AEB and Catholic University

The Braga Regional Center of the Catholic University of Portugal will carry out a study, for the Business Association of Braga (AEB), on the perception that residents have about the impact of tourism.

The announcement was made by the general director of AEB, Rui Marques, who was responsible for moderating the panel that took place yesterday morning in the main lecture hall of Católica and which was part of the commemorations of the UCP Academic Day.

Rui Marques stressed that within the scope of the collaboration between AEB and Católica this was the second conference promoted in partnership and that, in addition to the announced study, qualification sessions will also be promoted aimed at actors and tourist leaders and their collaborators, "which will be a huge added value", he underlined.

Representing the UCP, Carla Cardoso stressed that the known numbers, namely regarding overnight stays and guests, are positive, but stressed the importance of "evaluating tourism also with other metrics, namely its impact on the quality of life of local citizens ”.

"This will be one of the objectives of the study to be carried out", said the official, stressing that "it is important that the evaluation of tourism also includes the evaluation of the quality of life of residents".

The coordinator of the Catholic Tourism Course also mentioned that themes related to sustainability have been reinforced in teaching. "Curricular units were reinforced for these themes. We are also adopting more active learning in teaching, with an eye on the active participation of students in solving community problems", she noted.

Carla Cardoso also mentioned that the UCP launched a pioneering initiative "which was to create disciplines linked to the SDGs", specifically extracurricular disciplines for all semesters. It started with one on climate change and there are already links to goals 16 (peace and justice) and 14 (protection of the oceans).