Centre region has great Industrial Tourism potential

Portugal’s secretary of state for tourism, Rita Marques, on Thursday said that the centre of the country has great Industrial Tourism potential in sectors such as glass, ceramics, woollen goods and mining, among others.

Rita Marques, who was speaking at the opening session of the “Industrial Tourism in Portugal” webinar, organised by Turismo Centro de Portugal and Turismo de Portugal, as part of the Dynamic Group of the Portuguese Industrial Tourism Network, said that Centro de Portugal has great potential in the area of Industrial Tourism.

“We have the glass and ceramics area in the Centre Region, with excellent examples that we all know well, such as Vista Alegre, Bordalo Pinheiro, Atlantis, we have the wool industry, we have metalworking, plastics, the two-wheel industry, which is also important, the mining industry (…), we have the ornamental rocks,” she said.

She then acknowledged that the projects require resources and pointed out that Turismo de Portugal has made several lines of financial support available to embody this.

She added that the government would soon open the Valorizar Programme and appealed to the municipalities so that, in partnership with the companies and Tourism of the Centre, they may organise ideas, promote projects that highlight sustainability, to digitalisation, to new audiences, so that tomorrow we may have even stronger Industrial Tourism.

Marques said that credit lines are also available, which are important financial instruments to build the network.

At the opening of the online conference, promoted to raise awareness of the Industrial Tourism offer, to share national and international experiences and to stimulate the development of tourist programmes that can be promoted, the minister recalled that about a year ago she was in São João da Madeira for the launch of the Industrial Tourism Action Plan, presented by Turismo de Portugal, which provided for the implementation of the Portuguese Industrial Tourism Network.

“The strategy until 2027 has established several priorities, including Industrial Tourism, and now it is a great pleasure to be able to count on the contribution of the five mainland regions, with the forthcoming extension to the regions of Madeira and the Azores. It is a pleasure to be able to count on a Portuguese Industrial Tourism Network that is well established, well animated, and that will soon even have a legal personality,” she said.

At the opening of the webinar, attended by more than 600 participants, the president of Turismo Centro de Portugal, Pedro Machado, spoke of the country’s challenges in the fight against the pandemic and economic recovery.

“When we think of Industrial Tourism in its more classical aspect, as a living industry or as productive estates,” these are new variables that can help make and increase the axis of competitive supply and innovation, he said.