The cultural resources' role in the field of future rural tourist supply for Madeira's country homes

Abstract

The article intends to assess the impact of the cultural resources as a fundamental tourist attraction for Madeira Island's country homes in the future rural tourism supply. Madeira is a tourist destination with ancient tradi- tion. Nowadays, the island's tourist supply is well-known worldwide, essen- tially for its natural resources, safety and natives' hospitality. Rural tourism is very recent on the island, it began in the late 20th century. Since its beginning, there hasn't really been a specific promotion for rural tourism, and country homes owners have been disseminating their ventures within general guide- lines for Madeira's tourist promotion, without considering the heterogeneity of their visitors or even the segment in which this type of tourism is inserted in. Based on inquiries launched to the country homes' visitors in Madeira and also on interviews conducted to the establishments' owners, we will present in this article this visitor's profile, non-existent to date, with special focus on the tourist's motivations and data that can give us a better understanding of the heterogeneity of this particular tourist segment and the importance of the cultural resources as a tourist attraction on future decisions regarding the promotion of rural tourism in Madeira.