Innovation in Tourism debate in Porto

The NOS Conference held at the Rectory of the University of Porto, in partnership with Dinheiro Vivo and TSF radio station, focused on the key topic of innovation in Tourism, by providing a practical framework for understanding the roles and perspectives of national and regional organisations in tourism innovation, ranging from the state, the municipality, to the companies, to the consumer. 

There is still a relatively poor understanding of how change is brought about to tourism through innovation. The conference main goal was to open the floor for discussion on how competition and the search for competitiveness drive tourism innovation and how institutions shape innovation.

The discussion panel included renowed hotel sector entrepeneurs, namely Antonio Seiça Gonçalves, Administrator of the Bernardino Gomes Group / Real Hotels, Bernardino Trindade, Administrator of the Porto Bay Hotels Group, and Manuel Marques, vice president of Douro Azul.

Sebastião Feyo de Azevedo, Rector of the University of Porto, highlighted the cultural projection never before seen and underlined the investment that is being made in the heritage facades recovery by the academy.

Rui Moreira, mayor of Porto, presented the closing session and shared with the audience his optimistic vision of the present and future of this industry. The mayor referred authenticity and quality of life as key points to developing a cosmopolitan city. Rui Moreira pointed out the relevance of understanding tourist flows and patterns, how tourism is produced and consumed and redirecting the tourists to all city settings, by providing a global cultural offer of the city.