Loading...
7 results
Search Results
Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
- Dissemination report on preliminary findings of the T-rELMA research project july 2023Publication . Torkington, Kate; Ribeiro, Filipa Perdigão; Rebelo, Sandra; Conceição, SusanaThis report follows the seminar on Algarve Tourism: Sustainability, Competitiveness and Entrepreneurship, jointly organised by the T-rELMA and IMPACTUR Algarve research project teams at the School of Management, Hospitality &Tourism, University of the Algarve, on 22June 2023.
- Conflicting discursive representations of overtourism in Lisbon in the Portuguese digital pressPublication . Ribeiro, Filipa Perdigão; Torkington, KatePurposeThis study aims to explore the ways in which Portuguese online news reports and opinion studies have framed the discussion about overtourism in Lisbon and its impacts on the city and its inhabitants. Design/methodology/approachDrawing on critical discourse analysis applied to media texts, this paper discusses the discursive representations of overtourism by focusing on how an emerging new discourse which constructs tourism as problematic began to challenge the established discourse - in which tourism is perceived as beneficial. FindingsAs a consequence, and to maintain the status quo, many media texts deploy strong legitimating strategies focusing on the benefits of tourism growth. These are juxtaposed with de-legitimating strategies which serve to deny problems of overtourism. Findings highlight the role the media play in shaping tourism discursively and uncover the complexities of discourses on the effects of (over)tourism and the ways in which they are constructed, disseminated and discussed. Social implicationsThis research is particularly relevant when newspaper opinion articles from 2021 voice the Portuguese Government's concern in bringing back to Portugal the pre-pandemic tourist numbers as soon as possible. Originality/valueThis study attempts to reveal the conflicting interests and imbalances of power among different tourism stakeholders by taking a qualitative, critical approach to the analysis of media discourse as a social practice within the broader socio-political context. This study argues that from an analytical-methodological perspective, media discourse is an optimum research site to critically explore how conflicting interests are positioned in the mass media and how this shapes public opinion.
- Whose right to the city? An analysis of the mediatized politics of place surrounding alojamento local issues in Lisbon and PortoPublication . Torkington, Kate; Ribeiro, Filipa PerdigãoIn view of the proliferation of alojamento local (short-term vacation rentals) in the major Portuguese cities of Lisbon and Porto, along with the recent transformation of the historic city centre neighbourhoods, this study explores the mediatized politics of place by analysing data sets resulting from different, but interconnected, discursive practices. At the level of governance, we examine how legislation has enabled and facilitated this transformation. We then explore the media coverage of the issues surrounding these recent changes. Finally, we focus on individual and collective stakeholder voices by analysing the various rights claims and arguments found in social media communication channels. Framing our analysis initially in Lefebvre’s concept of ‘the right to the city’, often invoked as an argument for the promotion of justice, inclusion and sustainability in the face of urbanisation policies, we argue that a ‘rights in the city’ approach is better suited to gaining insight into the multiple tensions and conflicts brought about through the interlinking processes of regeneration, gentrification and touristification that affect neighbourhoods with high proportions of short-term rental accommodation, and conclude that there are many rights claimants within a seemingly unified group of stakeholders, invoking rights claims which are sometimes overlapping, but often conflicting.
- Clouds in the normally sunny sky? The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on Dutch lifestyle entrepreneurs in the AlgarvePublication . Nijhoff, Karijn; Torkington, KateThis article explores the experiences of Dutch B&B and short-term rental property owners in the rural Algarve, Portugal, as a case study on the economic and social consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for entrepreneurial lifestyle migrants. The empirical data comes from twelve in-depth interviews with Dutch lifestyle migrants who moved to and settled in the more rural areas of the eastern Algarve and started small tourism accommodation businesses. Specifically, we look at the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting measures and restrictions on the economic situation of the businesses, the health and wellbeing of the business owners and their guests, as well as their accounts of social solidarity and community support. The findings reveal that there were relatively few changes in the lifestyles of the respondents and that their businesses, whilst impacted by the dramatic effects of the pandemic on travel and tourism, remained afloat. The findings confirm both the relative privilege of lifestyle migrant entrepreneurs, and the unequal impacts of the global pandemic. Their resilience to disaster is positively connected to their embeddedness in different networks. Finally, the rural location of the properties was also found to be instrumental in facing the pandemic in several ways.
- Relatório de divulgação dos resultados preliminares do projeto de investigação T-rELMA julho 2023Publication . Torkington, Kate; Ribeiro, Filipa Perdigão; Rebelo, Sandra; Conceição, SusanaT-rELMA é um projeto exploratório, com a duração de 18 meses, iniciado em janeiro de 2022. É financiado pela Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT) e conta com uma equipa de investigação internacional composta por nove investigadores. Este relatório surge na sequência do seminário Turismo no Algarve: Sustentabilidade, Competitividade e Empreendedorismo, organizado conjuntamente pelas equipas dos projetos de investigação T-rELMA e IMPACTUR Algarve, na Escola Superior de Gestão, Hotelaria e Turismo da Universidade do Algarve, no dia 22 de junho de 2023.
- Assessing roles and strategies of public sector stakeholders in an evolving (lifestyle) migration industry: the case of the Dutch Emigration ExpoPublication . Eimermann, Marco; Hochedez, Camille; Kordel, Stefan; Morén-Alegret, Ricard; Nijhoff, Karijn; Tomozeiu, Daniel; Torkington, Kate; Weidinger, TobiasThis study focuses on local and regional governments using place-branding strategies to attract intra-EU inward migration for demographic and/or economic purposes. This forms an important aspect of contemporary migration industries, whereby the interlinking of lifestyle, work and economic investment is pivotal. Taking the case of the Emigration Expo event in the Netherlands, it draws on interviews with the organizer and with public sector exhibitors to assess their purposes, roles and strategies when participating in the event. In addition, this paper examines to what extent public sector agents perceive this Expo as a viable physical event, contributing to a lifestyle migration industry. Findings suggest a shift in public sector strategies from attracting residents to recruiting skilled workers or lifestyle entrepreneurs and businesses. Exhibitors that maintain a recurring presence at the Expo over several years can build meaningful relations with each other and with prospective migrant visitors, providing practical information and integrated 'packages' to promote their destination as an attractive place to work and live. This supports the idea that (e)migration expos remain relevant physical sites of an evolving branch of the migration industry, including public-private partnerships involved in place and relocation branding as part of spatial planning strategies beyond growth.
- Discourse(s) of growth and sustainability in national tourism policy documentsPublication . Torkington, Kate; Stanford, Davina; Guiver, Joused to resolve the apparently conflicting goals of economic growth and social and environmental sustainability. The detailed discourse analysis, using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, found wide scale appropriation of the term ‘sustainable’, but no definitions or operationalisation. In fact, there was no acknowledgement that growth and sustainability were conflicting priorities, but ‘sustainable’ was used to give a hint of ecological sustainability, while actually meaning ‘sustained’ in phrases such as ‘sustainable growth’ and ‘sustainable development’. Thus ‘sustainable’ is appropriated to suggest continued growth, rather than reflecting the finite limits of ecological and societal sustainability. Economic goals were portrayed as instrumental to communities’ wellbeing, without evaluation, while environmental sustainability was depicted as instrumental to maintaining tourist demand. A variety of linguistic devices were used to normalise and promote economic growth including up/down metaphors and associating growth with good health and thriving and a lack of growth with poor health and looking for recovery. Countries’ competitive aspirations militate against cooperative action to reduce the environmental damage caused by international tourism. The findings illustrate how language supports neoliberal hegemony, while paying lip-service to sustainability.