Perfect Resources, Singularities and Scientific Tourism: Methodological Contributions to Valuation and Resources Institutionalization

摘要

Scientific tourism is an emerging economic activity that might contribute to the development of strategies to improve territorial competitiveness and cohesion. This study aims to identify some methodological options for the operationalization of scientific tourism guidelines, namely identifying and valuing resources as well as evaluating the community involvement in the process. Initially, a theoretical-conceptual framework was developed relating four structuring dimensions of analysis: territory, territorial competitiveness and cohesion, tourism and public policy. Four new concepts were also considered: perfect resources, territorial coherence, economic and territorial singularities. Since the classification and evaluation of resources are a key aspect in the development of the process to construct positive strategies to territorial competitiveness and cohesion, whose object is scientific tourism, methodological contributions were made to do so, namely through Contingent Valuation Method by applying a questionnaire with Willingness to Pay questions. Finally, a Portuguese case study was presented as an illustration.