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Geography of Tourism

Home / Oferta Formativa / Coimbra Education School / Bachelor / Bachelor in Tourism

Base Knowledge

N/A

Teaching Methodologies

The contents to be taught will be implemented using theoretical and theoretical-practical classes, in order to stimulate the debate, the research of themes and problems in the geographic scope. Whenever important, case studies related to the syllabus will be analyzed, as well as the visualization of themed videos/ documentaries about aspects of global geography and the tourism activity in general.
Assessment is divided into two models: continuous assessment and final assessment. Regarding continuous assessment, there are one individual written test (60%) and the development of group or individual tasks in classes (40%). Final assessment results from the mark of a written test (100%).

Learning Results

– Understanding Geography as an increasingly important science in the world, where the inter-regional and inter-continental communication take a predominant place;
– Raising awareness of the need for developing skills that allow students to be able to state and contrast the different elements in the different places worldwide;
– Analysing the tourism world regions and characterize the tourist flows;
– Reflecting on the general system of local/regional/national tourist resources;
– Analysing the system of interrelations between Geography and Tourism since the geographic space determines the tourist space and its components;
– Revealing the different characteristics of the tourism phenomenon in various scales, such as the regional, the national and the continental;

Program

1. Basic concepts on the Geography of Tourism
1.1 Geography and Tourism
1.2 The future geographies of travel and tourism
2. Tourism flows as spatial interaction
2.1 The spatial distribution of the global tourism activity
2.2 Trends in global tourist flows and prospects for development
3. Tourism in Portugal
3.1 Spatial distribution of tourism in Portugal
3.2 Evolution of supply and demand distribution
4. The importance of Natural Factors in tourist location
4.1 Classification of world climate zones
4.2 The main climate elements and its influence on tourist activity
4.3 The impact of climate change on world tourism geography

Curricular Unit Teachers

Mariana Sousa e Silva Cabral de Carvalho

Grading Methods

Continuous Assessment

Individual and/or Group Work in classes - 40.0%

Written test - 60%

 

Final Exam

Exam - 100%


    Internship(s)

    NAO

    Bibliography

    BONIFACE, C., & COOPER, C. (2024). World Wide Destinations – The Geography of Travel and Tourism (9th ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann.
    INE – Instituto Nacional de Estatística (2026). Estatísticas do Turismo 2025. Instituto Nacional de Estatística, I.P Lisboa.
    HALL, C. M., & PAGE, S. J. (2002). The geography of tourism and recreation: environment, place and space (2nd ed.). Routledge.
    NELSON, V. (2017). An Introduction to the Geography of Tourism. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
    PAGE, S. (2015). Tourism management (5th ed.). Butterworth-Heinemann.
    SCOTT, D., & LEMIEUX, C. (2009). Weather and Climate Information for Tourism. UNWTO&WMO.
    UNWTO (2025). International Tourism Highlights – 2025 Edition. UN Tourism, Madrid.
    WILLIAMS, S., & LEW, A. (2015). Tourism Geography – Critical understandings of place, space and experience. Routledge.
    WILSON, J., & MÜLLER, K. (2025). The Routledge Handbook of Tourism Geographies (2nd ed.). Routledge.