Important Dates

Special Tracks

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Smart Tourism and Smart Destinations (Chair: Pedro Liberato, Portugal)

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A smart tourism destination is considered a destination that is accessible to all; it provides relevant instruments and platforms that facilitate the dissemination of information and knowledge among stakeholders, thereby facilitating the interaction and integration of visitors within the surrounding space(Liberato, Alén & Liberato, 2018). This move increases the quality of the tourist’s experience and so enhances the innovation and destination competitiveness (Del Chiappa and Baggio, 2015). A smart tourism destination should be able to incorporate technological development as well as develop innovative activities (Liberato, Alén & Liberato, 2018).

Topics of interest include but are not limited to the following:

• Smart Destinations

• Smart Tourism

• Technology use and Generations

• Technology use and Tourism Experience

• Connectivity in Tourism

• Social networks in Tourism Experience

• Technology use in several trip phases

• Digital Payment Systems

• Smart Destinations and Consumer Behaviour

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Events Tourism (Chairs: Dália Liberato and Elga Costa, Portugal)

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Events can create positive images for the destination, contribute to place marketing, by making cities more liveable and attractive, to visit and re-visit, acting also as a catalyst for urban renewal, community capacity building, voluntarism among other aspects (Getz & Page, 2016), as economic benefits, combatting seasonality of demand, improving also other forms of urban and economic development, and the design of events portfolios to multiple target segments (Getz & Page, 2016).

Topics of interest include but are not limited to the following:

• Megaevents management

• Sports Events

• Fashion Events

• Cultural Events

• Business Events

• Iconic-Historic Commemorative Events

• Music Event Experiences

• Use-Value of Events

• Events and Tourism Experience

• Events and Authenticity

• Event Attendance Motivations

• Event Impact Analysis

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The importance of city classification rankings for tourism development (Chair: Guaracy Silva, Brazil)

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The profusion of rankings that aim to measure the quality of life and the degree of development of cities can be another attraction for the growth of local tourism, especially business tourism. The proposal is to assess whether, in fact, such a factor can be associated with boosting tourism and its subsystems.

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Key challenges facing tourism (Chairs: Paula Odete and Isabel Lopes, Portugal)

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It is in the context of the importance of Tourism, being one of the indispensable and most important sectors in the conduct of a country's macroeconomic policies, that a set of initiatives should be discussed for the sector's development. In the present context that we are experiencing, it is imperative to reflect and debate challenges and potential solutions that may be adopted to reinforce the growth trajectory of Tourism, within a framework of sustainability and competitiveness in the regional, national and international panorama. Competitiveness, which is governed by the ability to attract the largest number of visitors, satisfy their needs, develop in a sustainable way without becoming out of balance with the lifestyle of the resident population.

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Data treatment in tourism (Chair: Carlos Enrique Montenegro Marín, Colombia)

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This Track calls to send their work to professionals, academics and researchers in the field of Data treatment in tourism. Currently technology is a fundamental input in many areas of knowledge, tourism and communication are no stranger to it, so they have had to adapt to the new challenges that technologies have generated, currently the amount of information that It is generated is incredibly large, tourism and communications contribute greatly to this generation of data and it is necessary to create and propose new mechanisms that allow the analysis, visualization, treatment or management of data in order to get more out of the information and generate new mechanisms that make better use of the big volume of data currently generated.

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Participants may submit papers on the following topics.

• Data analysis in tourism or Communication

• Data visualization in tourism or Communication

• Data treatment in tourism or Communication

• Artificial Intelligence Applied in tourism

• Data management in tourism or Communication

• Virtual and Augmented Reality in tourism

• Business Intelligence in tourism

• Data Mining and Big Data in tourism

• Machine Learning Applied to tourism

• Gamification Technologies to tourism

• Other topics converging with the theme of the Track

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Slow tourism and environmental sustainability (Chair: Fernanda A. Ferreira, Portugal)

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This special session aims to bring together leading academic scientists, researchers, and research scholars to exchange and share their experiences and research results on all aspects of Slow Tourism and Environmental Sustainability, namely the most recent innovations, trends, and concerns as well as practical challenges encountered, and solutions adopted in the fields of Slow Tourism and Environmental Sustainability.

