Evaluation of tourist carrying capacity: an analysis of hiking trails in Pampilhosa da Serra (Portugal)

Abstract

Sustainable management of tourism products and destinations have acquired a growing expression (and renewed) in the current development context, strongly marked by the "climate emergency". In the specific case of nature, one of the differentiating assets identified in the national tourism strategy (ET2027), it has been assumed as the main driver of development of rural and/or mountain territories, especially those that present excellent natural resources (classified and/or protected), through the structuring of leisure/tourism equipment and infrastructure associated with the Walking & Cycling segments, corresponding to activities with low carbon emissions. With the main objective of analyzing the importance of hiking within nature tourism in Portugal, this research seeks to discuss and test a load capacity model of hiking trails in a rural and/or mountain environment in two distinct sample areas in Pampilhosa da Serra (Center of Portugal), through the (adapted) methodology of Cifuentes (1992). The determination of the real carrying capacity (RCC) for the hiking trails PR1 PPS and PR6 PPS shows very different daily values: 24 and 100 hikers, respectively. The physical and technical characteristics of each trail, especially in terms of slope and erosion parameters, are among the most relevant correction factors in determining these differences.