Cultural Tourism: Portuguese Literary heritage of the stick game providing new touristic experiences

Abstract

Literary Tourism, still in an embryonic phase, is timidly beginning its development in Portugal. It appears, as you will see, as an aspect of Cultural Tourism, where it differentiates itself by being an alternative to mass tourism. This tourist typology is associated with landscapes, but also with material and immaterial heritage, allowing the tourist reader to experience tourist destinations through new perspectives. In this study, central concepts related to literary tourism and how authors mark cities, towns and villages are addressed in an unparalleled way. Methodologically, the necessary bibliographical references were prepared, followed by a data analysis on what has been done in Portugal to implement literary tourism. Finally, and through specific research and bibliographical-documentary review focused on the Portuguese literary production that best portrays the tradition of “Jogo do Pau”, which in December 2023 obtained, through the designation of “Jogo do Pau de Cabeceiras de Basto”, the classification of Intangible Heritage of Portugal, it was possible to compile a significant Literary Corpus, consisting of 4 authors and 4 novels, whose description is developed, demonstrating how much literature and this mastery are interconnected with places and traditions, contributing to the dissemination of this traditional game and new tourist experiences.