The landscape as a tourist product and natural and cultural heritage.

The case of Serra da Estrela

Abstract

The exploitation of the endogenous resources, competitive by virtue of the use of their comparative
advantages, is assumed as the pillar of development of low density regions, demographically, economically and socially speaking. Hence, understanding the patrimonialization of the natural spaces is fundamental for the valorization of sustainability, contributing, simultaneously, to stagnate or reduce the process of depopulation of the interior.
The Serra da Estrela region, as a mountain area, is associated, in its entirety, with geotourism, adventure
tourism and the v alorization of identities and authenticity r esulting from functioning as a place o f refuge and sanctuary, through the appreciation of its dimension territorial diversity and morphological, ecological and environmental diversity. In this sense, this text seeks to identify the characteristics of the territory and organizational skills capable of enabling tourism to create conditions to affirm itself as a way of economic and social leverage and determinant for the impact that the planning and proper management of environmental and landscape resources may have in the process of economic and social transformation of Serra da Estrela. The study presented here is based on the use of a research model based on the Delphi technique, and a panel of invited experts was created for this purpose, who are directly or indirectly involved in tourism activity in the territory under analysis . The study resulted in the identification of the most attractive resources, transformations, products and strategic intervention measures to be developed in the territory of Serra da Estrela and its management as a tourist destination.