In January 2012, the city council of S. João da Madeira launched an Industrial Tourism project, financed by ON.2, consisting of a set of industrial tourist circuits. Through visiting different manufacturing units in the county, the project aimed to combine the preservation of the city’s industrial archaeological legacy with the promotion of both industries considered traditional and the new creative and technological industries.
Having achieved a prominent place at the national level, affirming itself as a reference project for other municipalities, the Industrial Tourism initiative now aims to extend its circuits to new companies in the county. The municipality is also coordinating the working group for the creation of the Standard of Quality of Industrial Tourism in Portugal, integrated in a technical committee presided over by Turismo de Portugal.
The Creative Industrial tourism project aims to create a set of Routes of Experience in order to complement the offer of visits to the local industrial heritage and to the live industry already promoted by the Industrial Tourism of S. João da Madeira since 2012. Inspired by models of collaborative participation, this initiative aims to provide tourists an opportunity to experience the daily life of a locality marked by industry, where a solid industrial fabric joins the technological and creative industries within a culturally and artistically rich environment. The Routes of Experience will be organized in four segments – Creativity, Gastronomy, Art, and Industry – providing tourists a series of workshops and experiences, sharing experiences, and building relationships between places and visitors.
» Creative tourism pilot: Creative industrial tourism