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Developing a model for smart tourism destinations: an interpretive structural modelling approach

• Original Research
• Published: 24 November 2022
• Volume 24 , pages 511–546, ( 2022 )

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• Sanaz Shafiee 1 ,
• Ali Rajabzadeh Ghatari 2 ,
• Alireza Hasanzadeh 3 &
• Saeed Jahanyan 4  

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The smart tourism concept emerged from smart city development and is a particular application area within smart city initiatives. Smart tourism is broadly applied as a strategic tool to enhance the competitiveness of tourism destinations. This study creates a framework to identify, explore, and rate the effective factors of developing smart tourism destinations. The effective factors were identified through a review of the research literature and by surveying experts. The identified factors were rated using an interpretative-structural modelling approach. A Cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification (MICMAC) analysis was used to determine the power and dependence of these factors. The findings show 20 indexes at ten levels. Financial resources, government support, and smart tourism policies were identified as the most important factors in modelling smart tourism development. By identifying effective factors for developing smart tourism destinations, the policymakers can encourage innovation of smart destinations, support smart tourism and highlight the multi-faceted contribution of smart destinations to sustainable development.

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Department of Information Technology Management, Payame Noor University, Tehran, Iran

Sanaz Shafiee

Department of Management, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

Ali Rajabzadeh Ghatari

Department of Information Technology Management, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran

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Department of Management, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran

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Shafiee, S., Ghatari, A.R., Hasanzadeh, A. et al. Developing a model for smart tourism destinations: an interpretive structural modelling approach. Inf Technol Tourism 24 , 511–546 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40558-022-00236-7

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Received : 10 July 2021

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Published : 24 November 2022

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s40558-022-00236-7

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Tourism remains a dynamic and fast-growing sector, creating an interdisciplinary field of study and research. The tourism industry offers economic benefits, growth and opportunities for people and businesses in destination areas. At the same time, matching demand - of tourists in the areas of origin - and supply - at the tourism destinations - continues to be a challenge for many organisations.

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This programme offers you the opportunity to study at four different locations in the world so that you will obtain wide-ranging intercultural experience and develop in-depth knowledge of tourism destinations. Each destination finds itself in a different stage of development. You will carry out research at three different destinations. In previous years destinations were: Indonesia, Singapore, Australia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Sri Lanka, France and Malta.

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The programme covers 12 months and it comprises three phases:

During the first phase, you will gain theoretical knowledge and develop your professional skills. This enables you to effectively analyse the current situation and available potential for development strategies at various tourism destinations. Destination theories, models, developments and practical cases will be studied in group projects, as well as in individual assignments. Courses are given by lecturers, along with an interesting team of visiting lecturers from international organisations and universities. Some courses will take you for a company visit or assignment on the spot. The workload is 40 hours per week. 

The first phase covers the following subjects: 

• Destination Stakeholders and Policy (6 ECTS credits)   
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We try to select a great variety in destinations that are familiar with developments and dynamics, have many contacts with businesses, government institutions and universities of applied sciences, where research can be done in English, and that offer cultural differences.  

The final decision on the mix of destinations will be determined after the start of the programme. In the past we have visited, amongst others, Australia, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Cambodia, Indonesia, Chambery, Malta, Singapore. 

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• Strengthening bridges - How a Dutch tour operator can improve its collaboration with their Indonesian partners 
• Development and Implication of Smart City Practices in Rural Destinations. How can regenerative tourism possibly happen? 
• Experiences and motives behind tourists' choice of destinations with paranormal activity - a case study of Hoia Baciu Forest, Romania 
• More examples can be found here .

Cooperation with an external commissioner You can opt for writing your thesis in close cooperation with an external commissioner. This enables you to closely cooperate with an international tourism organisation, thus adding an extra and professional dimension to the research project. However, many students write an independent research thesis and travel to a tourism destination to study their subject in-depth. 

Research location Conducting research and writing a final thesis in this third phase can be done anywhere in the world. The final (oral) exam takes place in the Netherlands. The majority of the students graduates by the end of August, which makes this programme a fulltime, 12 months programme.

The Master Tourism Destination Management is a one-year, full-time programme. The total study load is 60 ECTS credits. To give you an idea: 1 ECTS credit equals approximately 28 hours of study a week.

