CLICTOUR – Climate change resilient tourism in protected areas of Northern Portugal

The global effects of climate change for the coming decades are now a certainty. Northern Portugal will have to deal with problems related to an increased frequency of extreme events, more significant droughts, and sea level rise. With this climate emergency, communities need response and adaptation strategies. In the specific case of protected areas, nature tourism is used as a development strategy, as it reinforces the conservation and sustainable development of local communities. The CLICTOUR project is born out of this need, its main goal being to support the development of climate change-resilient tourism in the protected areas of Northern Portugal.

CLICTOUR articulates two research lines, one focused on the socioeconomic development of tourism and for tourism, under the effects of climate change (RL1- Socio-economic Wheels), and the other more physical and linked to the natural geographic space (RL2- Geospatial integration in tourism).

The scientific outputs of the project include a regional tourism model, maps and statistical data on tourism and climate change, a climate change risk model, adaptation strategies and case studies, and a global tourism adaptation roadmap. The research work is carried out with an application to three protected natural areas, partners of the project: Peneda-Gerês National Park, Alvão Natural Park, and Litoral Norte Natural Park.

Principal Investigator (CECS): António Vieira

Team from CECS: António Vieira, António Bento Gonçalves, Maria José Caldeira and Ana Duarte Melo

Research fellows: Sara Silva, Saulo Folharini, Tiago Marques and Jorge Novais

Main R&D Unit: NIPE and CECS

Period: 01 May 2021 to 30 June 2023

Website: https://clictour.pt/