Industrial Tourism: a study on the creation of an industrial network in Vila Nova de Gaia (Portugal)

Industrial tourism asserts itself as a tourist product of high economic, cultural and recreational value, through which the visitor can experience the dynamics of companies in activity and/or relive activities from other times, visiting archaeological and museum spaces. The main objective of this work is to investigate the feasibility of implementing an industrial tourism network in Vila Nova de Gaia (Portugal). It was decided to focus on an aggregation of active companies, with the aim of re‑dimensioning the tourist offer and giving the municipality notoriety in industrial terms. The case study method was used, which was associated with a set of data collection tools, namely the survey through interviews with municipal entities and stakeholders, in this case industries interested in joining the network. It was possible to assess the degree of maturity of the project and how the intended industrial tourism network in the region could be implemented.