We offer you a small-scale study environment. The number of students involved in this master's programme differs every year between 30 and 45 up to 50 students. Whenever possible the class will be split up for workshops, consultancy sessions and other group work. For questions on the content of the programme, lecturers can be easily reached. In addition, the master's coordinator is available to help with day-to-day issues. If you wish to discuss personal problems that may be affecting your life as a student, you can turn to the student counsellor.

Learn, grow and reach milestones

Lecturer Master Tourism Destination Management

Maximising the positives, minimising the negatives

Julie Teclová

Marketing Specialist for Prague City Tourism

You learn to use your talents better

Joost Bouwmeester

Product Manager at Silverjet Vacations

Students are eligible if they hold a bachelor’s degree (BA, BSc., BBA, B Com), for example in the fields of tourism, hotel management, international business, management, economics, law, e-commerce, urban development, geography, social sciences or finance.

Please check out the full  admission requirements .

Application

If you meet the admission requirements, you are invited to apply for this programme. Please check out the  application procedure .

Costs 

In the academic year 2024-2025 the statutory tuition fee for master's programmes is €2,530. In addition to the tuition fee, you will need to take into account additional costs for the purchase of study materials such as textbooks. Read more about study costs.

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Read more about projects, research and insights in the field of Tourism.

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Graduates of the Master Tourism Destination Management  are entitled to the degree of Master of Arts and qualified for international policy and advisory positions, international management positions and research positions.

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Please note you do not have access to teaching notes, destination competitiveness in russia: tourism professionals’ skills and competences.

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management

ISSN : 0959-6119

Article publication date: 15 January 2019

Issue publication date: 15 February 2019

The purpose of this study is to address one of the main issues in Russia’s efforts to enhance tourism competitiveness: to educate a qualified workforce at the university level.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey of tourism professionals was conducted to assess importance and performance toward a set of hospitality- and tourism management-related skills and competences. An importance-performance analysis was performed to identify relative strengths and weaknesses.

Russian professionals need improved competences with respect to sustainable management, marketing and research skills.

Research limitations/implications

The study is limited to surveying professionals in the western part of Russia (St Petersburg, Moscow, Krasnodar and Sochi). Nevertheless, its implications for curriculum reform and development should be considered in the whole country.

Practical implications

The study identifies specific areas for Russian universities to address and focus on in their curriculum reform and development efforts.

Social implications

Better education at universities enhances students’ employability at the time that supports tourism firms to perform better. Both together help to boost tourism destination competitiveness and sustainability, favoring progress and socio-economic development.

Originality/value

Few studies have addressed human resource development in Russia. This study investigates the need for developing skills and competences in hospitality and tourism in Russia. This country has a significant potential for tourism development. Other countries with a developing tourism sector should benefit from the results of this study.

• Competences
• Sustainability
• Employability
• Hospitality education
• Destination competitiveness

Acknowledgements

This study was conducted, in part, with the support of the European Union (EACEA) through a TEMPUS grant awarded for project NETOUR (Network for Excellence in Tourism through Organizations and Universities in Russia), which involved 16 partners from Europe and Russia and which investigated tourism development in Russia. Project number: 530529-TEMPUS-1-2012-1-ES-TEMPUS-JPCR (2012-3110/0001-001). www.netour.eu .

Andrades, L. and Dimanche, F. (2019), "Destination competitiveness in Russia: tourism professionals’ skills and competences", International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management , Vol. 31 No. 2, pp. 910-930. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJCHM-11-2017-0769

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2024 Theses Master's

"America's Next Great City": Placemaking and Urban Development in Tysons, Virginia

