Battlefield tourism: strategies and tactics for the development and tourism planning of the battlefields of the war of Independence/peninsular war in Spain and Portugal
This doctoral thesis falls within the scope of Cultural Tourism and Military Tourism, focusing specifically on Battlefield Tourism in the Iberian Peninsula, and is dedicated to the study of the touristic development of the battlefields of the period between 1808 and 1814, known in Portugal as the Pe...
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| Tipo de recurso: | tesis doctoral |
| Estado: | Versión publicada |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2024 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Universidad de Sevilla (US) |
| Repositorio: | idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:idus.us.es:11441/158581 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/11441/158581 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Battlefield Tourism Napoleonic Re-enactment Living History Spanish War of Independence/Peninsular War Strategic Tourism Plan Cultural Tourism recreaciones napoleónicas Guerra de la Independencia/Guerras Peninsulares Planificación Turística Turismo Cultural Recriações Napoleónicas |
| Sumario: | This doctoral thesis falls within the scope of Cultural Tourism and Military Tourism, focusing specifically on Battlefield Tourism in the Iberian Peninsula, and is dedicated to the study of the touristic development of the battlefields of the period between 1808 and 1814, known in Portugal as the Peninsular War and in Spain as the War of Independence, part of the wider Napoleonic Wars. Our main objective is to contribute to fill an important gap in the awareness and knowledge of the potential of these tourist attractions in Portugal and Spain, presenting at the end of this thesis a model of Strategic Tourism Plan specific to the battlefields of the Napoleonic era. The main research question was: how to successfully develop battlefield tourism in the Peninsular War battlefields? Through research and findings, we studied these battlefields, valued the interpretation of tangible and intangible heritage, analysed its capabilities and potential, identified the elements that promote success or inhibit it, characterised the motivations and explored new types of tourism that catalyse Battlefield Tourism. The three elements to be studied and analysed were identified as the stakeholders/tourism agents, the visitors/participants in battlefield tourism events and finally the battlefields themselves from a visitors’ experience perspective. For this purpose, we undertook case studies using both qualitative and quantitative approaches to the battlefields of the Lines of Torres Vedras, Vimeiro, Almeida, Sabugal (Gravato) in Portugal, and Arapiles and Ciudad Rodrigo in Spain. The application component of the thesis, structured in the academic research of Tourism of Napoleonic battlefields, allowed to better understand the state of the art of Battlefield Tourism in Portugal and Spain as well as the main theoretical advances and dynamic initiatives of this important cross-border cultural resource. A first study-case was designed to provide insights into the intersection between battlefield tourism and creative tourism. For this purpose, in-depth interviews were carried out aimed at stakeholders, tourism agents, tour guides and tour operators, 15 participants in total, allowing the analysis and understanding of the perspectives of those who deal directly with the battlefield tourism customer. It provided new and valuable insights that explore the points of convergence with creative tourism within the scope of the Napoleonic Battlefields of Portugal and mainly in the Lines of Torres Vedras. This important contribution explored and understood the role of these key players somewhat aside from the literature about battlefield tourism. It gave origin to an article published in September 2022 in the Journal of Heritage Tourism. Findings reveal that those stakeholders value re-enactments and ‘living history’ as part of the creative experience, promoting interactive, diverse, and more enriching contact with local cultures. Creative tourism appears as a key driver in the success of tourism in these destinations, enhancing the participation of local communities, network cooperation, sustainable development, and local identity and memory. A second survey was designed to understand and explore the perspectives of the participants in re-enactment events. Using a quantitative methodology, a face-to-face questionary was answered by 120 visitors in the historical recreations of the Siege of Almeida and Battle of Vimeiro, analysing the visitors' experience and the inhibiting and enhancing factors in visiting these cultural spaces. With this purpose, the main objectives were defined to know the participants, understand the motivations, perceptions of authenticity and experience in these historical recreations and re-enactment events. Findings expose the relevance of the participation, promoting and improving the value of the experience, engaging the visitor in an educational experience of historical significance. Re-enactment and living history events appear as