Abstract:

An event can exist at a particular time and place, prepared and developed specifically with a certain purpose and for a target audience. According to the purpose and other factors, one can categorize events in a multitude of classifications (Gentz, 2009). In this sense, this paper will focus on food and wine touristic events.When there is a touristic event there is the potentiality to attract new people to a region and, as such, attract new money, enhancing not only the economic activity of the region, but also its visibility, its image, and allow diffusion of local culture (Almeida e Araújo, 2017). Coutinho and Coutinho (2007) specify that the fact that an event moves people, creating jobs and increasing the revenues for a country or a region, can also develop the destinies notoriety and increase the demand in low seasons.This potential economic enhancement and cultural visibility is increasingly appealing for local and regional public and private entities as part of the economic and promotional development strategy of the region (Allen, O’Toole, Harris, & McDonnell, 2010).As such, it is relevant to understand the annual Vinho e Sabor Douro, a wine and taste festival, that happens in Torre de Moncorvo, regarding its impact to local individuals, how it promotes local culture and products and to determine the economic impact of the event.To do so, a survey was conducted in order to estimate the behaviour of exhibitors and visitors of the event. With the data collected it was possible to determine the importance of this event regarding exhibitors revenues, preferred products for visitors to buy and take with them, and also, how much the visitors spent, which allowed to estimate the economic impact of the event for the region.