Portugal’s communication as a Surfing destination: an exploratory analysis

Abstract

Surfing is today a significant part of the Portuguese tourism market. In 2014, Portugal was the most popular destination on the internet regarding to surfing, having been considered the most attractive country in the world for the sport. This paper concerns the international promotion of Portugal as a touristic surfing destination. The main objective is to identify the sources of information and promotion about surfing in Portugal, for foreigner surfers. In order to accomplish such goal, specialists in the surfing industry, such as Gonçalo Cadilhe, Portuguese author of surftrips chronicles, João Valente, director of the surf magazine SurfPortugal, and members of Turismo de Portugal and Câmara Municipal de Mafra, have been interviewed. Tourists surfers were traveling in Portugal in April of 2015 were also interviewed, about their sources of information and factors that most influenced their visit to Portugal. Results have drawn the attention to the fact that surf information may follow a particular path due to the way surfers experience their own surf culture. This shows that private promoters’ should take in account the strategic role that the several information sources play in the phenomenon (such has specialized magazines, websites, guides or even online broadcasting of international competitions).