Topics of interest include but are not limited to the following:

• Slow tourism

• Philosophy and principles of slow tourism

• Popular destinations for slow tourism

• Motivations and goals of slow tourism

• Hospitality management for slow tourism

• Motivations of slow travellers

• Destination experience of slow travelers

• Community ecotourism

• Rural tourism experiences

• Rural experiences in farm tourism enterprises

• Organic farm

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Niche tourism and marketing perspectives (Chair: Bruno Barbosa Sousa, Portugal)

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Tourism is a multifaceted and geographically complex activity. Thus, it is increasingly the market segments and tourism niches that capture the attention of consumers. The types of tourism are related to the motivations of visitors. There are numerous motivations (specific and with different individual interests).

Topics of interest include but are not limited to the following:​

• Tourist motivations (according to new trends)

• Reduced market segments

• Tourist niches (theory of niche marketing and management of market segments)

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Senior tourism (Chair: Nieves Losada, Spain)

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Seniors are a profitable segment for tourism industry. Population aged 60 and over will represent more than 2 billion international travellers by 2050, according to World Travel Organization. Moreover, they are rapidly embracing the use of new technologies. The demographic ageing and the information and communication technologies prospects in tourism are two of the major challenges for tourism industry.

Topics of interest include but are not limited to the following:​

• Senior tourism motivation

• Senior travel constraints

• Senior tourism and TIC´s

• Technology adoption among seniors in tourism

• New trends in senior tourism

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Food/gastronomic tourism (Chair: Cristina Barroco, Portugal)

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Topics of interest include but are not limited to the following:

• Food or Gastronomic Tourism and Rural Development

• Gastronomic Tourism Trends

• Gastronomy in Tourism

• Designing Attractive Food Tourism Experiences

• Food Tourism Destinations: Case Studies

• The Future of Food Tourism

• The Importance of Local Markets on Food Tourism

• Impacts of Food Events

• Food Tourism and Destination Competitiveness

• Gastronomic Routes

• Slow Food Movement

• Cultural Revitalization through Culinary Tourism

• Travelers Food Experiences

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Accessible tourism (Chair: Eugénia Lima Devile, Portugal)

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Topics of interest include but are not limited to the following:

• Accessible Tourism Market

• Travel constraints faced by people with special needs

• Travel behaviour of people with disabilities (PwD)

• Accessibility of tourism websites

• Accessibility of tourism supply

• Emerging technologies on accessible tourism

• ICTs on accessible tourism

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Wine tourism (Chair: Adriano Costa, Portugal)

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Topics of interest include but are not limited to the following:

• Wine Tourism - A way of enhancing the natural, cultural, and historical heritage

• Wine Tourism - Niches Tourism, Slow Tourism and Slow Food

• Wine Tourism The role of human resources in this typology of tourism

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Health and wellness tourism (Chair: Joaquim Gonçalves Antunes, Portugal)

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Topics of interest include but are not limited to the following:

• Health and Wellness Tourism experience

• Digital marketing applied to the Health and Wellness Tourism sector

• Hospitality in Health and Wellness Tourism

• Quality of services in Health and Wellness Tourism

• Product Development in Health and Wellness Tourism

• Information technologies in Health and Wellness Tourism sector

• Strategic planning in thermal spas

• Analysis of supply and demand in Health and Wellness Tourism

• Marketing Place for a Thermal Spa

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Business Simulations in Higher Education (Chairs: Paulino Silva and Anabela Mesquita, Portugal)

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More and more, the world of work is demanding soft skills as a requisite to enter the job market. As a consequence, Higher Education Institutions are introducing changes in the pedagogical approaches and teaching methods in order to meet these needs and expectations. One solution includes the incorporation of Business Simulation methodologies in the most diverse courses, at all educational levels. These types of solutions enables students to develop important skills, together with practical knowledge, among other areas that can be addressed by simulations. This mini-track provides an opportunity for educators, researchers, students and practitioners to exchange ideas, techniques, and experiences concerning the use of these techniques as a way to acquire practical knowledge and develop soft skills. Different submission topics and formats are welcome, ranging from papers describing games and simulations, to papers presenting technological solutions and even the description of the use of such a solution in higher education.