Subert, Marcell

On the day before Thanksgiving, 2023, the Northern Virginia gentry flocks to western Loudoun County, Virginia, blissfully soaking in an additional day off at one of dozens of local wineries. One such winery, in Bluemont, Va, commands an imposing presence high up in the Blue Ridge Mountains, affording its patrons an expansive view of the rolling hills and country estates below. The view of the skyline eastward is relatively flat and featureless as the undulating Appalachian ridges taper out a dozen miles beyond; that is, except for a line of high-rise towers 35 miles away that serve as the only reminder of a civilization beyond. The towers are not that of the building height-restricted Washington, D.C., but of Virginia’s newest edge city: Tysons. “Tysons” has only existed for about a decade. Most people who have lived in Northern Virginia or the wider D.C. metropolitan region have long known the area as “Tyson’s Corner.” For decades, the largest attraction in this locale was the Tysons Corner Center, a massive shopping mall opened in 1968 and consistently added on to that continues to anchor this growing urban destination. Originally a small, car-dependent exurban shopping mall, Tysons, through zoning changes as well as the construction of a new rapid transit line, has transformed into a large, populous, mixed-use urban center, a true edge city. The changes have not been simply wrought in glass and concrete, but in the construction of a new place. Motorists entering Tysons from many arterial roads are welcomed with a colorful sign in the grassy median strip that proudly declares: “Welcome to Tysons, America’s Next Great City.” While the moniker may be an example of rather bold marketing, the intent behind it; envisioning Tysons as a truly great place to live, shop and work has been a dominant theme in its urban development for decades. Ever since commercial developer Til Hazel first planned for Tysons to be something much more than simply an upscale covered shopping mall in the 1980s, an honor that Tysons shared with many other developments at the time, the area has managed to continue to grow and change at a breakneck pace even while other malls in the region have sunk into a terminal decline. Tysons has managed to evolve in the suburbs as it has kept pace with changes in how suburbs are built. These changes are a part of the wider study of “post-suburban” development, around which an expansive body of literature exists to describe how the ideals of new urbanism and a growing emphasis on dense, mixed-use and walkable development have changed how new suburban communities are planned and built. Such developments are embodied in Northern Virginia and elsewhere in the creation of “town centers” or local urban anchors amidst traditional suburban sprawl. These town centers are compact, dense and walkable developments, often with an appended parking garage for those traveling there by car, that provide a sanitized urban destination for suburban dwellers to eat, shop and stroll. Many of them are privately owned and policed much in the same way that traditional enclosed shopping malls are, ensuring a uniformity in its population that is usually whiter and more affluent than the actual city center on which its suburbs have traditionally depended economically. While there are other examples of such developments in Northern Virginia, such as the Mosaic District, Reston Town Center and One Loudoun, Tysons is an example of this mold on a much larger scale. In fact, Tysons can even be said to have mini town centers within its own boundaries, such as The Boro, a small mixed-use development surrounded by office buildings and parking lots. Even so, Tysons, with its four Metro stops and its millions of square feet of commercial and residential space, displays the progression of post-suburban development in all of its stages, from traditional suburban single use construction to the slow evolution of mixed-use urbanism. It is therefore a very useful case study to use for further contributing to the literature on post-suburban development, particularly as the area continues to evolve.

Geographic Areas

• Virginia--Tysons Corner
• City planning
• City planning--Economic aspects
• Suburbs--Planning
• Shopping centers--Economic aspects
• Urbanization
• Urban density
• Mixed-use developments

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Perth Airport redevelopment set for take-off

• Qantas and Perth Airport commit to multi-billion dollar redevelopment
• New terminal to be developed at Airport Central, along with new runway and hotel
• Development to open up millions of additional seats to and from Perth
• Major boost for WA tourism industry and economic future

Perth will be home to a world-class new airport terminal under a new commercial agreement between Qantas and Perth Airport, delivering a major boost to Western Australia's tourism industry and unlocking significant economic growth.

The agreement will see more than $5 billion invested towards a new terminal at Airport Central, a new parallel runway, two multi-storey carparks and an airport hotel.

Qantas and Jetstar's services will relocate to the new terminal when it opens in 2031, with the developments enabling an additional 4.4 million additional seats to and from Perth by the time the new terminal opens.

The new terminal will be serviced by the METRONET Airport Central Station - providing an affordable public transport link directly from the airport to the city.

In the interim, upgrades at Terminal 3 and 4 will open up additional capacity while the new terminal is built, with Jetstar to relocate its domestic services to Terminal 2 from September 2024.

Those upgrades will support Qantas to add new destinations from Perth from 2025 - including Auckland and Johannesburg.

The new parallel runway is expected to open in 2028, supporting further growth for domestic and international flights.

Comments attributed to Premier Roger Cook:

"This commitment cements our place as the Western Gateway to Australia.

"By opening up new flight routes and adding millions of extra passenger seats each year, we're positioning WA as a major tourist destination in the region.

"It will turn Perth Airport into a world-class travel hub for visitors and for Western Australians, and put Perth on the world stage for travellers.

"It's part of our plan to diversify WA's economy, create long-term jobs and set our State up for the future."

Comments attributed to Tourism Minister Rita Saffioti:

"This commitment by Qantas and Perth Airport represents one of the most important for aviation announcements in our State's history.

