Duration: 2022 – 2024
Principal Researcher
Sara Santos
Team Members
Luísa Augusto
Sónia Ferreira
Nowadays, an increasing number of cities and regions seek to differentiate themselves through the creation of a distinct identity and a positive image, by developing place branding strategies. The use of storytelling can also represent an added value when applied to the promotion of tourist destinations. It is essential that the entities responsible for managing the tourism image of Portuguese regions rethink their communication strategies and prioritise “telling stories”, emotions, and audience engagement in the construction of territorial identity. Place marketing, particularly through investment in tourism promotional videos, makes it possible to highlight the unique characteristics of a territory and its differentiation from others. Through the story told about a region, audiences identify with the characters and are “transported” by the narrative.
In Portugal, the Centro region has stood out for the promotional films (using storytelling techniques) that it employs to promote the central region of the country. In recent years, Turismo do Centro has won dozens of international awards related to tourism promotion. Likewise, the Tourism Development Association “Aldeias Históricas de Portugal” also won the world award for Best Tourism Film in 2021.
Considering this global recognition, the present project will be developed in partnership with Turismo do Centro and Aldeias Históricas de Portugal, as examples of good practices in regional tourism promotion through storytelling in promotional videos.
The main objective of STORYtur is to understand the tourism promotion strategies of Portuguese regions, particularly the Centro region.
The project involves conducting studies through interviews (with representatives of Turismo do Centro and Aldeias Históricas de Portugal) and the administration of questionnaires to the public.