On October 1^st and 2^nd, the Faculty of Science and Technology of the New University of Lisbon (FCT NOVA) hosted the 5^th HERIT-DATA Steering Committee meeting in Caparica, Portugal. The eleven European partners met to discuss the progress made and the next steps to develop and test different digital data tools aiming at better manage tourism flows.

The Committee provided a state of play of the partners' ongoing and planned activities following the collection and harmonization of data in 6 pilots sites in France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Bosnia and Croatia.

One highlight of the meeting was the discussion led by the Tuscany Region supported by the Fondation for Research and Innovation and the FCT NOVA on the definition of a ICT tool aiming at evaluating and managing tourism flows using open data. 

By 2021, together with an App that will be made available for tourists, this platform will use data and artificial intelligence to support decision makers to develop a more sustainable approach to heritage management.

Through the analysis of information about sustainability indicators, tourists’ behaviors or seasonability, the ICT tool will be adaptable to different sites and destinations in the Mediterranean area.

In parallel of this meeting, while enjoying the technical visit of the Ajuda National Palace and the Belém district, the HERIT-DATA partners gave video interviews in these bucolic sites of Lisbon to present their contribution to the project.

The videos will soon be disseminated on the HERIT-DATA website, on Twitter and on LinkedIn.

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Amsterdam is one of the most popular cities to visit in Europe. Thanks to this growing popularity, the touristic sector has generated economic growth and employment. However, more recently the increase of tourists in the city has also had negative consequences, such as overcrowding in some areas, the growth of shops and services focused only on tourists and illegal holiday renting.

The city has developed several measures to bring forward the positive side of tourism and prevent as much as possible the unwanted consequences of tourists’ overcrowding. Some examples are:

• Promoting attractions located outside the city centre and across the wider region;
• Reviewing regulations to limit the opening of new hotels and tourist shops in some areas of the city;
• Launching audience-specific campaigns, such as “Respect and enjoy”, raising the awareness of young British and Dutch male visitors aged 18-34 on the accepted and non-accepted behaviours in the city;
• Collecting quantitative data about the number of visitors or the use of public infrastructure and transport, and qualitative data about the opinion of residents and entrepreneurs on the impact of tourism in their lives.

Amsterdam is one of the cities analysed by the World Tourism Organisation in the publication “Overtourism’? – Understanding and Managing Urban Tourism Growth beyond Perceptions – Volume 2: Case Studies”. This interesting document explains how 18 cities across Europe, the Americas, Asia and the Pacific are managing tourism flows and their impacts.

Click here to read the executive summary
Click here to buy the full report