"Our Government has long been advocating to Qantas and Perth Airport to consolidate services at the one terminal, and to have both parties reach a commercial agreement puts us on the path to seeing that become a reality.

"We know Perth is the Western Gateway to Australia with direct services from locations like London, Paris and Rome - but this will see the direct international connections into Perth grow significantly in the years ahead.

"We've been planning for this move for many years, and it led to important decisions like the final location of the Redcliffe Train Station, and the new METRONET Airport Central Station, which provides passengers with a direct train service to the airport for around five dollars."

Hon. Roger Cook

Hon. Rita Saffioti

Acknowledgement of country.

The Government of Western Australia acknowledges the traditional custodians throughout Western Australia and their continuing connection to the land, waters and community. We pay our respects to all members of the Aboriginal communities and their cultures; and to Elders both past and present.

Chinatown in Nashville? Developers to bring Chicago, NYC tourist attraction to Antioch

Nashville investors and developers are working with global partners to establish the city's first Chinatown in Antioch. Following the lead of major cities like San Francisco, New York City and Chicago, the vision for the proposed Tennessee Nashville Chinatown project is for a large Asian supermarket surrounded by authentic restaurants and shops accented by modern Chinese architecture. 

"It will be a new tourist attraction, offering the unique and upscale Asian architecture, culture, shopping, dining, retail services and experience," the project's website states .

The managing partners of Tennessee Nashville Chinatown are local broker Sheri Ma of MM Realty and Management and developer Rita Zheng of YHYS, LLC. They bought a 4.83-acre property near the former Global Mall at the Crossings/Hickory Hollow Mall for $7.2 million this month and are actively raising capital to complete their ambitious plans.

“I feel like it's not only the Chinese people's dream, it’s everybody's dream,” Ma said, adding that community feedback has been widely positive. "It's a cultural addition. I think it matches perfectly with what Nashville is growing [into] overall."

They hope to open the first phase next year and complete the full 100,000-square-foot project vision by 2027 along Interstate 24 at 5255 Hickory Hollow Parkway. Highway visibility made this an ideal location for the partners, who hope travelers passing by will be enticed to visit.  

The flagship will be a 44,000-square-foot Pan-Asia Supermarket slated to open in 2025 in the current building on site. Ma said they plan to build about ten restaurants, retail stores and an events center surrounding the market.

The property was formerly slated for a Rocketown teen center, and the development partners have asked Metro Planning officials to reverse a Planned Unit Development Overlay on the property. Instead, they are seeking to return it to its base zoning guidelines for a "Shopping Center Regional" zone intended for retail, office and consumer services.

“I don't see a reason not to approve, but you never know,” Ma said.  

Ma and Zheng are currently raising $27.5 million for development, including about $4 million from EB-5 investors. The federal EB-5 Immigrant Investor Program provides U.S. visas for approved foreign investors in job-creating commercial enterprises.

This wide-ranging development could bring approximately 300 jobs during construction and up to 500 full- and part-time positions to the community when completed, according to the project's website .   

Councilmember At-Large Zulfat Suara said she is excited about what the proposed Chinatown development will add to the community. 

"It's another way of showcasing Nashville's diversity and vibrant cultures," Suara said. "I am therefore looking forward to a project that gives the opportunity [to] celebrate the Chinese culture while boosting Nashville's economy and providing a place for families and neighbors to shop and play." 

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On the Brazilian Coast, a Tropical Town Beloved by Artists and Makers

A guide to Paraty, on the Costa Verde, with tips on where to stay, shop and island hop from the artist Vik Muniz and four other insiders.

By Nora Walsh

T’s monthly travel series, Flocking To , highlights places you might already have on your wish list, sharing tips from frequent visitors and locals alike. Sign up here to find us in your inbox once a month, and to receive our weekly T List newsletter. Have a question? You can always reach us at [email protected] .

Roughly halfway between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, the coastal town of Paraty (population 45,000) isn’t the easiest place to reach. It requires a four-hour, mostly mountainous drive from either city, a 45-minute helicopter charter or arrival by sea. It’s that relative seclusion that keeps the tourist hordes and unbridled development at bay, despite the town’s obvious appeal. Set on Brazil’s Costa Verde, with mountains covered in rainforest on one side and the emerald green waters of Ilha Grande Bay on the other, Paraty (pronounced para-CHEE by locals), preserves more than 30 blocks as its historic quarter, a grid of pedestrian-only cobblestone streets lined with whitewashed 18th- and 19th-century facades, many of them remnants of the Portuguese colonial era.

