holidays since the probability of a senior European tourist taking holidays in a country depends on a mix of motives as previous travel experience and demographic characteristics. Policy and theoretical implications are derived for contributing to the discussion between demographic variables and tourism demand choice patterns.