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Smart Destination Management

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Smart Destinations Management

Transform Tourism Destinations with Intelligence, Data, and Strategic Vision.

An advanced executive programme in Smart Tourism and Heritage Management, built around an immersive, real-world case: Parques de Sintra Monte da Lua (PSML).

Develop the practical skills to design, manage, and digitally transform tourism and heritage experiences using data, analytics, and AI. Through on-site immersion, advanced thematic modules, and a final applied challenge, participants will create concrete intervention proposals grounded in real operational and governance challenges, with potential to be replicated in other destinations.

A joint initiative by NOVA IMS, ESHTE, PSML, Turismo de Portugal and NEST, bringing together data, tourism experience, and real governance contexts.

Access to TIA Scholarships: an exclusive opportunity to boost your training in tourism and data with the support of leading industry organizations.

Start: Week of April 13th,2026

Applications Open

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  • Vagas

    Format

    Hybrid

  • Media

    Duration:

    40 hours over 7 weeks

  • Lingua2

    Start Date

    Week of April 13th, 2026

TIA | PRR

Support: TIA – Tourism International Academy Project (TIA | PRR), with the availability of 30 scholarships.

Partnerships

  • ESHTE (1)
    ESHTE
  • PSML
    PSML
  • Screenshot 2026 02 25 104601
    Turismo de Portugal
  • NEST
    NEST
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Bridge Room
Pioneering room in Portugal
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General Information

The Smart Destinations Management Programme prepares tourism professionals, public entities and entrepreneurs to develop advanced competencies to create, manage, and digitally transform touristic and heritage experiences, focusing on smart tourism destinations, using real-world management settings.

The methodology combines immersive real-world settings, theoretical learning and practical applications, with the creation of a project work focused on a real challenge. It adopts active and collaborative learning, allowing for shared experiences that can be moved to each participant’s own context.

The main language of the programme is Portuguese, but materials in English may also be used.

Key benefits:

  • Boosting a smarter destination management
  • Integrating Business Intelligence, data analytics and AI in customer experience and tourism and heritage management
  • Developing design thinking and digital transformation skills
  • Contact with experts in tourism, digital transformation, and innovation
  • Networking and collaboration between academia, tourism professionals, and public entities

Who is it for?

This program is aimed at:

  • Professionals and managers of tourism, culture, and heritage entities
  • Technicians from local authorities and regional entities with responsibilities in tourism development
  • Executives from organisations that manage cultural facilities, parks, and heritage sites
  • Consultants and entrepreneurs focused on innovation, sustainability, and digital transformation in tourist destinations

Why choose this program

If you work in tourism, culture, or heritage management, this program offers a response to the need to modernize experiences, manage flows, protect assets, and demonstrate impact.

By participating in this program, you will acquire the skills needed to lead transformations based on data, digital tools, and AI - directly addressing the changes observed in the sector, the need to create new destination‑management profiles, the ongoing pursuit of sustainability, and the growing opportunity to build smarter destinations based on evidence rather than intuition.

The program is structured around a real case study, allowing training in conditions that reflect the complexity of operations with high cultural value and natural heritage. The richness of contributions to this program is its defining characteristic, with strategic partners from all areas - from technology to practical sector knowledge, as well as national policy guidance.

By the end of the program, you will leave with practical knowledge to design, manage, and digitally transform tourism and the experiences it provides, along with concrete outputs: an applied project with real implementation potential, which you can (and should) use within your organization.

Partners: Applied projects developed with public entities and technology companies, bringing training closer to the real challenges faced by cities.

Applied Labs: Hands‑on learning through projects developed in collaboration with NOVA Cidade Urban Analytics Lab, applying urban data to real contexts.

Bridge Room: Hybrid format ensured by the Bridge Room, a pioneering room in Portugal. Pedagogical model aligned with the EDGE pedagogical strategy.

Faculty: Professors with academic and applied experience in urban intelligence, within an institution that includes researchers recognized in the Top 2% Scientists.

Career Outcomes and Impact

 

Develop the skills to understand visitors, interpret territorial data, and transform tourism destinations through technology, artificial intelligence, and experience design.

Throughout the program, you will acquire practical tools that you can apply immediately to improve flow management, enhance experience quality, protect heritage, and support strategic decision‑making in real tourism destinations.

Position yourself as a professional prepared to take on high‑responsibility roles in public and private organizations, and to progress into positions such as Destination Manager, Senior Technician in Culture or Tourism, Smart Tourism Consultant, Digital Transformation Project Manager, or Visitor Experience Specialist.

This program is designed for those who want to lead the modernization of tourism and heritage - using data, technology, and AI to create smarter, more sustainable, and evidence‑driven destinations.

