The Contribution of Tourist Events to Local Development: A Case Study

Abstract

Territorial marketing is a fundamental tool for territorial management and strategic planning in order to promote and highlight a territory, place, or city. It is a fact that a city marketing policy is able to promote and transform an image, boost economic activity, and enhance all aspects of the city that present competitive advantage over other territories, so this is why associate marketing with cities makes sense. This study aims a better understanding of the city’s marketing management. Nowadays, it is imperative to define and to develop a territorial strategy plan, whose accomplishment leads to the responsible development of the territory in question, creating more opportunities and attracting the target audience. In 24this research is made a literature review, using scientific articles, centered on the concepts of tourism, event management, and territorial marketing. It is also presented a particular case of the city of Braga: the event “Braga Romana,” considered as a case study. In order to understand and comprehend the importance of territorial marketing in promoting this event, an analysis of the results obtained through a qualitative approach is made. Three semi-structured interviews were conducted in a focus group of nine participants. As a conclusion of this project, we made an evaluation of the strategies already used, also pointing out alternative solutions to be implemented, which will contribute to the development, enhancement and prominence of “Braga Romana” event.