• Energy Research

Nautical tourism stands out for its potential to achieve social-economic development in coastal and island destinations and as a lever for sustainable tourism. However, the lack of a clear definition of nautical tourism at the international level makes it difficult to characterize it, and the case of Portugal is no exception. In fact, despite the enormous potential of Portuguese nautical tourism, there is a lack of studies that characterize this type of tourism in the Portuguese tourism destination. This paper intends to make a first attempt to fill this gap by assessing the projected destination image of Portuguese nautical tourism with a sustainable marketing approach. In the design of the research, the content analysis methodology was applied. The data were collected from the official websites of the Portuguese legislation and the Portuguese nautical tourism players and analyzed through a theoretical model of sustainable marketing deriving from the literature review. The results provide the sustainable projected destination image of Portuguese nautical tourism and identify the main trends in the legislative framework, tourism activities, networks of players, and support infrastructures for Portuguese nautical tourism. The findings provide practical and useful insights for Portuguese nautical tourism stakeholders aiming to improve a sustainable projected destination image, as well as for researchers identifying research gaps in the nautical tourism topics. This study also provides a new methodological contribution, proposing a theoretical model of the projected destination image of nautical tourism with an approach to sustainable marketing, which can be applied to other nautical tourism destinations.

Several approaches to the concept of the territorial brand have been given over time, which has generated different contextualizations to and applications of the concept. In order to homogenize and clarify the concept, the present paper aims to present the state-of-the-art of this theme through an interdisciplinary mapping of the uses and functions of the territorial brand. To this end, the study adopts a qualitative analysis approach, integrating content analysis with the historical method encompassing an interdisciplinary cultural-historical mapping. The results point to a clear and fertile body of theory, which, in turn, suggests a fertile path for future studies. The findings reveal more than 15 centuries across four dimensions of analysis: characteristics, uses, functions and discourses of the territorial brand. Different trends and future research agendas for this area are also discussed. The practical value focuses on the application of the four dimensions of analysis as a tool for territorial management and planning for territorial managers and decision-makers.

In the post-Covid-19 era, tourism impacts and the role played by sustainable planning on the long-term success of destinations have gained renewed importance. Understanding the image and perceptions tourists hold of a destination is vital for tourism planning, as they play a key role in tourists’ decisions. Considering the importance of these two key concepts (perceptions and sustainability), the present paper contributes to the advancement of knowledge on sustainable tourism by characterizing the state of the art of Sustainability Perceptions in Tourism and Hospitality (SPTH). To this end, the scientific literature on the topic was mapped through a combination of three bibliometric analysis techniques, namely: evaluative, relational, and systematic bibliometric analysis. These were based on productivity and impact indicators, including SciVal topic prominence. The results reveal that sustainability perceptions in SPTH focus on tourists’, stakeholders’, and residents’ perceptions. These findings highlight the need for involving local communities in the destination planning process to align the outcomes of tourism development with their expectations. Finally, this paper presents an original methodological contribution, as it is the first to apply the SciVal topic prominence analysis to SPTH.

Based on tradition and high standards, Swiss higher education in tourism and hospitality is ranked among the best in the world. Although scientific research is the foundation of a country’s higher education system, the Swiss Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Management Scientific Research (Swiss TL&HM-SR) has not yet been subject to a systematic analysis. This paper aims to fill this gap by assessing the Swiss TL&HM-SR performance, as well as identifying and discussing its most prominent topics. To this end, bibliometric data were gathered from the Scopus database and analyzed through a bibliometric mixed-method approach. Results provide a new performance indicator for the Swiss TL&HM-SR in this field of research, and show that innovation and sustainable destination management are particularly prominent topics within Swiss TL&HM-SR. In this context, contributions to these topics in particular are discussed in more detail. The findings provide useful insights for stakeholders aiming to improve sustainability performance through strategic management of destinations, as well as for researchers aiming to follow the latest trends, identify emerging topics and formulate more attractive projects for financing institutions. The study also provides a new and innovative methodological contribution, as it combines different methods of scientific research performance assessment, which can be further employed in other countries or knowledge areas.

This paper aimed to evaluate the Portuguese scientific production within Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Management (TLHM). To this end, 572 papers from 51 peer-reviewed Scopus journals were mapped through a mixed bibliometric analysis method. The results indicated that Portugal has a significant TLHM research production, with an outstanding performance in terms of topic prominence percentile. Additionally, Portuguese TLHM research collaboration has increased significantly in recent years. It should be pointed out, however, that this production is significantly skewed towards tourism-specific studies rather than hospitality. This study presents a new bibliometric contribution by bringing the SciVal topic prominence and prominence percentile to the TLHM field and presenting a new country research performance model, indicating a new way to evaluate a country’s research performance. Additionally, this investigation featuring the overall structure of Portuguese TLHM research provides clear outlines to concerned bodies regarding researcher and institution performance and gives helpful and timely information to researchers, scholars, government managers, industry managers, and tourism and hospitality consultants.

The restaurant industry contributed to the creation of wealth and employment until the end of 2019, when it reached maximum values. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, this sector suffered a very serious economic and employment crisis. The analysis of this situation is imperative to mitigate the consequences for the restaurant industry and to prevent impacts in future crises. The main purpose of the present study is to compare the years 2019 and 2020, analyzing the profitability, payroll costs, headcount, and indebtedness of the restaurants, to verify the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact in Spain and Portugal. Quantitative research was applied, where a descriptive analysis and hypothesis testing were conducted. SABI database was the secondary data source used in this research. The results show that the COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on profitability, efficiency, and indebtedness in the restaurant industry, being a generalized situation in both countries, in all regions except for Ceuta. The results also confirm the importance of this study for managers and academics since all the variables under study worsened with the COVID-19 pandemic. This study represents a contribution to managers and stakeholders in the restaurant sector by allowing the comparative evaluation of each restaurant with the average of the variables by location and the definition of proactive strategies. Practical implications are proposed to mitigate the effect not only of COVID-19 but also of other pandemics or economic crises that may arise in the future, preparing managers and stakeholders to adapt to change and promoting the financial sustainability of the restaurant industry. It is recommended to increase the disclosure of statistical indicators and financial ratios of free access, which allows the improvement of the analysis of different variables that are important for professionals in the restaurant industry.