a strong attraction for all family members, and the intention to repeat the experience and to suggest the event to others also points out the high perception of authenticity and entertainment value of historical re-enactments where living history activities are present. A discussion was then based in literature and the previous findings with the objective of identifying strategies and tactics that enhance and value Napoleonic Battlefield Tourism in Spain and Portugal, exploring tourists’ experience, dynamic types of tourism, battlefields visitation and interpretation. Re-enactment, Living History and Creative Tourism were identified as major boosters for battlefield tourism, and stakeholders and the community as essential pillars for its success. Interactive technological solutions in the interpretation of the battles showed up as a key element that enhance the visitors experience and interaction. To organize a pragmatic framework, a set of obstacles were recognized and enhancing factors were identified. The conclusion led to the identification of key strategies and tactics organized in a set of good practices to be implemented by tourism promoters. Finally, field research was carried out on the battlefields of Sabugal (Gravato) in Portugal, Ciudad Rodrigo and Los Arapiles (Salamanca) in Spain, analysing through the visitors’ experience perspective, the elements that facilitate or difficult the experience of visiting the respective battlefields. The field research consisted of a questionary with 16 items to be observed in the battlefields and the conclusions allowed us to identify the structures and elements needed to improve the tourist visitation and what solutions enhance a more dynamic and interactive experience. The battlefield of Arapiles (Salamanca) proved to be the best example of a successful visit experience. It shows how the combination of technology, attractive promotional artwork and good touristic planning promote a much-desired multi-sensorial interaction with history, landscapes of war and a common memory. But the main awareness achieved is how to comprehend these Napoleonic battlefield factors and visitors’ needs into a strategic tourism plan specific for these valuable touristic resources. Each one of the conclusions from the three battlefields resumed into guidelines presented as a Proposal for Valorisation and Touristic Activation with the purpose of providing strategies that promote enriched, engaging, and accessible experiences for visitors from diverse backgrounds and preferences. The individual approach to each battlefield was organized in i) Strategy to empower stakeholders’ dynamics, ii) Strategy for promotion and awareness, and iii) Strategy to implement visitor interpretation and experience. This construct allowed the preparation of a new set of guidelines, now specifically dedicated to the most relevant factors identified in the previous conclusions, namely Interpretation and Experience. The relevance given to these two key issues led us to elaborate this proposal of good practices as a resource to be considered and implemented by stakeholders. Therefore, this Proposal of Good Practices in enhancing battlefield’s interpretations and tourist’s experience, comprehend three pillars identified as paramount on the approach, namely, i) Factors that improve the interpretation, ii) Factors that enhance the operationality of the visit, and finally, iii) Factors that empower the experience. The analysis on the three researched battlefields led to the identification and awareness that for successful battlefield tourism specific elements/actions must be considered. Having made this construct, our contribution is, as final goal of this study, the proposal of a model of strategic tourism plan especially applicable to these same battlefields or others from the same period. The objective is to apply a model of best practices, strategies and tactics, which allow tourism development supported by communities, in the preservation and optimized dissemination of their historical, material and immaterial heritage, building a tourism product based on the dynamics and experiences of those who visit, who structures and manages, and who operates the touristic offer. These best practices are intended to be disseminated to local authorities, tourism promoters and tourism regions, encouraging discussion and development of battlefield tourism and the sustainability of local communities. Based on the results obtained through multiple methods, this research concludes that to reach a successful Napoleonic battlefield tourism in Iberian Peninsula the promoters need an overall cohesive approach, strategically grounded in the stakeholders’ activation and engagement, visitors enhanced experience through creative tourism, edutainment and reenactment, and interpretation with interactive multisensory technology. Finally, empowerment of battlefields is achieved by historical significance and historical landscape awareness, supported by a strategic planification fostered by passionate research, driven by communities’ and visitors’ needs and motivations, and sustainable and responsible touristic approaches. |
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