Organized by Science Centre / Lagos Ciência Viva Science Centre
https://lagos.cienciaviva.pt/?id_lang=2
leading a research project on science tourism in Portugal
SciTour research project stands at the nexus between Tourism, Science, Communication and Education.
The project has gathered a consortium of researchers, local municipalities and other stakeholders with the goal of examining the natural and cultural heritage of Western Algarve, developing tools and mechanisms to productize it as science tourism experiences. By doing so the project is diversifying the available tourism offer and building upon the existing strengths and infrastructure of the region.
The geographical distribution of such assets goes beyond the coastline and can push forwards the economic and cultural development of areas that traditionally tend to be less visited.
SciTour has identified four key fields as research topics Geology, Paleontology, Archaeology, and Marine Biodiversity as these have the most potential and a large enough number of assets clustered in the area of intervention. SciTour project must be seen as a new sustainable and long lasting Tourism development.
SciTour research project is a first step to validate and later coordinate a regional strategy towards the creation of a world-class offer that can help differentiate the Algarve region, countering its peripheral placement, as Europe is expanding eastwards and increasing our competitiveness against emerging and sometimes lower priced new tourism markets.
Furthermore, this strategy of research and valuing of natural resources can become a calling card to attract researchers and experts to come visit, stay and study, bringing the potential of making discoveries, publishing new works, sharing new insights and knowledge, further strengthening the relevance of our natural heritage and expanding the local talent pool.
Web site still in development: https://lagos.cienciaviva.pt/4409/scitour