Winter School on the role of digital media in sustainable tourism kicks off this Sunday
‘Digital Media for Island Tourism: The Case of Madeira and its Heritage’ is co-organised by the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Coimbra.
From 9 to 16 February, Madeira will host the Winter School "Digital Media for Island Tourism: The Case of Madeira and its Heritage", organised by the UNESCO Chair in Information, Communication and Technology at the University of Lugano, Switzerland, in collaboration with the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Coimbra, the University of Madeira and the Higher Institute of Tourism and Hotel Studies of Estoril, with the support of the Regional Government of Madeira, the Madeira Promotion Bureau and the Municipality of Funchal.
The initiative, which is taking place in Portugal for the second year running, brings together doctoral students, researchers and professionals and professionals from the fields of tourism and heritage. The Winter School will focus on island tourism, using Madeira as a case study to explore if and how digital technologies could facilitate a sustainable tourist experience from different perspectives, namely environmental and cultural.
Participants will attend various lectures and technical visits to Madeira's iconic sites, as well as engage in tourism experiences such as food & wine tastings, traditional embroidery, boat trips, and hiking trails.They will also be asked to draw up strategic development plans to address real tourism challenges facing island destinations. At the end of the course, participants will present their projects to a jury made up of lecturers from the Higher School of Technology and Management of the University of Madeira and representatives from Madeira's tourism promotion organisations.
"The sustainable development of tourism is a key objective for students, researchers, and professionals in the sector. Promoting initiatives like this is essential as they foster debate and the exchange of ideas and strategies to improve tourism and make it more sustainable," says Cláudia Seabra, Professor at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Coimbra and researcher at the Centre for Studies in Geography and Spatial Planning, co-organiser of the initiative.
The primary mission of the UNESCO Chair in Information, Communication and Technology at the University of Lugano is to develop and promote sustainable tourism at UNESCO World Heritage Sites.