Chapter 7: The Impact of River Tourism on the Development of the Demarcated Regions in Specific (Post-pandemic Crisis) Contexts: The Case of Cruise Ships

One of the fastest-growing segments of the tourism industry in recent years has been cruise tourism. By boarding a cruise ship, river or sea, it is possible to explore various tourist destinations without changing accommodation or means of transport. By encompassing virtually all the customer's facilities, this type of tourism is becoming increasingly popular around the world (Macleod & Selwyn, 2002). With the opening of the Douro River's navigability in its entire length in the 1990s, this type of tourism has grown in Portugal, with the Douro river being increasingly used by curious tourists from all over the world. Thus, the choice of the problem addressed in this chapter arose from the meager existence of studies carried out so far. However, COVID-19 triggered an unprecedented global health and economic crisis with severe, and potentially structural, consequences for the cruise world (Papachristou, Pallis, & Vaggelas, 2020). According to Farzanegan, Gholipour, Feizi, Nunkoo, and Andargoli (2021), key cruise industry players such as Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian have witnessed a rapid rise in COVID-19 cases among passengers and crew members. This study's main objective is to understand the impact of river tourism, particularly cruise ships, on the (post-pandemic crisis) development of the Alto Douro Wine Region. For this theme's development, we chose to use a qualitative methodology, conducting four semi-structured interviews with participants directly or indirectly linked to the Douro River's cruise ship industry.