Yesterday, at the event “Braga creates value: education, business impact and management” - held at Forum Braga - the Portuguese Catholic University (UCP) presented a degree in Applied Management, which is scheduled to start in the next academic year.

‘In the third year, we will have a differentiation in two strategic areas that students must choose: tourism or business analytics,’ said the course coordinator, Ana Salazar, in statements to journalists.

‘These are two areas that we believe make all the difference today,’ she said, after explaining that the curriculum for the first two years includes traditional subjects such as economics, accounting, leadership, operations, information systems and finance.
Elaborating on the reasons why UCP chose these two areas for the third year of the new degree, Ana Salazar alluded to the impact that tourism has on the national economy.

‘In 2024, we had significant growth, but in 2025, we are talking about €29 billion in revenue, more than 82 million overnight stays, and we only have 10 million inhabitants, more than 30 million tourists, and Braga and this region of Minho have really grown a lot, precisely because they have a differentiated offer,’ she pointed out.

‘And we believe that the connection between the business world and business intelligence, data management, and the personalisation of offerings that data management allows us to achieve, will make all the difference,’ she emphasised.

‘We are very happy with the teaching staff,’ said the coordinator, explaining that ‘we tried to bring in people with experience and reputation’ in Braga, but, she added, ‘we also have some colleagues from Porto who will also assist us in this mission.’ Ana Salazar also emphasises the idea of implementing teaching ‘with personalisation and connection to the business world.’

Specialisation and, at the same time, cross-disciplinary training will make the difference in companies, she argues, pointing to ‘the added value it will bring, not only in technical terms, but especially in terms of teamwork and problem-solving skills.’

The coordinator also emphasises training in collaborative work, leadership and conflict resolution.

‘Basically, for those with experience in management, at first we think: I know how to do this, I know how to do that, but what will really make the difference is people. And if I don't know how to manage people, customers are people, employees are people, managers are people, people are here, they are at the centre of everything, and that is what will make the big difference, I think.’

Ana Salazar also pointed out that the Catholic University ‘was founded here in Braga and we have a very strong Jesuit identity, even at the educational level, so personal growth and sharing a sense of community makes perfect sense to us here’.

The coordinator of the new degree programme goes on to point out that "there are already complicated issues, for example, regarding the use of artificial intelligence, which is replacing a number of functions, but what I believe is that these functions will be replaced because they will be optimised, there will be improvements in processes, there will be gains in productivity, but, on the other hand, people will make a difference in the component that Artificial Intelligence will never be able to do".