Técnicos de Desporto de Natureza: Contributos para o Entendimento das Problemáticas do Setor

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to present the sociodemographic and professional profile of nature sports technicians who work in the Region of Coimbra, to identify the main problems of the sector and the profession felt by these technicians, and to present strategic recommendations for the improvement of the setor. For this, a case study was developed, whose data collection was carried out through the application of 30 semi-structured interviews to a sample of technicians who collaborated with touristic animation companies based in the Region of Coimbra, complemented with six months of participant observation in one of these companies of the referred region. The interviewed technicians are young, single, male individuals, with high academic qualifications, who collaborate in part-time in the companies with which they collaborate, with low remuneration resulting from the performance of the various functions they perform (technical, logistical, secretarial, and management), therefore working on other professional activities throughout the year. When analyzing the main problems identified in this study, the creation of an association of sports technicians of nature and tourist entertainment, the introduction of a training scheme, the production of legislation related to the regulation of access to the profession, and the implementation of a system for monitoring and evaluating the competence and performance of technicians are suggested.