Introduction

1The olive heritage is a core element of the Mediterranean territory, determining the socio-economic and cultural dynamics, as well as the environmental and landscape characteristics, of many regions. This heritage is made up of a set of common elements consisting of landscapes, traditional knowledge, festivals, agricultural practices and tools, associated gastronomic products, and health and well-being, among others.

2All these elements have been increasingly valorised from a tourism point of view. On the one hand, "as the experience economy matures, consumers desire more authentic and real experiences rather than false and manufactured experiences" (Yeoman, 2008, p. 40), and from a tourist point of view, consumers increasingly value experiences away from mass destinations, valuing sustainability, the genuineness of products and services and healthy lifestyles (WTTC and Trip.com Group, 2021). On the other hand, the tourist offer based on olive heritage reacts by creating experiences involving the landscape and rural ambience of olive groves and their surroundings, contact with the traditional knowledge of olive-growing culture, olive oil tastings and the tasting of gastronomic dishes, health and wellness experiences using olive oil and olive oil-based cosmetics.

3It is important to clarify that tourism experiences that encompass olive growing and all the heritage related to the production, consumption of olive oil and olive oil-based products have been referred to in different ways: olive tourism (Bezerra and Correia, 2018; Alonso and Northcote, 2010), olive oil tourism and oleotourism (Abril-Sellarés and Tello, 2019; Millán et al., 2014; Murgado, 2013; Tregua et al., 2018) and, ultimately, olive-based agritourism (Pulido-Fernández et al., 2019). In this study we use the term "olive tourism" which we consider to be the most comprehensive.

4This study is part of the European project Olive4All - "Olive Heritage for Sustainable Development: Raising Community Awareness of Living Heritage" and aims to strengthen knowledge about olive tourism, focusing on what may be the main motivations of demand to enjoy experiences and activities based on olive heritage. Based on the literature review, which allowed to identify, for olive tourism, the common set of activities, experiences and inherent motivations, it is intended to gather information on those that will be most important for the development of that type of tourism. Likewise, the aim is to understand how the level of complementarity between olive tourism and other types of tourism is perceived.

5From a methodological point of view, the option used in this study incorporates the people-centred approach, focusing on the meanings of heritage (Smith, 2011), defended in the Olive4All project. Moreover, as this is a topic that has been little investigated by the scientific community in Portugal - and little explored by the tourism industry in Portugal - it was considered essential to use the Delphi method to collect the opinion of a panel of experts in the field of tourism, olive growing and olive heritage. This method is particularly suitable for contexts in which the aim is to better understand a given topic, and is also assumed to be an effective tool for forecasting a given sector (Yoopetch et al., 2023), forecasting (tourist) demand or future trends/market conditions (Lin and Song, 2015) or for learning about complex and/or little known economic contexts or phenomena (Guttentag and Smith, 2014).

6Due to the central topic of this study, the methodology used and the fact that it focuses on the knowledge of Portuguese experts, this study is of important relevance, and the results obtained may contribute to the way in which territories should optimise their resources associated with olive growing and olive heritage in order to efficiently meet the motivations of consumers/tourists and stimulate demand.

7In terms of structure, the study includes a literature review that explores the concept of olive tourism and the diversity of activities it involves, its complementarity with other tourism products and the tourist motivations based on olive tourism. This is followed by an explanation of how the Delphi method was used, the presentation and discussion of results of the two sets of questions and a final reflection.

