Mass tourism, cultural heritage, and traditional values within citizen lifestyle in Porto (Portugal): an overview through the HAC4CG project

Porto has a rich urban mesh and unique cultural identity, whose preservation has been the basis of its historic centre classification as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO (1996). The increase in demand of Porto as a tourism destination since 2015 was simultaneously favoured by the opening of Porto’s airport new terminal that greatly powered low-cost companies and the licensing for the rehabilitation of houses for hostels and restaurants. These were factors of opportunity that allowed an exponential growth of tourism and a for-profit rehabilitation process in the entire city without proper control. Beyond the impact on housing and gentrification, mass tourism has had a great impact on the city’s lifestyle. The local community is currently confronted with these rapid metamorphoses, becoming the agent of a process of acculturation that is complex and unsustainable in the long run and with implications in the construction of Identity and future Collective Memory. Furthermore, to attract the newly arrived costumers and their diverse culinary preferences, the traditional local gastronomy has been changed, remodelled, and repackaged. Deep changes were observed either in traditional food consumption value chains as well in the grocery’s stores, markets, and restaurants. This communication aims to highlight the preliminary results of the research conducted under the HAC4GC project.