Lara Marisa Gonçalves dos Santos

@ipca.pt

Escola Superior de Hotelaria e Turismo
Instituto Politécnico do Cávado e do Ave

Lara Marisa Gonçalves dos Santos


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https://researchid.co/larasantos

RESEARCH INTERESTS

Marketing
Strategy
Tourism
19

Scopus Publications

72

Scholar Citations

5

Scholar h-index

3

Scholar i10-index

Scopus Publications

  • Mixed Reality and Its Content Developed to Enhance the Tourist Experience
    Ivan Oliveira Gonçalves, Lara Marisa Santos, Bruno Barbosa Sousa, José Duarte Santos
    Tourism and Hospitality, 2026
    The growing integration of immersive technologies in the tourism sector raises questions about their real impact on the visitor experience. This study investigates whether mixed reality effectively influences the tourism experience, seeking to understand the mechanisms through which tourism content and emerging technologies shape tourists’ perceptions. A quantitative approach was adopted through the application of a questionnaire. The data were analyzed using the PLS-SEM (Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling) method, allowing us to test direct and indirect relationships between the constructs Tourism Content, Adoption of Mixed Reality, and Tourist Experience. The analysis revealed positive and statistically significant direct effects. Tourism content strongly influences the adoption of mixed reality (β = 0.725; p < 0.001). Moderate impacts of the adoption of mixed reality (β = 0.375; p < 0.001) and tourism content (β = 0.392; p = 0.001) on the tourist experience were found. The indirect effect mediated by the adoption of mixed reality proved to be significant (β = 0.272; p = 0.001), with a VAF (Variance Accounted For) of 41%. Mixed reality plays a complementary partial mediating role in the relationship between tourism content and visitor experience, confirming its relevance in the contemporary tourism experience.
  • The Dark Side of Technology When Addressing Overtourism: A Critical Overview
    Marco Martins, Ricardo Jorge da Costa Guerra, Lara Santos, Luísa Lopes, Ana Rita Conde
    Springerbriefs in Architectural Design and Technology, 2026
  • DIGITAL MARKETING IN HEALTH AND WELLNESS TOURISM
    Digital Marketing Advanced in Tourism Theoretical Bases and Applications, 2026
  • Virtual tourism and the virtual tourist experience: Implications for destination marketing
    Marco Martins, Ricardo Jorge da Costa Guerra, Lara Santos, Luisa Lopes, Ana Rita Conde
    Intersections of Niche Tourism and Marketing, 2025
    Destination marketing organisations, due to the constant increase of competition, are implementing innovative methods of attracting demand, and technologies are now paramount for destinations. Among the technological advances provided by destinations are the virtual reality tours, which can be enjoyed by users by a variety of reasons, but all impacting destinations' tourism development. One debates how the tourist experience can be improved through the use of virtual reality as a destination marketing tool, drawing upon experiential marketing conceptualisations. With that intent, a semi-systematic literature review was conducted, allowing us to introduce rigour and objectivity into the analysis and discussion. However, conducting an exploratory study also have its disadvantages, as it is an interpretive exercise and therefore, heavily dependent on the researcher's own perspective. We provide a new framework, that addresses the interrelationship between virtual reality, virtual reality experiences and destination marketing. At the end, possible future research avenues are outlined.
  • Misalignment in Consumption Practices in Hiking Tourism: A Qualitative Study in Northern Portugal
    Ronan Quintão, Luisa Lopes, Lara Santos, Salete Esteves
    Smart Innovation Systems and Technologies, 2025
  • Enhancing Green Capability in the Hospitality Sector Through Nudging: A Conceptual Framework
    Marco Martins, Ricardo Jorge da Costa Guerra, Lara Santos, Luísa Lopes, Ana Rita Conde
    Tourism Hospitality and Event Management, 2025
  • Community-Based Sustainable Tourism Development and Green Marketing
    Marco Martins, Ricardo Jorge da Costa Guerra, Lara Santos, Luísa Lopes, Ana Rita Conde
    Greener Future Building Sustainable Tourism Communities, 2025
  • Dark Tourism Management and Development: An Exploratory Analysis
    Marco Martins, Ricardo Jorge da Costa Guerra, Lara Santos, Luísa Lopes, Ana Rita Conde
    Emerald Handbook of International Dark Tourism, 2025