I. Literature Review

A. Olive Tourism Activities

8Olive tourism is made up of a set of activities that cover several areas, some more orientated towards nature - enjoying the landscape, silence and biodiversity, visiting centuries-old or millenary olive groves (Alonso and Northcote, 2010; Murgado, 2013; Millán-Vázquez de la Torre et al., 2017), others oriented towards the built and historical heritage through visits to olive oil mills, olive oil museums and interpretation centers (Alonso and Northcote, 2010; Murgado, 2013; Millán-Vázquez de la Torre et al., 2017). In addition to these, more sensory experiences such as olive oil tasting and the tasting of typical dishes where olive oil is the main gastronomic element may also be included (Campón-Cerro et al., 2014; Tudisca et al., 2015; Millán-Vázquez de la Torre et al., 2017). Olive tourism also has an educational and creative dimension, being conducive to the organisation of workshops that explore various dimensions of olive heritage; and to the realisation of culinary learning experiences using olive oil as the main ingredient (Hernández-Mogollón et al., 2019; Murgado, 2013; Millán-Vázquez de la Torre et al., 2017), or even experiences of preparing cosmetics based on olive oil (Campón-Cerro et al., 2014). The list of possibilities also includes a set of more active experiences, involving participation in agricultural tasks such as olive harvesting (Tudisca et al., 2015) or the realisation of hiking trails through olive groves or the heritage associated with mills (Alonso and Northcote, 2010) or, conversely, relaxation and well-being experiences through olive oil-based treatments (Ferreira and Martín, 2021). Finally, olive tourism may include participation in gastronomic events dedicated to olive oil, the purchase of olive products directly from the producer, visits to specialised olive oil shops to learn about the variety of olive products and their brands (Bezerra and Correia, 2018; Murgado, 2013; Vázquez de la Torre et al., 2017), as well as the possibility of sponsoring centenary or millenary olive trees (Nguyen, 2018).

B. Synergies between Olive Tourism and others tourist products

9Over the last decade, olive tourism has captured great interest from academics, with several theoretical and empirical publications. The first studies were conducted in Australia (Alonso and Northcote, 2010; Northcote and Alonso, 2011) and later expanded to Europe. The literature is scarce, fragmented, and even repetitive, being mostly highly focused on the Spanish territory (Abril-Sellarés and Tello, 2019; Orgaz-Agüera et al., 2018; de Salvo et al., 2013; Folgado-Fernández et al., 2019; Millán et al., 2014; Millán and Pérez, 2014; Millán et al., 2017; Moral-Cuadra et al., 2020; Pulido-Fernández et al., 2019; Tregua et al., 2018; Vázquez de la Torre et al., 2017). Olive tourism is defined as a set of activities that revolve around olives, olive oil, olive trees and the inherent heritage (Folgado-Fernández et al., 2019). For Oplanić, Čop and Čehić (2020) this tourism segment does not only offer a set of activities, but experiences, sensations and emotions based on olive oil and the specific conditions of olive-growing regions. Şahin and Aydin (2017) further define that olive tourism is a form of tourism that establishes a profusion of links between culture, nature and gastronomy.

10A diversity of perspectives has been used to study olive tourism. Pulido-Fernández et al. (2019) seek to structure the main contributions of academics on the synergies between olive tourism and other tourist segments: gastronomic, industrial, rural and cultural. According to the literature, olive oil is a strategic resource due to its gastronomic, social and cultural value (de Salvo et al., 2013; Hernández-Mogollón et al., 2019). Gastronomy is a key tourism resource, as it allows tourists to integrate into the local culture (Pulido-Fernández et al., 2019). Endogenous, vernacular products contain and transmit the culture of their artisans, the locals, acting as guardians of the traditions and identity of a territory and those who inhabit it, and constituting an exceptional vehicle for cultural exchange (Millán-Vázquez de la Torre et al., 2017). Thus, gastronomy is considered one of the main pillars supporting olive tourism activities in rural areas (Pulido-Fernández et al., 2019). In fact, the practice of olive tourism has emerged as a similar practice to wine tourism. The similarities between both wine and olive tourism are striking, since both olive tourism and wine tourism are oriented towards knowledge of the host territory, bringing tourists closer to nature and discovering rural and agricultural traditions (Marchini et al., 2016).

11Therefore, olive tourism is mainly developed in rural areas, and for this reason it takes advantage of natural, rural and sometimes industrial spaces. Its development has characteristics like those attributed to sustainable rural tourism (Millán et al., 2014). This activity induces its promoters to look for new alternatives that allow them to offer authentic and stimulating experiences to visitors (Campón-Cerro et al., 2017), but always with the aim to promoting the sustainable use of resources (Rodríguez-Entrena et al., 2017). In turn, industrial tourism is also associated with olive tourism from the point of view of the recovery and maintenance of abandoned and degraded industrial heritage - mills, factories and utensils (Vehbi et al., 2019; Yüceer et al., 2018). Regarding the cultural aspect, olive tourism represents a new dimension in the promotion of olive oil as a product with cultural identity in rural communities (Campón-Cerro et al., 2014). The link between olive tourism and culture is highly relevant, since it is from the symbolic and material expressions that olive tourism becomes a value-added attraction for tourism (Toselli, 2019). Therefore, the activities that shape this tourist practice, whether in a natural or cultural environment, will always aim to enhance and raise the cultural status of endogenous resources.

