Coimbra as a literary tourism destination: landscapes of literature

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the relevance of developing literary tourism in Coimbra.

Design/methodology/approach

This exploratory qualitative research identifies existent resources and development potential of literary tourism. The instruments of data collection were bibliographic research, questionnaires, interviews and participant observation.

Findings

There are few literary tourism products in Coimbra, which contrasts with the number of literary places identified, namely, on the left bank of the River Mondego. Tourism development stakeholders in Coimbra have not paid enough attention to the emergence of literary tourism and the opportunities for the development of new sustainable cultural products related with it.

Research limitations/implications

This study is limited by the size and continual renewal of the corpus, which implies a constant updating of data regarding authors and texts.

Practical implications

This study will lead to the production of a database of Coimbra’s literary resources and a digital literary map, allowing any citizen or entity to design and implement literary tourism products.

Originality/value

To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the first study reviewing the potential of Coimbra as a literary tourism destination. Moreover, it discusses literary heritage as a source of products and experiences to foster more balanced tourist flows throughout the city.

Citation

Quinteiro, S., Carreira, V. and Rodrigues Gonçalves, A. (2020), "Coimbra as a literary tourism destination: landscapes of literature", International Journal of Culture, Tourism and Hospitality Research, Vol. 14 No. 3, pp. 361-372. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCTHR-10-2019-0176