Rural Tourism in Portugal in the context of uncertainty arising from COVID-19

Abstract

This article links the concept of uncertainty to rural territories, tourism and the current pandemic situation.  Its main objective is to reflect on the development of rural tourism in Portugal in the context of uncertainty, marked by COVID-19, doing so from an evolutionary perspective in time and space, based on specialized literature, official statistics and questionnaire surveys. In particular, it is intended to show that uncertainty is an intrinsic condition of the rural environment and of tourism itself, with which they have coexisted, but which is exacerbated in the particular context of the pandemic crisis. Despite the strong territorial and sectoral impact, this crisis has provided a range of challenges and opportunities stimulated, precisely, by this underlying uncertainty.