12It is in this context that academics state that olive tourism is a niche activity, which corresponds to the designation of special interest tourism (SIT) - a specific, experience-oriented tourism focused on activities that allow tourists to deepen their knowledge, satisfy leisure needs, and engage in activities of a particular region (Parrilla-González et al., 2020). Pulido-Fernández et al. (2019) also consider that olive tourism is linked to the motivations of three general interest tourism (GIT) segments - rural tourism, nature tourism and cultural tourism - that shares characteristics with different special interest typologies: gastronomic, industrial, ethnographic, creative tourism, flora and wildlife observation, business tourism, health and wellness tourism and aspects of agrotourism (Figure 1).

13This form of tourism meets the needs of specific markets and focuses on various experiences and activities that fall outside the scope of general interest tourism (Parrilla-González et al., 2020). All these activities anchored in the olive-growing world, create a link between the tourist and the territory. That said, an identity is forged as a destination of special interest, based on its cultural heritage, landscape and customs, thus offering the visitor a unique experience (Parrilla-González et al., 2020).

C. Olive Tourism based motivations

14Olive oil tourism represents a great opportunity to disseminate a consumer culture in which the quality and origin of the product are the main elements in consumer decision-making (Hernández-Mogollón et al., 2019). The practice of olivotourism involves travelling to a territory with certain characteristics, and with a prior motivation to personally experience olive oil culture (Pulido-Fernández et al., 2019).

15Olive oil tourists seek to carry out a different tourist activity (Parrilla-González et al., 2020), where they can enrich their life experience and deepen their knowledge about olive oil culture (Murgado, 2013), the production process and the cultural and heritage offerings of the production areas. In addition, they seek to connect with people who have the same interest in the knowledge of olive oil heritage (Parrilla-González et al., 2020). Thus, they are motivated by a wide range of experiences based on olive oil, local culture (López-Guzmán et al., 2016; Vázquez de la Torre et al., 2017), nature and the olive grove landscape (Parrilla-González et al., 2020). According to Murgado (2013), gastronomy has become one of the most important motivations for tourists. Olive tourists seek to have a different culinary experience, as well as to taste the oil where it is produced (Parrilla-González et al., 2020). In addition, motivations related to learning about organoleptic properties and learning about the origins and virtues of a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) olive oil are also identified (Pulido-Fernández et al., 2019).

16The motivations described, which are inherent to olive oil tourism, correspond to the nine motivational factors identified by Kim et al. (2009) that stimulate a tourist to experience the gastronomic offers that are typical of a territory, as well as the activities that are associated with them. These factors are: the search for an exciting experience; the desire to escape the routine; the search for an experience oriented to health and well-being; the search for learning experiences; authentic experiences; bonding experiences - the connection of the territory with the tourist; the prestige that the experience can offer; the sensory appeal and finally, aspects related to the physical environment.

II. Methodology

17The present empirical research is exploratory in nature, and aims to ascertain the level of consensus among the various experts involved in the field of olive growing and the management and conservation of olive heritage regarding the topics that are the subject of this study, namely: the relationship between olive tourism and other tourism products, activities and experience in olive tourism and also the motivations for practicing olive tourism.

18The Delphi method is generally used to obtain medium or long-term forecasts from the consensus generated in a panel of experts (Modrak and Bosun, 2014), which consists of collecting opinions from a group of experts, directly or indirectly linked to the subject under study (Gordon, 1994). In addition, the Delphi method has demonstrated its suitability in addressing complex and structural development issues. If consensus cannot be reached, at least the dispersion of opinions can be reduced, without direct influence from the expert's panel. In the implementation of a Delphi panel, the anonymity of the participants is ensured, guaranteeing that the personal opinions of the participants are not influenced by the other participants. Indeed, this method was created to encourage honest debate and therefore anonymity and feedback are two essential features (Gordon, 1994).

19The size of the panel varies according to each study, and although there is no predetermined number, Linstone and Turoff (2002) recommend using a panel of 10 to 15 participants. Gordon (1994) recommends 15 to 35 experts, while Guerrero (2003) states that the Delphi panel should not exceed 30 participants.