Starting in the mid-1600s, the town grew prosperous as a seaport during the country’s gold rush (many of the biggest gold mines were in the neighboring inland state Minas Gerais) — and as a hub for the slave trade. African slaves not only worked in the mines but built much of the town’s early infrastructure, such as its roads. Once the gold stopped coming through Paraty for export in the early 1700s, the town continued to harvest sugar cane and produce cachaça, the national spirit, before shifting its economic focus to the coffee trade. At the end of the 19th century, Santos, 190 miles to the south, supplanted Paraty as the country’s primary coffee-exporting port, and the town began to languish. “It fell off the map,” says Luana Assunção, the owner of the Rio-based travel company Free Walker Tours. “It became isolated and poor. Many houses were abandoned.”

By the 1970s, a new highway and an influx of urban transplants had given Paraty an infusion of new life. Lured by the area’s affordability, a number of artists, designers and other creative types began renovating the old mansions and opening a handful of galleries, boutiques, cafes and small hotels, turning the long-forgotten town into an alluring vacation destination.

“I was worried that mass tourism would endanger the future of the culture and the nature in Paraty, but it didn’t happen,” says the nature photographer Dom João de Orleans e Bragança, who has been visiting Paraty since 1968 and now lives there most of the year. He credits the strict building codes for imbuing the town with a certain timeless quality, even after the pandemic when the area’s second-home owners began spending more time in Paraty. “You’ll never see a skyscraper, and we don’t have big resorts or hotels here.”

What Paraty does have is easy access to the dozens of small islands and sandy coves across the bay (local traineiras , renovated wooden fishing boats; large schooners; and speedboats are all available for visitors to rent for daylong outings), and the countless hiking trails, waterfalls and beaches that are part of the massive Serra da Bocaina National Park. Visitors can also make day trips to a handful of villages home to Indigenous and historic Black settlements that have maintained a strong cultural identity. “There’s layer upon layer here,” said Lena Santana, a Brazilian costume and fashion designer who has been living in Paraty for the last decade. “It creates a certain kind of depth that makes people want to stay.” Here, Santana and four other locals and longtime Paraty visitors share their recommendations for where to stay, eat and explore.

The Insiders

Silvia Furmanovich , a fine-jewelry designer based between São Paulo and New York City, has been traveling to Paraty every other year for the past three decades.

The artist and photographer Vik Muniz , who lives in Rio de Janeiro and New York City, has been visiting Paraty since 1999.

Diana Radomysler is a partner and director of the interiors and design department at the São Paulo-based architecture firm Studio MK27. She travels to Paraty annually with her family.

Lena Santana , who was born in Salvador, Brazil, and moved to Paraty a decade ago after 15 years in London, owns a boutique, Atelier Napele, in the historic center, and Bus Stop Paraty, a guesthouse, 12 miles outside of town in Playa Grande.

Gisela Schmitt , originally from São Paulo, is the chef and owner of Paraty’s Gastromar restaurant and a boat-catering company.

Illustrations by Richard Pedaline

“I love to stay at Casa Turquesa , built on the ruins of an 18th-century mansion in the old town. Everything in the Turquoise Suite is white and turquoise, from the fabrics to the artwork. One room has prints from the British botanical artist Margaret Mee, who spent decades traveling to the Amazon documenting flora, which have inspired my work in the past.” (Rooms from about $520 a night.) — Silvia Furmanovich

“I always suggest that friends stay at the Pousada Literária de Paraty, a cozy hotel within a cluster of historic mansions that surround a tropical garden — they return enchanted by both the hotel and its restaurant.” (Rooms from about $350 a night.) — Diana Radomysler

“The Brazilian travel company Matueté has a selection of villas. You can rent the interior designer Linda Pinto’s house in the historic quarter close to the waterfront. It has a beautiful courtyard, so the house is flooded with natural light.” (Rentals from about $1,500 a night, with a three-night minimum.) — Gisela Schmitt

Eat and Drink

“At Banana da Terra , the chef Ana Bueno cooks contemporary Caiçara [the main Indigenous community of the area] cuisine in a charming restaurant in the historic quarter. She offers things like mango and shrimp salad and a hamburger made with crab meat. After dinner, go to Gelateria Miracolo for ice cream and try the flavor made with cupuaçu, an Amazonian fruit that’s closely related to cacao.” — S.F.

