The protection of natural spaces is a practice that is widely used by governments or nongovernmental organizations seeking to preserve the scenic beauty of landscapes and their natural resources in spaces that stand out for their natural and cultural value and have not been heavily impacted by human activity. Proper tourism management of these spaces can promote the economic, social, and environmental development of a territory and its local communities. The objective of this paper is to examine the role of resources in the performance of protected area tourism destinations from a sustainability perspective. The information provided by the managers of 102 protected spaces in Spain (national parks, nature parks, and biosphere reserves) is analyzed. The results provide relevant information about managing resources to strengthen the sustainable performance of these spaces. The findings indicate that different types of resources affect different dimensions of sustainable performance; for instance, natural resources affect the local quality of life and the area’s sustainability, certain created resources can unite and foster local communities and support environmental sustainability, and some supporting resources can attract tourists.

Neste trabalho indagamos sobre possíveis diferenças no comportamento empreendedor em turismo rural; estabelecemos características e dimensões motivadoras em função do gênero. Num exemplo representativo de estabelecimentos de turismo rural da Comunidade Autônoma da Galiza (Espanha), encontramos relação entre gênero e importância da compatibilização de atividades agrárias e tumrísticas, e entre gênero e perfil das motivações para empreender atividades de turismo rural. As mulheres estão mais motivadas por elementos do âmbito econômico e, portanto, na tomada de decisões, têm mais relevância os critérios de racionalidade econômica unidos à estratégia de diversificação da atividade agrária em favor da sobrevivência financeira. Ao contrário do estabelecido na maior parte da literatura, os fatores de índole social, familiar ou institucional têm a mesma importância para homens e mulheres. Aliás, verificase a ausência de relação entre gênero e características pessoais (como idade e formação e necessidades financeiras do empreendedor).

The models for the analysis of tourist destination competitiveness present in theory various factors that directly or indirectly affect competitiveness. The most prominent among these factors are a wide range of elements that can be integrated into the resource construct. In addition, the scientific literature on destination competitiveness establishes that the characteristics of the destination justify the consideration of one or several types of resources as well as their prevalence and importance. The objective of this paper is to identify which must be the type of resources and resource indicators to consider in a competitiveness model applicable to a tourist destination with its own particular characteristics such as the protected natural areas (PNA). To do this, we will review the different conceptual models of destination competitiveness in order to analyze, synthesize and evaluate the diversity of resources and indicators referred to in those models