Technological entrepreneurship applied to Green Spaces and Ecotourism

Ana Cardoso, Bruno Sousa, Ana Cunha

Abstract


Purpose: This study aims to present a development project using technological tools that promote guided visits to green spaces, expanding users’ knowledge over different dimensions, from botanical to cultural. These tools mainly promote interaction and may have an impact in ecotourism.

Design/methodology/approach: In order to develop this project there were designed the technologic tools contents, selected places able to provide those contents, performed market studies with inquiries for potential users and clients and conducted a product development analysis.

Findings: In the development of the project there have been established many conclusions, mainly related to distinguishing clients from users, assessing general care for greens spaces and creating appealing tools containing features that interest people.

Originality/value: The most valued distinctive characteristic is exactly the ambition of designing tools that interact with the users. In this way, these technologies go beyond the compiling of data for scientific knowledge, creating interactivity through their features such as routings.

 

Keywords: plants; biodiversity; environment; ecotourism; sustainability; entrepreneurship.


Full Text:

PDF

References


Algert, S. J., Baameur, A., & Renvall, M. J. (2014). Vegetable Output and Cost Savings of Community Gardens in San Jose, California. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 114(7), 2212-2672.

Almeida, J. D. & Freitas, H. (2012). Exotic flora of continental Portugal – a new assessment. Bocconea, 24, 231-237.

Brett Molina (2016, July 13). Report: 'Pokémon Go' downloads top 15 million. USA Today. Retrieved from http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/gaming/2016/07/13/report-pokemon-go-downloads-top-15-million/87022202/.

Butler, R.W. (1980). The concept of a tourist area cycle of evolution: Implications for management of resource. Canadian Geographer, 24(1), 5-12.

Câmara Municipal de Vila Nova de Gaia (2015). Relatório do Orçamento de 2015. http://www.cm-gaia.pt/pt/.

Câmara Municipal de Vila Nova de Gaia (2016). Orçamento e Opções do Plano 2016. http://www.cm-gaia.pt/pt/.

Câmara Municipal do Porto (2015). Relatório do Orçamento de 2015. http://www.cm-porto.pt/.

Câmara Municipal do Porto (2016). Relatório do Orçamento de 2016. http://www.cm-porto.pt/.

Cameron, R. W. F., Blanusa, T., Taylor, J. E., Salisbury, A., Halstead, A. J., Henricot, B., & Thompson, K. (2012). The domestic garden – Its contribution to urban green infrastructure. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 11, 129-137.

Costa, C., Carvalho, I., & Breda, Z. (2011). Gender inequalities in tourism employment: The Portuguese case. Revista Turismo & Desenvolvimento, 15, 37–52.

Daniel, T. C., Muhar, A., Arnberger, A., Aznar, O., Boyd, J. W., Chan, K. M. A., Costanza, R., Elmqvist, T., Flint, C. G., Gobster, P. H., Grêt-Regamey, A., Lave, R., Muhar, S., Penker, M., Ribe, R. G., Schauppenlehner, T., Sikor, T., Soloviy, I., Spierenburg, M., Taczanowska, K., Tam, J., & von der Dunk, A. (2012). Contributions of cultural services to the ecosystem services agenda. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 109(23), 8812–8819.

European Environment Agency (2015). Air quality in Europe - 2015 report, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg.

Farhangmehr, M. & Simões, C. (1999). Factors Affecting Hotel Industry Development in Portugal. Journal of Hospitality Marketing & Management, 6(1), 23-46.

Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos (2015). Retrato de Portugal na Europa PORDATA, Reditus, Portugal. Retrieved from http://www.pordata.pt/.

Gursoy, D., & McCleary, K. W. (2004). An Integrative Model of Tourists’ Information Search Behavior. Annals of Tourism Research, 31, 353-373.

Hardy, A., Beeton, R. J. S., & Pearson, L. (2002). Sustainable Tourism: An Overview of the Concept and its Position in Relation to Conceptualisations of Tourism. Journal of Sustaibable Tourism, 10(6), 475-496.

Hassan, S. S. (2000). Determinants of Market Competitiveness in an Environmentally Sustainable Tourism Industry. Journal of Travel Research, 38, 239-245.

Hunter, C. (1995). Key concepts for tourism and the environment. In C. Hunter & H. Green (Eds.), Tourism and the Environment. A sustainable relationship? (pp. 52-92). London: Routledge.

Hunter, C. (1997). Sustainable tourism as an adaptive paradigm. Annals of tourism research, 24(4), 850-867.