    A review of recent relevant literature related to dark tourism from a management perspective indicates that there is an increasing academic interest in “dark tourism consumption,” “dark tourism motivation” and “dark tourism experience.” Thus, our goal is threefold: to delve into the research development on these three constructs, to critically analyze the current research, and bring to light research gaps and interrogations that deserve further consideration. This allows for detailed present implications besides indicating possible future developments that can or will impact dark tourism management and development. Due to the multidimensional nature of the approached constructs, we conducted an exploratory study because it gives researchers the ability to synthesize multiple points of view and harness unique perspectives while still allowing us to introduce rigor and objectivity into the analysis and discussion. This chapter contributes to a deeper understanding of dark tourism management and development by providing a novel conceptual framework. Nevertheless, some constraints exist when one seeks to carry out an exploratory study because when plunging into new realities, it is only possible to formulate hypotheses. The results, however, represent a theoretical advance for dark tourism studies and provide valuable insights into how it can be better managed and developed.
  • Film-Induced Tourism and Promotion of Tourist Destinations: An Exploratory Approach
    Bruno Barbosa Sousa, João Abreu, Lara Marisa Santos, Vítor Silva, Ana Paula Figueira
    Cases on Effective Destination Management, 2025
    The film tourism business incorporates a series of activities. The development of destination marketing campaigns to promote films, while, increasingly, common initiatives between DMOs and filmmakers to promote films and tourist destinations. In several situations, a film or a documentary can prove to be a crucial element of communica-tion and dissemination of a country, a city or a territory. These cinematographic imag-es can influence consumers' decisions regarding their motivations to visit the places where the films were recorded. Tourism and cinema may represent a common element in favour of regional development and community feeling (e.g. a film about the histo-ry or culture of a population). The present study, in an exploratory approach, intends to understand the phenomenon and the importance of film tourism as a preponderant element in the management of territories (i.e. tourist destinations). Therefore, semi-structured interviews were carried out to define the object of study. Future studies, through a quantitative approach, should allow a greater generalization of results.
  • Slow food tourism: Exploring consumer motivational dimensions
    Marco Martins, Ricardo Jorge da Costa Guerra, Lara Santos, Luisa Lopes, Ana Rita Conde
    Global Sustainable Practices in Gastronomic Tourism, 2024
    In this chapter one examines the literature on the travel motivations and activities undertaken by slow food tourists to understand what kind of activities they become involved in while at the receptive destination. Thus, there is a need for slow food tourism research to move beyond studies of motivation to travel in way to better understand the factors that influence tourists' choices regarding food-related activities in the destination. Consequently, one decided to develop an exploratory study with the intention of expanding the discussion on the subject and to bring new insights into the meaning of slow food tourism suggesting new interpretations based on motivational dimensions. Results point out the need for further research on how the tourism supply sector can better market slow food tourism. Thus, it is our belief that this study allows us to contribute to tourism research and practice in several meaningful ways.
  • An Exploratory Study to Understand Nonprofit Organizations’ Crisis Leadership Competencies: A Portuguese Analysis on COVID-19
    Salete Esteves, Lara Santos, Luisa Lopes
    Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 2024
  • The exploration of the metaverse by destination management organisations towards sustainability
    Marco Martins, Ricardo Jorge Costa Guerra, Lara Santos, Luísa Lopes
    Impact of Industry 4 0 on Sustainable Tourism Perspectives Challenges and Future, 2023
  • Marketing sustainable events for children
    Marco Martins, Ricardo Jorge da Costa Guerra, Lara Santos, Luísa Lopes
    Events Management for the Infant and Youth Market, 2023
  • Motivations for Visiting Peri-urban Natural Areas
    Luisa Lopes, Lara Santos, Salete Esteves
    Iberian Conference on Information Systems and Technologies Cisti, 2023
  • Visitors to Vale do Tua Regional Natural Park in Northeast Portugal: A Cluster Segmentation Analysis
    Luisa Lopes, Salete Esteves, Lara Santos
    Smart Innovation Systems and Technologies, 2023
  • Crisis Management and Planning in Portuguese Nonprofit Organizations During the COVID-19 Pandemic
    Lara Santos, Luisa Lopes, Salete Esteves
    Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics, 2023
  • Market Segmentation and Relationship Management of Fashion Tourism: An Exploratory Perspective
    Bruno Sousa, Annaelise Machado, Márcia Gonçalves, Lara Santos, André Catarino
    Smart Innovation Systems and Technologies, 2023
  • Transformational marketing and transformational travel
    Marco Martins, Lara Santos
    Journal of Tourism Futures, 2022
  • Tourism Development Policy and the Use of Scenario Analysis: A synthesis model
    Marco Martins, Ricardo Jorge da Costa Guerra, Lara Santos, and
    Pasos Revista De Turismo Y Patrimonio Cultural, 2022