20In the present study 13 experts participated. The two rounds of the study were carried out by sending a digital form by email. The first round took place in June 2022 and the second in September 2022. The choice of experts was made on the basis of two criteria: (1) they must be suitable people with a recognised reputation at regional or national level; (2) their curriculum vitae must have a proven link to the subject of olive tourism. All invited experts immediately agreed to participate in the study. As shown in Table 1, the 13 participants have different academic backgrounds (tourism, agronomy, management, event organisation, economics, history/ heritage, and olive growing), are linked to different institutions (companies, international organisations, museums, higher education institutions, business associations), and are linked to different regions (Central Portugal, Northern Portugal and Alentejo).

Table 1- Profile of the Delphi panel experts

#	Field of expertise	Enterprise/organization	Region where it operates
P1	Olive tourism events	“Azeite o amor é cego”	Alentejo
P2	Tourism	Côa Museum	Northern Portugal
P3	Agronomy	Polytechnic Institute of Castelo Branco	Central Portugal
P4	Olive growing	CEPAAL1	Alentejo
P5	Olive growing	Association APPITAD2	Northern Portugal
P6	History and heritage	Retired	Central Portugal
P7	Management	Enterprise Nutrifarms	Alentejo
P8	Agronomy	Retired Professor	Central Portugal
P9	Management	Enterprise D’Olival	Central Portugal
P10	Economy	Polytechnic Institute of Guarda	Central Portugal
P11	Shop manager	Loa – The Olive World	Alentejo
P12	Institutional manager	International Olice Council	Alentejo
P13	Management	Enterprise Oliveiras Milenares	Northern Portugal

¹ Centre for the Study and Promotion of Alentejo Olive Oil; ² Association of Integrated Protection Producers of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro

Source: Authors

21Delphi studies usually include two or more successive rounds of question-answers, and in the present research two rounds have been conducted. In the first round, each expert was asked to assign scores, from most important to least important, to the various olive tourism activities, the various olive tourism experiences, the motivations for olive tourism practices and the various tourism products that interact with olive tourism. All the items included in each of the four lists (activities, experiences, tourism products and motivations) were selected based on the literature review and are organised in table 2.

Table 2 – Items included in the questionnaire and their anchoring in previous studies

Activities	Analysed studies
Enjoying the landscape, silence and biodiversity Visiting centenary or millenary olive groves	3, 15 e 17
Visiting olive oil mills Visiting olive oil museums and interpretation centres	3, 15, 17
Olive oil tasting Tasting of typical dishes where olive oil is the main ingredient	5, 6, 15, 27
Workshops on olive heritage Culinary experiments using olive oil as the main ingredient	10, 15, 17,
Experiments in the preparation of cosmetics based on olive oil	5
Participation in agricultural tasks such as olive harvesting	25, 27
Walking trails through olive groves or to olive oil mills.	3
Health and wellness experiences through olive oil-based treatments	8
Participation in festivals and gastronomic events dedicated to olive oil	4, 15, 17
Buying olive products directly from the producer	4, 15, 17
Visits to olive oil shops to get to know olive products and their brands	4, 15, 17
Sponsorship of centenary or millenary olive trees	18
Motivations	Analysed studies
Experience olive oil culture in person	22
Realise a different tourist activity	21
Enriching life experience, gaining knowledge about olive oil culture	17
Connect with people with common interests in olive heritage	21
Live experiences based on olive oil and local culture	12, 15
Live experiences linked to nature and the olive grove landscape	21
Try local gastronomy dishes linked to the olive growing tradition	17
Live different culinary experiences Tasting olive oil where it is produced	21
Learn about the organoleptic properties of olive oil Learn about the origins and virtues of PDO olive oils	22
Synergies between olive tourism and other tourism products	Analysed studies
Synergies between olive tourism and nature tourism	13, 24
Synergy between olive tourism and gastronomic tourism	1, 10, 24, 22, 7
Synergy between olive tourism and rural tourism	5, 13, 14, 22
Synergy between olive tourism and cultural tourism	5, 7, 9, 10, 24, 25, 28
Synergy between olive tourism and wine tourism	13
Synergy between olive tourism and creative tourism	4
Synergy between olive tourism and industrial tourism	22, 29, 30
Synergy between olive tourism and health and wellness tourism	22