“Head to Graúna [about 12 miles north of Paraty], a beautiful valley in the Atlantic Forest, for lunch at Le Gite d’Indaiatiba . The chef is like a wizard of the forest. She makes her ravioli with taioba, an edible plant from the jungle [similar to collard greens]. Call ahead and ask them to prepare the sauna, which is next to a swimmable waterfall on the property.” — G.S.

“ Fugu Japanese Food is a new restaurant that only serves fish that’s been caught fresh the same day, like sororoca [a white local fish] and prejereba [tripletail]. Don’t miss the tuna starter with locally grown shiitake mushrooms or the teishoku, a wooden box with 12 different small portions of menu items, including the day’s fresh catch. There’s also a great sake selection. For dessert, have the wasabi ice cream.” — D.R.

“Recently, one of my favorite designers from São Paulo, Flavia Aranha , opened a store in Paraty. Her pieces are timeless, produced in organic fabrics or natural fibers dyed with Brazilian plants and herbs.” — D.R.

“For handwoven baskets, go to Cestarias Regio Paraty in the historic center. They come in all sizes and are made by local communities. I love the ones made from covo, a fiber extracted from bamboo, that are used to go fishing.” — G.S.

“Visit the village of Cunha in the Paraíba Valley, where the Japanese couple Mieko and Toshiyuki Ukeseki started firing ceramics in a noborigama [a traditional Japanese wood-fired chamber kiln] in the 1970s. A small community of ceramists joined them, and you can buy their pieces at their ateliers or at the ceramics festivals that Cunha hosts throughout the year.” — L.S.

“To pick up authentic Indigenous arts and crafts, such as vases and musical instruments, go to Canoa Arte Indígena . I bought several baskets from there that now decorate my office in São Paulo.” — S.F.

“Paraty has some of the best cachaça in Brazil. My favorite brand is Cachaça Maria Izabel . [Maria Izabel] and her daughters own a sugar cane plantation in Sítio Santo Antônio, about six miles north of Paraty, where they still produce the spirit by hand. You can do a tasting at the distillery and buy bottles there, or at shops in town.” — V.M.

“The Livraria das Marés is a big-city bookstore in a small town. It’s a contemporary space designed by the architect Bel Lobo with black metal shelves and a wood-paneled floor and ceiling. There’s a delightful cafe at the back.” — D.R.

“Don’t miss Saco do Mamanguá, which is the world’s only tropical fjord. You can only get there by boat, and you’ll pass Caiçara villages along small beaches. From there, you can hike to the peak of Mamanguá’s Pão de Açúcar for dramatic views of the entire Ilha Grande Bay. Another option is to rent kayaks at one of the beaches and paddle deep into the mangroves at the very end of the fjord.” — G.S.

“ Fazenda Bananal is a great place to take children. It’s a nature preserve in the forest with a farmhouse. There are walking trails, farm animals and a restaurant called Ninho that’s absolutely incredible. Many of the ingredients come from the farm. I had the best slow-cooked pork of my life there.” — V.M.

“Visit Quilombo do Campinho [a settlement about 10 miles south of Paraty founded at the end of the 19th century by formerly enslaved people]. There’s a restaurant that serves fresh grilled fish and a shop with beautiful wooden animal sculptures, rugs made of straw, bamboo furniture and jewelry made from local tropical seeds. On the way home, stop at the village of Paraty-Mirim, where you can buy artisanal wares from the Guaraní tribe; then swim at its gorgeous beach, which is bordered by mountains and a river.” — L.S.

“One of the best ways to enjoy Paraty by sea is to book Gisela Schmitt’s Sem Pressa boat tour, which takes you to the surrounding coves and swimming spots (my favorite is Saco da Velha) while offering delicious local plates like cachaça- and beet-cured prejereba [tripletail fish], fresh oysters and mussels.” — V.M.

Practical Matters

“It’s fun to be in Paraty during one of its festivals. There’s FLIP [Festa Literária Internacional de Paraty], a large and influential literary festival [this year it will be held in October] and loads of other events throughout the town.” — L.S.

“The best time to visit is from May to August, when there’s less rain, the sky is beautiful and the sea is wonderful.” — G.S.

These interviews have been edited and condensed.

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