Instituto Nacional de Estatística, I.P. (2015a). Statistical Yearbook of Norte Region 2014. Lisboa: Instituto Nacional de Estatística, I.P.

Instituto Nacional de Estatística, I.P. (2015b). Statistical Yearbook of Área

Metropolitana de Lisboa 2014. Lisboa: Instituto Nacional de Estatística, I.P.

Instituto Nacional de Estatística, I.P. (2016). Estatísticas do Turismo 2015. Lisboa: Instituto Nacional de Estatística, I.P.

James, P., Tzoulas, K., Adams, M. D., Barber, A., Box, J., Breuste, J., Elmqvist, T., Frith, M., Gordon, C., Greening, K. L., Handley, J., Haworth, S., Kazmierczak, A. E., Johnston, M., Korpela, K., Moretti, M., Niemelä, J., Pauleit, S., Roe, M. H., Sadler, J. P., & Ward Thompson, C. (2009). Towards an integrated understanding of green space in the European built environment. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 8, 65–75.

Jonker, M. F., van Lenthe, F. J., Donkers, B., Mackenbach, J. P., & Burdorf, A. (2014). The effect of urban green on small-area (healthy) life expectancy. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 68, 999-1002.

Maas, J., Verheij, R. A., de Vries, S., Spreeuwenberg, P., Schellevis, F. G., & Groenewegen, P. P. (2009). Morbidity is related to a green living environment. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 63(12), 967-973.

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005). Ecosystems and Human Well-being: A Framework for Assessment. http://millenniumassessment.org/en/index.html

Orams, M. (2005). Dolphins, whales and ecotourism in New Zealand: What are the impacts and how should the industry be managed? In C. M. Hall & S. Boyd (Eds.), Nature-based tourism in peripheral areas: Development or disaster? (pp. 231–245). United Kingdom: Channel View.

Pearce, D. (1991). Tourist Development. London: Longman Scientific & Technical.

Pietilä, M., Neuvonen, M., Borodulin, K., Korpela, K., Sievänen, T., & Tyrväinen, L. (2015). Relationships between exposure to urban green spaces, physical activity and self-rated health. Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, 10, 44-54.

Pinto, R. (2007). Hortas Urbanas: Espaços para o Desenvolvimento Sustentável de Braga (master thesis). Universidade do Minho – Escola de Engenharia, Braga.

Plantas invasoras em Portugal (2012). About. Retrieved from http://invasoras.pt/sobre/.

Polonsky, M. J. (1995). A stakeholder theory approach to designing environmental marketing strategy. Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, 10(3), 29–46.

Pordata (2015). Assinantes/equipamentos de utilizadores do serviço móvel. Retrieved from www.pordata.pt.

Pordata (2016a). Indivíduos com 16 e mais anos que utilizam computador e Internet em % do total de indivíduos: por grupo etário. Retrieved from www.pordata.pt.

Pordata (2016b). População Residente. Retrieved from www.pordata.pt.

Raji, B., Tenpierik, M. J., & van den Dobbelsteen A. (2015). The impact of greening systems on building energy performance: A literature review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 45, 610-623.

Stankey, G. (1973). Visitor Perception Wilderness Recreation Carrying Capacity (vol.142). Utah: USDA Forest Service.

Thompson, C. W., Roe, J., Aspinall, P., Mitchell, R., Clow, A., & Miller, D. (2012). More green space is linked to less stress in deprived communities: Evidence from salivary cortisol patterns. Landscape and Urban Planning, 105, 221-229.

Tosun, C. (2001). Challenges of sustainable tourism development in the developing world: the case of Turkey. Tourism Management, 22, 289-303.

van den Berg, A. E., Maas, J., Verheij, R. A., & Groenewegen, P. P. (2010). Green space as a buffer between stressful life events and health. Social Science & Medicine, 70, 1203-1210.

Wolch, J. R., Byrne, J., & Newell, J. P. (2014). Urban green space, public health, and environmental justice: The challenge of making cities ‘just green enough. Landscape and Urban Planning, 125, 234-244.




Copyright (c) 2017 European Journal of Applied Business and Management

 

European Journal of Applied Business and Management

ISSN: 2183-5594

DOI: https://doi.org/10.58869/EJABM

Indexing:

EBSCO | CROSSREF | GOOGLE SCHOLAR | LATINDEX | DRJI | ICI JOURNALS MASTER | REDIB | MIAR