Legend: 1- Abril-Sellarés and Tello (2019); 2 - Agüera et al. (2017); 3 - Alonso and Northcote (2010); 4 - Bezerra and Correia (2018); 5 - Campón-Cerro et al. (2014); 6 - Campón-Cerro et al. (2017); 7 - de Salvo et al. (2013); 8 - Ferreira and Martín (2021); 9 - Folgado-Fernández et al. (2019); 10 - Hernández-Mogollón et al. (2019); 12 - López-Guzmán et al. (2016); 13 - Marchini et al. (2016); 14 - Millán-Vázquez de la Torre and Pérez et al. (2014); 15 - Millán-Vázquez de la Torre et al. (2017); 17 - Murgado (2013); 18 – Nguyen (2018); 20 - Oplanić, Čop and Čehić (2020); 21 - Parrilla-González et al. (2020); 22 - Pulido-Fernández et al. (2019); 24 - Şahin e Aydin (2017); 25 – Toselli (2019); 27 - Tudisca et al. (2015); 28 – Millán-Vázquez de la Torre et al. (2017); 29 - Vehbi et al. (2019); Yüceer et al. (2018).

Source: Authors

22Taking as reference the items presented in Table 2, four lists were created: (1) activities, (2) experiences, (3) synergies with other tourism products and (4) motivations for olive tourism practices. In the first round of the Delphi study, these lists were sent to the experts of the Delphi panel with the request to rank in order of importance the respective items of each list. However, the experts could, if they wished, add new items to each of the suggested lists.

23In the second round, each expert was sent the respective 4 individual rankings together with the 4 global rankings obtained from the averages of the assessments of all 13 experts. In this way, each expert could compare their initials with their collective rankings. The task asked to each expert was very simple: after comparing their individual ranking with the collective ranking, re-rate the items, being able to maintain or change their previous assessment. The final data of the present study are expressed in the form of 4 global rankings that result from the overall average of the (re)evaluations of the 13 experts during the second round.

III. Results and Discussion

24Considering the level of importance given by the group of experts to the eight olive oil tourism activities commonly referenced in the scientific literature, it appears that the one that tops the list is "participation in olive oil tasting events". In fact, the degree of consensus regarding the primacy of this activity was even greater in the second round of the survey (see Figure 2). The activity "visiting ancestral olive groves to see centenary or millenary olive trees and enjoy the landscape" appears in the second position of this collective ranking, followed by the activity "participation in workshops on olive oil and olive heritage". In the fourth position of the ranking is "participation in gastronomic events related to olive oil".

25In more modest positions (fifth and sixth places, respectively) are the activities "visiting olive oil mills" and "visiting olive oil museums". And in a less prominent position in terms of relative importance are the olive oil shops: "visit olive oil shops" and "buy olive oil and olive products in specialised shops". Finally, the activity "sponsor an olive tree and receive x bottles of olive oil annually", suggested in the first round by one of the experts, was ranked last in the second round of evaluation.

26Comparing the average ratings of the first and second survey rounds, we find that in the second round there was a higher level of consensus on the three activities considered as most important, as well as a higher consensus on the four activities considered as least important.

27It is important to note that the nine olive tourism activities referenced in this study are not mutually exclusive but can often be combined into the same overall experience. For example, the experience of visiting an olive oil shop (or an olive oil mill) may include an olive oil tasting. The same reasoning applies to workshops or visits to museums, which can combine several activities in the same overall experience.

28However, the fact that the two activities that require direct investments in cultural (olive oil museums) or industrial (olive oil mills) infrastructure and equipment - both very much linked to well-defined olive-growing territories - do not figure at the top of the ranking, can be interpreted as proof that it is possible to realise olive tourism activities far from the traditional territories where olive oil is produced. In other words, three of the four activities most valued by the experts (olive oil tasting, workshops and gastronomic events) have already bottled olive oil as their main resource and can be carried out in urban environments, that is, in places more or less distant from olive-growing territories, thus being able to reach wider audiences and increase the range of action of this niche tourism product.

