How to work for an integrated multilevel destination strategy? The case of Centro de Portugal

Abstract

Tourism is consistently increasing its importance in countries’ economies and competitiveness. The involvement of the public sector in tourism planning and management it is crucial for the destination and can be made in different levels such as national or regional. This different levels of public participation can generate a lack of alignment when defining the main objectives for a specific territory or the strategic products to promote in a specific region. This article aims to study the current positon of Centro de Portugal region regarding the alignment of strategies between national and regional public entities. Through an investigation on their strategic plans this research detected similar strategies between the regional entities but different lines of thought when comparing national and regional entities.