RECENT SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS

  • Generative AI and its application by Destination Marketing Organizations: enhancing tourist experiences
    M Martins, RJC Guerra, L Santos, L Lopes, AR Conde
    A Research Agenda for Using Generative AI in Tourism and Hospitality, 10-23 , 2026
    2026
  • The dark side of technology when addressing overtourism: A critical overview
    M Martins, RJC Guerra, L Santos, L Lopes, AR Conde
    Architectural vision of overtourism, 91-102 , 2026
    2026
    Citations: 1
  • Digital Marketing in Health and Wellness Tourism
    M Martins, R Jorge da Costa Guerra, L Santos, L Lopes, AR Conde
    2026
  • Social Media Intelligence and Wildlife Crime: A Bibliometric Analysis from Web of Science
    L Santos, L Lopes, M Correia
    International Journal of Marketing, Communication and New Media 13 (25) , 2026
    2026
  • Mixed Reality and Its Content Developed to Enhance the Tourist Experience
    IO Gonçalves, LM Santos, BB Sousa, JD Santos
    Tourism and Hospitality 7 (1), 16 , 2026
    2026
  • The Tourist Experience and the Use of Virtual Reality in Destination Marketing
    M Martins, RJ da Costa Guerra, L Santos, L Lopes, AR Conde
    Smart Tourism and Destination Marketing, 197-214 , 2026
    2026
  • Dark Tourism Management and Development: An Exploratory Analysis
    M Martins, RJ Costa Guerra, L Santos, L Lopes, AR Conde
    2025
  • Enhancing Green Capability in the Hospitality Sector Through Nudging: A Conceptual Framework
    M Martins, RJ da Costa Guerra, L Santos, L Lopes, AR Conde
    Tourism and Climate Change: Research on Global Challenges and Opportunities … , 2025
    2025
  • Misalignment in Consumption Practices in Hiking Tourism: A Qualitative Study
    R Quintão, L Lopes, L Santos, S Esteves
    Advances in Tourism, Technology and Systems: Selected Papers from ICOTTS … , 2025
    2025
  • Community-Based Sustainable Tourism Development and Green Marketing
    M Martins, R Jorge da Costa Guerra, L Santos, L Lopes, AR Conde
    2025
  • Social media intelligence and wildlife crime: A quantitative analysis.
    L Santos, L Lopes, M Correia
    2025
  • Film-induced tourism and promotion of tourist destinations: an exploratory approach
    BB Sousa, J Abreu, LM Santos, V Silva, AP Figueira
    Cases on effective destination management, 125-140 , 2025
    2025
  • Sustainable tourism in protected areas: Perceptions of residents and local communities of Tua Valley Regional Natural Park
    L Lopes, S Esteves, L Santos
    Universidade Técnica do Atlântico (UTA) , 2025
    2025
  • Pedestrianismo e turismo no Vale do Tua: Estudo exploratório sobre atributos, motivações e satisfação
    S Esteves, L Lopes, R Quintão, L Santos
    Universidade Técnica do Atlântico (UTA) , 2025
    2025
  • Virtual tourism and the virtual tourist experience: Implications for destination marketing
    M Martins, RJ da Costa Guerra, L Santos, L Lopes, AR Conde
    Intersections of Niche Tourism and Marketing, 245-268 , 2025
    2025
    Citations: 1
  • Slow food tourism: Exploring consumer motivational dimensions
    M Martins, RJ da Costa Guerra, L Santos, L Lopes, AR Conde
    Global Sustainable Practices in Gastronomic Tourism, 477-498 , 2025
    2025
    Citations: 1
  • Misalignment in Consumption Practices in Hiking Tourism: A Qualitative Study in Northern Portugal
    R Quintão, L Lopes, L Santos, S Esteves
    International Conference on Tourism, Technology and Systems, 487-497 , 2024
    2024
  • An exploratory study to understand nonprofit organizations’ crisis leadership competencies: a portuguese analysis on COVID-19
    S Esteves, L Santos, L Lopes
    Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal 36 (2), 129-145 , 2024
    2024
    Citations: 12
  • Perceções e motivações dos participantes na II edição do Tua Walking Festival
    L Lopes, L Santos, R Quintão, S Esteves
    Instituto Politécnico de Bragança , 2024
    2024
  • Aiming towards green capability in the hospitality sector using nudge strategies
    M Martins, R Guerra, L Santos, L Lopes
    The image and sustainability of tourism destinations, 254-265 , 2024
    2024
    Citations: 4