29Figure 3 presents the various tourism products that anchor olive tourism. The experts' evaluations in the two rounds do not show significant variations, neither in terms of ranking nor in terms of averages for each item. According to the experts and reiterating the theses of several authors (Campón-Cerro et al., 2014; Tudisca et al., 2015; Millán-Vázquez de la Torre et al., 2017) it is in the context of gastronomic experiences that olive tourism assumes greater relevance, either as tasting dishes that highlight olive oil as an essential ingredient, or as tasting olive oils. In the background, but still at the top of the ranking, tourism in rural areas, nature tourism and wine tourism offer favourable contexts for olive tourism experiences. It is interesting to note that the synergies between olive tourism and industrial tourism are the least valued by the experts, which is in line with the modest assessment given to the activity "visiting olive oil mills", as mentioned above. The synergies of olive tourism with health and wellness tourism and, to a greater extent, with creative tourism are considered to have a low degree of relevance, probably because they are rarer tourist experiences, as they require a high level of specialisation and professionalism.

30The experts' perception of olive tourism experiences relative importance (Figure 4) once again puts in the foreground experiences with a specific focus on olive oil as a gastronomic element, namely: "olive oil tasting", "tasting typical dishes in which olive oil is an essential ingredient" and "cooking experiences". Secondly, experiences with a specific focus on olive trees, olive groves and rurality are highlighted: "active olive harvesting experiences", "pedestrian trails or thematic routes in olive groves", "enjoying the silence, landscape, biodiversity and heritage associated with olive groves" and, also, "visiting ancestral olive groves, with centenary or millenary olive trees". In third place is "participation in thematic festivals dedicated to olive oil and olive trees", followed by "purchase of olive oil, olives and derived products". Once again, and reinforcing the data presented above, the experiences related to olive oil production ("visit to traditional olive oil mills in operation" and "visit to modern olive oil mills") and heritage interpretation ("visit to olive oil museums and interpretation centres") are considered as not very relevant by the experts. However, and once again, the creative experiences of "soap and cosmetics production" and "health and wellness experiences using olive oil and olive products" appear in the last position of the ranking.

31Regarding the motivations for olive tourism practices, the consensus of the experts gave primacy to the motivation to "acquire knowledge about olive oil", followed by the motivation to "be in contact with nature and enjoy the olive grove landscape". In line with the level of importance attributed to the various olive oil tourism activities, the motivation to "taste olive oil where it is produced" is also very important. An intermediate level of valorisation by the experts was attributed to the search for novelty ("to carry out a different tourist activity") and to the motivations related to the knowledge of olive oil production and the culinary use of olive oil. As less relevant olive oil tourism motivations, experts list the following options: "enriching life experience by gaining knowledge about olive oil culture", "connecting with people with common interests in olive heritage" and "learning about the origins and virtues of PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) olive oils".

Conclusions

32The olive-growing heritage is an essential element of Portuguese culture, which is slowly beginning to be valued from a tourist point of view. The potential of olive tourism, which has already been boosted and demonstrated in other Mediterranean countries, and which has been investigated more incisively, as revealed in this article, justifies the need and relevance of the study we present. In fact, the lack of studies that allow us to understand the possible importance and scope of olive tourism in our country was decisive for this study and for the methodological options taken. Thus, we considered it essential to use a national panel of experts associated with olive tourism, to identify the most attractive activities and experiences, the main tourist motivations and to understand how the level of complementarity between olive tourism and other types of tourism is perceived.

33Analysing the obtained results from the expert panel, olive oil tasting is considered the most attractive activity related to olive tourism. A slightly less important level of attractiveness is the visit to "... ancestral olive groves to see centenary or millenary olive trees and enjoy the landscape", which facilitates contact with olive groves and olive trees, and "participation in workshops on olive oil and olive heritage". Although different methodologies were used, using different publics, these results are fully parallel to those obtained by Pulido-Fernández et al. (2020) with olive oil tourists in Southern Spain. Although the geographical contexts are different, it is interesting to see the correspondence of opinions between the Portuguese panel of experts and olive oil tourism consumers in the neighboring country about the attractiveness of the different activities.

34It is also worth noting that the activities used in this study can be divided into two categories: those that have to be carried out in places where equipment and infrastructures (olive oil mills, museums, shops) or agricultural investments (olive groves) are installed and those that can be carried out in any context, whether or not linked to the existence of olive trees or olive oil production. In the top 4 of the most attractive olive tourism activities, there are three that can be carried out in any context (participating in tasting events, participating in workshops on olive oil and olive heritage and participating in olive oil gastronomic events/festivals), facilitating their dynamisation in any territory - whether rural or urban. This particularity can be strategically used, above all, to complement cultural tourism and gastronomic tourism experiences that are not limited to olive heritage and that did not have it as the main motivation for visiting a given territory, thus increasing the range of action of olive tourism activities (both from a geographical point of view and in terms of the wide range of audiences it can attract).

