Tourism destination governance: the case of UNESCO World Heritage Site of Oporto city

Abstract

The main aim of this work is to examine the concept of governance and its particular relation with tourism destinations, and to investigate this concept in the particular case of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Oporto city, through a set of specific objectives: (i) to understand and discuss the importance of interactive governance on the tourism level; (ii) to identify the governance structure of the Site in focus; (iii) to identify the power-holding entities responsible for the Site; and (iv) to investigate the levels of collaboration between the identified entities. So as to fulfil these objectives, a qualitative methodology approach was chosen to be used for elaboration of this work. Within this approach, three methods of data collection were identified as most suitable to conduct, these being: (i) critical examination and analysis of the mentioned empirical study; (ii) content analysis of the existing material concerning this study; and (iii) semi-structured interviews conducted at the Site.