Program

The programme is divided into three phases:

Phase 1 – Immersion in PSML (Two days):


Day 1 – Visitor Perspective

  • Free “mystery visitor” visit to PSML parks and palaces
  • Immersive observation of the visitor’s journey
  • Structured record of key points of contact and observations (notes, photos, impressions)

Day 2 – PSML Institutional Perspective

  • Presentation of the governance and management model
  • Sustainability, conservation, operation, and actors
  • Debate with PSML representatives
  • Presentation of strategic challenges to be addressed in Phase 3
  • Dinner at PSML

Phase 2 – Thematic Modules

Five modules:

  1. Smart Tourism and Destination Management
    Key concepts, digital transformation, analytical capabilities, collaborative networks.

  2. Customer Experience in Tourism and Heritage Contexts
    Visitor journey, design and storytelling of experiences, satisfaction and loyalty strategies.

  3. Digital Transformation of the Visitor Experience
    Mobile applications, AR/VR, IoT, gamification, digital solutions in experiences and operations, usability, accessibility and technological sustainability.

  4. Business Intelligence & Analytics for Tourist Destinations
    Data for smart tourism and heritage management, KPIs for planning and management, data use for smart destinations.

  5. AI in the Construction of Smart Destinations
    GenAI and LLMs, chatbots and personalised content, Agentic AI in destination management, ethics, transparency and data protection.

Phase 3 – Final Challenge (PSML)

Based on the principles of Design Thinking applied to the challenges presented by PSML, aiming to promote the ideation of action plans and preparation of the final project.

One week where participants will engage in active and collaborative learning, developing a project work with constant feedback, involving teaching staff, experts, and partners.

TIA/PRR Scholarships

A unique opportunity to attend the program with 50% financial support.

This edition of the program is supported by TIA – Tourism International Academy, under the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), with 30 scholarships available worth €975 each, corresponding to 50% of the total investment.

Scholarships are awarded to participants who successfully complete the program.

The scholarship amount will be awarded to students in June 2025, having paid the tuition fee in full upon admission. The TIA | PRR Project scholarship cannot be combined with other discounts.

Eligibility Criteria:

  • For participants residing in Portugal
  • Limited number of places
  • Not cumulative with other discounts

The awarding of scholarships is subject to a limited number of places and a selection process. 

Objectives

At the end of the program, participants will be able to:

  • Understand the principles, pillars and models of Smart Governance of Tourist Destinations
  • Develop skills in Customer Experience, Business Intelligence, Data Analysis and Artificial Intelligence applied to tourism and heritage management
  • Apply Design Thinking and Digital Transformation techniques to innovation in destination management and visitor experiences
  • Design concrete proposals for intervention based on the challenges of a real case study – PSML – with the potential for replication in other destinations

Calendar

Program Schedule

Phase 1 - 8 hours
Day 1: 4 hours (Parque Sintra - Monte da Lua)
Day 2: 4 hours (Parque Sintra - Monte da Lua)

Phase 2 - 20 hours
5 Modules: 4 hours per module
Format: Hibryd

Phase 3 - 12 hours
Local: Parque Sintra - Monte da Lua

Admissions and Investment

Applications for this program are open here.

Start Date: week of April 13th, 2026

Investment:

The tuition fee is €1,950. However, for the 2025-26 edition, starting in April 2026, there will be special support from the TIA - Tourism International Academy (TIA | PRR) Project, which will offer 30 scholarships, worth €975 each (limited places).

Entry Requirements

  • Hold a bachelor's degree in a compatible area (completed by March 2026) or have relevant professional experience in the field;

Application Fee

  • The application fee is €51. Applications will only be considered submitted after payment of the application fee within the stipulated deadline. The fee is non-refundable in case of withdrawal or non-admission to the course.

Pre‑registration

After being admitted to the course and upon confirming enrollment, students must pay the pre‑registration fee (approximately one week after the admission results are announced). This amount is deductible from the total investment and non‑refundable in case of withdrawal, with the following values:

  • €1,000 for applicants who are nationals of a European Union member country
  • €1,250 for applicants of other nationalities

Available discounts

  • 10% for two participants and 20% for groups of three or more participants from the same organization
  • Alumni ESHTE/IMS: 20% discount (cannot accumulate with other discounts)

Certification

Participants who successfully complete the program will receive a Certificate of Completion, issued by NOVA IMS and ESHTE.

Contacts

For more information about this course, please contact:

Renata Barateiro

Marketing and Admissions Coordinator for Executive Education
Marketing & Admissions Department

+351 213 828 619

executive@novaims.unl.pt