HINTS – Heritage Inclusive Tourism Symposium – 11 e 12 de maio

HINTS – Heritage Inclusive Tourism Symposium – 11 e 12 de maio

OVERVIEW

Tourism is often seen as an ally of the sustainable use of both the material and immaterial cultural heritage of host communities. The simple renovation of a historical site as part of a tourism-related project, is usually seen, by the public opinion, as a virtuous effect of this sector on the preservation of a community’s heritage.

Nonetheless, it might be reasonable to question if some common patterns observed in the reuse of heritage sites within the tourism industry are indeed beneficial to the preservation and interpretation of those reused sites, to the sustainability of the local hospitality sector as well as for host communities.

In the year chosen by the World Tourism Organization to celebrate tourism as a means to foster the inclusive development of communities, it seems evermore pertinent to discuss the best strategies and practices ensuring that the heritage of a given tourism destination is not harmed or even taken away from local residents for the sake of corporate profit of a few.

The city of Lamego boasts a unique cultural heritage, in both its value and diversity. Spanning from an extensive sacred, military and civil tangible cultural resources to endogenous immaterial ones, such as pagan Celtic and Roman Catholic festivities, as well as wine and gastronomic traditions, Lamego has a vast potential as far as heritage tourism is concerned. Hence, as Lamego and the surrounding Douro Valley becomes increasingly renowned amongst international travelers, the analysis and discussion of the most suitable development models to adopt in its heritage tourism is paramount, so as to ensure that host communities are the main beneficiaries. 

In such context, as the main center of applied knowledge in Portugal’s Douro region, the Viseu Polytechnic Institute’s School of Technologies and Management of Lamego has decided to hold first edition of the Heritage Inclusive Tourism Symposium (HINTS). Given its multidisciplinary record in terms of applied research in the field of heritage tourism, the DINÂMIA’CET–Iscte research unit soon joined HINTS as its coorganiser. Aiming to become a reference international scientific event focusing on heritage tourism, HINTS also intends to foster the debate among different perspectives of both scholars and practitioners in the field as well as to stage a show case of the best practices of inclusive heritage tourism development.

The first HINTS will be held on the 11^th and 12^th May 2022 at the monumental Ribeiro Conceição Theatre, located in the heart of the city of Lamego. In addition, technical field trips will seek to further highlight the applied nature of its scientific programme. As should be the case when it comes heritage, everyone interested in HINTS’ topics is invited to participate. 

Official website of this event: hints-symposium.com