MOST CITED SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS

  • Transformational marketing and transformational travel
    M Martins, L Santos
    Journal of Tourism Futures 8 (3), 397-401 , 2022
    2022
    Citations: 16
  • An exploratory study to understand nonprofit organizations’ crisis leadership competencies: a portuguese analysis on COVID-19
    S Esteves, L Santos, L Lopes
    Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal 36 (2), 129-145 , 2024
    2024
    Citations: 12
  • The exploration of the metaverse by destination management organisations towards sustainability
    M Martins, RJ Costa Guerra, L Santos, L Lopes
    2023
    Citations: 12
  • Market segmentation and relationship management of fashion tourism: an exploratory perspective
    B Sousa, A Machado, M Gonçalves, L Santos, A Catarino
    Advances in Tourism, Technology and Systems: Selected Papers from ICOTTS … , 2023
    2023
    Citations: 8
  • The level of preparedness and response of nonprofit organizations in a pandemic crisis: an exploratory qualitative research
    L Santos, L Lopes
    Journal of Administrative Sciences and Technology, 1-11 , 2021
    2021
    Citations: 7
  • Aiming towards green capability in the hospitality sector using nudge strategies
    M Martins, R Guerra, L Santos, L Lopes
    The image and sustainability of tourism destinations, 254-265 , 2024
    2024
    Citations: 4
  • Empreendedorismo social e desempenho organizacional: um estudo aplicado às organizações sem fins lucrativos
    IM Macedo
    2009
    Citations: 3
  • Rethinking Tourism Planning and Development in a Post COVID-19 World
    M Martins, R Guerra, L Santos
    Reviving tourism, in the post-pandemic era, 144 , 2022
    2022
    Citations: 2
  • O Impacto Do Capital Empreendedor No Desempenho Organizacional: o Caso Das indústrias Criativas Na região Norte De Portugal
    LMG Santos
    PQDT-Global , 2019
    2019
    Citations: 2
  • The dark side of technology when addressing overtourism: A critical overview
    M Martins, RJC Guerra, L Santos, L Lopes, AR Conde
    Architectural vision of overtourism, 91-102 , 2026
    2026
    Citations: 1
  • Virtual tourism and the virtual tourist experience: Implications for destination marketing
    M Martins, RJ da Costa Guerra, L Santos, L Lopes, AR Conde
    Intersections of Niche Tourism and Marketing, 245-268 , 2025
    2025
    Citations: 1
  • Slow food tourism: Exploring consumer motivational dimensions
    M Martins, RJ da Costa Guerra, L Santos, L Lopes, AR Conde
    Global Sustainable Practices in Gastronomic Tourism, 477-498 , 2025
    2025
    Citations: 1
  • Marketing sustainable events for children
    M Martins, RJC Guerra, L Santos, L Lopes
    2023
    Citations: 1
  • Motivations for Visiting Peri-urban Natural Areas
    L Lopes, L Santos, S Esteves
    2023 18th Iberian Conference on Information Systems and Technologies (CISTI … , 2023
    2023
    Citations: 1
  • Tourism Development Policy and the Use of Scenario Analysis: A synthesis model
    M Martins, RJC Guerra, L Santos
    Instituto Universitario de Investigación Social y de Turismo, Universidad de … , 2022
    2022
    Citations: 1
  • Generative AI and its application by Destination Marketing Organizations: enhancing tourist experiences
    M Martins, RJC Guerra, L Santos, L Lopes, AR Conde
    A Research Agenda for Using Generative AI in Tourism and Hospitality, 10-23 , 2026
    2026
  • Digital Marketing in Health and Wellness Tourism
    M Martins, R Jorge da Costa Guerra, L Santos, L Lopes, AR Conde
    2026
  • Social Media Intelligence and Wildlife Crime: A Bibliometric Analysis from Web of Science
    L Santos, L Lopes, M Correia
    International Journal of Marketing, Communication and New Media 13 (25) , 2026
    2026
  • Mixed Reality and Its Content Developed to Enhance the Tourist Experience
    IO Gonçalves, LM Santos, BB Sousa, JD Santos
    Tourism and Hospitality 7 (1), 16 , 2026
    2026
  • The Tourist Experience and the Use of Virtual Reality in Destination Marketing
    M Martins, RJ da Costa Guerra, L Santos, L Lopes, AR Conde
    Smart Tourism and Destination Marketing, 197-214 , 2026
    2026