35As verified in several studies (Murgado, 2013; Campón-Cerro et al., 2014; Tudisca et al., 2015; Millán-Vázquez de la Torre et al., 2017; Pulido-Fernández et al., 2020), gastronomic tourism is the tourism product that presents the greatest complementarity with olive tourism, inevitably followed by its links to rural tourism, nature tourism and wine tourism. Gastronomy also stands out in terms of tourist experiences, proving to be the most attractive aspect of olive tourism experiences, whether through olive oil tasting, typical dishes or culinary experiences (classes or workshops) in which olive oil is the central ingredient. Although the results favour the gastronomic aspect, we consider it relevant to highlight the vast and diverse list of tourist experiences that can be organised from the olive heritage and that can meet a wide range of consumers, tastes and motivations. Even if they are complementary experiences to the main reason for visiting a given territory, they can be a distinctive and differentiating point of the whole trip or visit, surprising by technological elements (in the latest and most modern mills and museums), innovation (cosmetic products, natural paints, massages and other health and wellness experiences), antiquity, aesthetic beauty, among others.

36Finally, the most important tourist motivation for olive tourism identified by the panel of experts refers to a broader, more comprehensive motive - "To acquire specific knowledge about olive oil" - which can cover various aspects of knowledge about olive oil (its production, its distribution, the organoleptic characteristics of olive oil, the benefits of its consumption, among other topics). The motivation "To taste olive oil where it is produced", specifically related to the main activity and experience of olive tourism identified in this study - i.e., olive oil tasting - appears in third place. This position may mean that olive oil tasting is very appetising as an activity and experience (and as a motivation) but does not necessarily have to be carried out in the place where the oil is produced. It could be inferred from this result that this aspect (tasting having to take place at the place of production) - to be included in an activity or experience - could be an eliminating factor for part of the tourist demand. That is, a part of the demand that is available to have olive oil tasting experiences, but without having to travel to the places where the oil is produced. In turn, the motivation "to be in contact with nature and enjoy an olive grove landscape" positioned in second place highlights aspects associated with nature, landscape and aesthetics, which can also refer to contexts of tranquility and quiet.

37Thus, these results can be strategically used by the stakeholders (companies and public entities and DMC's) that work the tourism offer related to olive trees and olive oil, to more efficiently design and dynamise olive tourism related experiences that clearly respond to what consumers aspire and look for. In this way, one of the main problems of olive tourism, associated with the lack of experiences and stimulating tourist offers (Murgado, 2013) and that capture the attention of the demand for olive oil-related tourism, can be mitigated.

38Regarding the use of the Delphi method, it allowed us to form a scenario based on expert opinions of specialists contributing to a greater knowledge of the issues related to olive oil tourism. In the future, and particularly in the Portuguese context, it is important to deepen the knowledge about the predisposition of the tourist demand towards olive oil tourism experiences - the current ones and the ones they may realise in the future - either as niche tourism or as special interest tourism, as a complement to a more global experience with interests and motivations associated with rural tourism, nature tourism or cultural tourism. In this sense, qualitative and quantitative studies should be carried out among consumers, to know and characterise the actual demand for olive tourism and the potential and deferred demand for future consumption. Cross-referencing the results of this study with the results of future studies into consumers' predispositions towards olive tourism (which should include similar lists of activities, experiences and motivations to those used in this study) could provide us with a more consistent indication of the types of activities, experiences and motivations that may be of greater interest consumers. And this type of data can be used strategically by companies that already work in the olive oil sector and already offer olive tourism experiences (or may do so in the future). Realising (and quantifying) the attractiveness of gastronomic experiences, health and wellness experiences, co-creation experiences related to olive oil or simple contact with the rural environment of olive groves could contribute to the growth of new private (and public) investments in olive tourism infrastructures, equipment and services. On the other hand, the motivations, experiences and activities considered to be less important in this study should also be analysed by the stakeholders (public and private) who already offer them, contributing to future management decisions that are more efficient and more in line with what consumers are looking for.