Municipality of Peniche
Sustainable Destinations Consultant
(May 2017 - April 2018)
The Wave Capital of Portugal
The Municipality of Peniche has embraced the global surfing community while becoming one of the premier locations on the World Surf League’s Championship Tour. With the region’s adoption of surf culture and rapid growth in surf-related businesses, Peniche’s tourism demand has exploded over the past decade. The city’s political leaders, businesses, and residents are concerned about the future of Peniche and needed a plan to develop tourism sustainably. A plan that not only encompasses world-class surf breaks and ocean sports, but also unique biodiversity and geological anomalies as well as rich cultural heritage assets such as the bobbin lace traditions, fishing cooperatives, sacred religious sites, and political revolution museum.
Driven by Mayor António José Correia and supported by faculty and researchers from the Instituto Politecnico Leiria, STOKE was commissioned to create a comprehensive benchmark of the region’s sustainability performance before developing a sustainable destination plan for the municipality.
Conducted a benchmark analysis and report of each destination against the STOKE Surf Destinations standard, which is based on the Global Sustainable Tourism Council’s destination criteria.
Created short-, medium-, and long-term sustainable destination strategies for the Municipality of Peniche. Authored and designed in InDesign a 50+ page report outlining the implementation plans, case studies, opportunities, risks, and project partners for each of the 28 strategies.
Wrote the proposal, secured the international government contract, managed the budget, and led a team of five through one extensive on-site visit and three deliverables. Coordinated travel, accommodations, stakeholder interviews, and tourism experiences.
Collaborated with over 30 local, regional, and national public and private stakeholders to evaluate each destination’s tourism inventory, community development needs, basic infrastructure services, cultural heritage assets, surf resources, and environmental conservation initiatives. Facilitated in-country and remote interviews and surveys.
Agencies involved: Câmara Municipal de Peniche, Instituto Politecnico Leiria, Turismo de Portugal, Turismo do Centro, Berlengas Biosphere Reserve (UNESCO), Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e das Florestas, Peniche Port Authority, and Cooperativa da Pesca Geral do Centro.
“Known as the Wave Capital of Portugal and home to a World Surf League Championship Tour event, Peniche has a great responsibility to grow sustainably and retain its heritage. STOKE provided us with an objective evaluation of our tourism industry and created a comprehensive and innovative plan to secure a sustainable future for Peniche as a major international surfing destination. We are proud to be the first surf destination in the world to take this important step toward sustainability.”
— António José Correia, Former Mayor of Peniche
