Route of the World Heritage Monasteries in Portugal and a Digital Touristic Platform

Abstract

We present the ongoing project Route of the World Heritage Monasteries in Portugal and emphasize the planned Digital Touristic Platform. It's been created as a partnership between local authorities where those monasteries are located and with higher education institutions and the National Management Institute of Heritage. It is been financed by European funds over 14,4Mε. We describe the strategic plan, the key actions and the model of governance. The role of the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on growth and on employment related to cultural heritage and tourism is then approached referring to e-business and digital platforms particularly. We present the results and some new start-up projects as a result of the created synergies. The importance of Heritage Economics with the use of ICT as well as the lessons learned so far are analyzed.