On the 24th of January, the Seminar "Inspiring FuTour: the future of tourism professions" took place at the Aula Magna of the Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences (FFCS) of the Catholic University of Portugal (UCP) - Braga Regional Centre.

The initiative, organized by Associação Empresarial de Braga, in collaboration with UCP Braga and the Municipality of Braga, was carried out with the aim of addressing the theme of the future of tourism professions.

This sector is full of potential and opportunities that must be seized, with a challenge ahead of it, which involves, from the outset, the qualification of human resources, in order to increase the quality of the service provided, meeting the demands of consumers. which are getting bigger.

Carla Cardoso, director of tourism studies at UCP Braga, understands that "The qualification of human resources is essential for the competitiveness of tourism, which is why the Catholic University has a degree and a master's degree in the area in Braga, and it is necessary to make known young people and future professionals what challenges they will face as agents in the sector, in order to be able to contribute to the quality of the services provided and the appreciation of the professions".

The director of FFCS, José Manuel Lopes, recalled that "tourism is the main economic activity in Portugal", employing around 19% of the national workforce, hence the requalification of human resources is "essential to guarantee competitiveness of the sector".

The panel of this seminar included personalities such as Luís Pedro Martins (President of Tourism of Porto and North of Portugal), António Barroso (Municipality of Braga), Daniel Vilaça (President of the Business Association of Braga), Jan-Erik Ringertz (Director General of The Yetman Hotel), Rui Barbosa Batista (Travel Blogger – BornFreee), among others.

The audience was mostly attended by Tourism students from different schools and, also, where many professionals in the area were present.