A Norma de Qualidade e os desafios que se colocam ao turismo industrial

In the past few decades there has been an increase in the diversification of options for tourism, with the emergence of new segments, among them industrial tourism: the reclamation of industrial heritage sites as tourist attractions as well as visits to currently active factories. In 2013, the Portuguese Tourism Office (Turismo de Portugal) created a taskforce with the objective of establishing new quality standards for industrial tourism. These standards have had a positive impact in this segment and will certainly contribute to a considerable improvement in the quality of the available options. In this article, these standards are analysed and the challenges that they create are discussed, as well as how good practices can be assured in this field.