Adventure Sport Tourism in Rural Revitalisation—An Ethnographic Evaluation

The use and value of adventure sport tourism for revitalisation of rural economies has been widely debated. This study employs ethnographic methods to explore the opportunities and disappointments associated with a Portuguese rural community's use of paragliding in its mix of tourist attractions. Although the case has been popularly identified as a successful application of adventure sport tourism for rural revitalisation, findings indicate that paragliding has only a small impact on the community because paragliders prefer to socialise with one another, and often shop and eat outside the community. Nevertheless, paragliders seek activities to complement their stay, and would like to bring their families. The absence of strategic market planning contributes to the community's failure to capture a larger spend from paragliders, or to generate tourism revenue from accompanying markets. Ageing of the local population, a conservative social climate, and tourism planning that is exogenously driven underpin development and marketing deficits. Findings are consistent with other research in rural development and sport tourism, suggesting that participative planning focused on integrating and leveraging a rural community's assets will be necessary to optimise the role that sport plays in revitalisation.