Nowadays, the development of soft skills is considered as important as the more technical and theoretical knowledge in order to become employable and competitive. Employers are looking for professionals that possess practical knowledge and understand clearly the business where they are entering in. One possible solution to help students to develop those capabilities is by the use of business simulations as these simulate the real situation, where the student potentially might enroll, helping key actors to feel and learn as if they were in the world of work. This mini-track is an opportunity for educators, researchers, students, and practitioners to share and exchange ideas, techniques and experiences regarding business simulation, its development, application and pedagogical approaches. Suggested topics related to Business Simulation:

• Games and business simulation in education

• Virtual learning environments

• Available solutions and technologies for business simulation

• Pedagogical and methodological issues in the use of business simulations

• Assessment of the learning outcomes in the use of Business Simulations

• Case Studies in the Effectiveness of Business Simulations in IS Education

• Theories behind the development and use of Business Simulations

• Ethical issues concerning the use of business simulations

• Challenges faced by educators and students

• Mobile business simulation

• Integration of students in the job market

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Cultural entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship in education (Chair: Maria Inês Basílio de Pinho, Portugal)

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The term Entrepreneurship is commonly associated with the business area. Among the pioneer authors who dedicated themselves to the study of the concept are Cantillon (1755), Smith (1776), Mill (1848), Knight (1921) or Schumpeter (1942). They referred to the entrepreneur as “the person who takes risks and makes decisions, who generates limited resources for launching new businesses”. However, the development of the concept, on the one hand, and the ability to adapt it to new situations has led different areas of knowledge such as Culture or Education to seek to adopt it. That is how we speak of the Concept of Cultural Entrepreneurship or Entrepreneurship in Education. Cultural Entrepreneurship is understood as the organizational philosophy of cultural facilities and considers two types of fundamental freedom: the artistic freedom (where there are no limits to creation) and the entrepreneurial freedom (where the artist is led to decide between the existing alternatives or, in another way, where the artist has the power and resources to fulfill his own potential and to control and determine his own actions and destiny (Hagoort, 2007). Entrepreneurship in Education admits that the future entrepreneurs are at primary school. Like that, the way the education prepares its pupils for the XXI century challenges should be different from what has been done until now. In another way, children should be more innovative, more creative, more resilient, more motivated, more self-controled, more able to take risks and more aware of the 2030 sustainable development goals.

Given the concepts of cultural entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship in Education, it is proposed that aspects such those below should be developed in this track:

• Agents of creativity and innovation in Arts and the Education sectors;

• Entrepreneurship in the Arts, Culture and Education sector;

• Strategies to implement Cultural and Educational Entrepreneurship;

• Uses of technologies in the cultural organizations or by the entrepreneurs in the classrooms or as strategies for Cultural

• Entrepreneurship or Entrepreneurship in Education

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Routes and Itineraries Structures and Services: Challenges for sustainable tourism development (Chairs: Maria do Rosário Borges and Noemi Marujo, Portugal) 

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This session aims to stimulate discussions on tourism routes and itineraries structures and/or services. This market is facing several challenges in the context of sustainable tourism development. From the point of view of technologies, tourism supply or demand, governance, innovation, monitoring activities, new collaboration practices and projects, this session seeks to collect submissions (theoretical papers, state-of-the-art reviews, empirical papers and case studies) approaching interesting or innovative perspectives.