Porto Climate Pact. Porto’s tourism strategy is fully aligned and committed to the Porto Climate Pact, an initiative of the Porto City Council that calls for collective action by citizens and organisations to achieve ambitious carbon neutrality targets. More than 200 institutions in fields as diverse as academia, education, industry, telecommunications, construction, transport, NGOs, services, sport, science, health and culture have signed the pact and committed themselves to the search for solutions towards a more sustainable city.
The ambition is for Porto to be a national and European leader in climate action, bringing carbon neutrality forward to 2030. A city where circularity and decarbonisation processes play an important role in economic activity and job creation. A fair city, where decarbonisation contributes to supporting the people and entities most affected by this energy transition, reducing energy poverty. A healthier city with high air quality that enhances citizens’ health and quality of life. An inclusive city where all organisations and citizens are an active part of the decarbonisation process.
As a result, Porto has been selected by the European Commission to join the group of 100 climate-neutral Smart Cities and is recognised as a certified entity (Platinum level) by the international organisation World Council On City Data, according to the ISO 37120 standard, which promotes sustainable city development.
Several projects are being implemented as part of Porto’s sustainable tourism strategy :
– Dispersion of tourist flows to the entire territory (new Tourism Blocks) in order to relieve the pressure on the areas of most significant demand, creating new opportunities in other districts of the city for tourism-driven economic and social development;
– Encourage visitor respect and good behaviour towards the destination (Tourist’s manifest): promote good social and environmentally responsible practices, as well as due care for heritage and public spaces;
– Encourage community involvement with the city’s tourism: create actions and initiatives geared towards involving locals with the city’s tourism product;
– Ensure compliance with the Porto Climate Pact: promote the adoption of measures and best practices towards carbon neutrality goals and raise awareness among sector operators;
– Encourage the consumption of local products and promote a circular economy: create initiatives to support the local economy and disseminate best practices of circularity between tourism and economic activities, with a focus on traditional, artisanal and fair/ethical trade activities;
– Protect local and traditional commerce, ensuring the control of economic activities to create an ecosystem that encourages entrepreneurship and ensures it serves the local community;
– Ensure the capacity to respond and recover from natural risks and other risks caused by climate change;
– Promote a stimulating ecosystem capable of attracting and retaining companies, talent and investment from different sectors.
Porto has also acted on structural issues such as: environmental education, green structure, urban cleaning, water cycle management, redesign of rivers, streams and bathing areas, animal welfare, biodiversity and nature-based solutions.
The parks and gardens network has been continuously enhanced, with sports facilities added to promote health and well-being, and the expansion and refurbishment of public green spaces, extending to building roofs, car parks and the Metro light railway stations. Asprela Park was enhanced to become the “New Green Lung of Porto”. Inaugurated in March 2022, the park’s six hectares comprise a carefully designed landscape, with water mirrors, 900 planted trees, more than 700 preserved trees, streams and more than two kilometres of pedestrian and cycle paths accessible to people with reduced mobility.
Complementary to the park, the first renewable energy community in the region—”Asprela+Sustainable”—is being implemented in the same neighbourhood. It has energy efficiency as its central theme. Its broader purpose is to function as a driving force for the energy transition and the effective reduction of Porto’s carbon footprint.
Simultaneously, the focus on public transport and soft mobility, besides facilitating mobility in the city, allows economic savings and carbon emissions’ reduction. Most public transport is already hybrid, electric or natural gas-powered. The urban bus fleet, undergoing renovation, has 420 vehicles in operation (79% powered by compressed natural gas, 5% electric, 16% by diesel). The Metro network prevents approximately 12 thousand vehicles circulating daily in the city and 55 thousand tons/year of CO2 emission, which will be boosted with the creation of new Metro lines, besides the 8 km of green mobility which will be provided by the future Bus Rapid Transit line.
Various measures have been implemented to ensure a balanced coexistence between residents, tourists, and economic agents, due to the growth in tourist demand in recent years. Sustainable practices by tourism sector agents include reducing water use, energy, and waste, reducing wasted resources, transitioning to electric vehicles, and promoting plogging.
To compensate for the impact of the tourism footprint and ensure the quality of life of the community, other instruments have been introduced. These include the tourism tax and the “Movida” regulation, which regulated night-time entertainment and reinforced urban cleaning at points of high tourist affluence and during events and festivities.
The city has joined several international projects, such as the “Green City Accord” and the “ClimAdaPT.Local“. Porto was also the first Portuguese council to have a noise laboratory accredited by the NP EN ISO/IEC 17025 standard, which controls noise pollution through acoustic measurements.
The challenge of tourism growth and the need to balance the quality of city life with tourism development led to the creation of new touristic quarters, a strategic project of the City Council and one of the cornerstones of the “Vision map for the sustainable future of the destination of Porto”.
To define this new landscape of tourism promotion, the City Council worked in partnership with various stakeholders and conducted an in-depth study of the tourist territorial units in the city of Porto. The mission, viewing the city as a whole, was to look for solutions to decentralise tourist flows, relieve pressure on the areas of most significant demand and create new opportunities for tourism-generated development.
A new tourist map was drawn up as a result, which defines eight blocks that reflect the identity of each neighbourhood, their attractiveness, and tourism offer as “micro destinations” within the larger “Porto destination”. The strategy embraces and interconnects the entire territory and goes beyond it, seeing cohesion and territorial cooperation as ways of strengthening the international positioning of the entire region and the country.
This dispersion within the Porto destination is crucial for the continued sustainable growth of tourism in the city, preserving its attractiveness and promoting economic, social and environmental balance and development.
The Tourist’s Manifest outlines standards and best practices and strives to foster positive interaction between tourists, the city, and its resident community.
This informative handbook includes 40 simple recommendations divided into themes such as sustainability, accommodation or nightlife. Suggestions include learning the Portuguese language or tasting a typical dish, as well as practical tips on caring for and preserving public spaces and heritage, saving water or shopping in traditional businesses, are just a few examples of what this guide includes. The content of the Tourist Manifesto follows the recommendations of the UNWTO (World Tourism Organisation) and the SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) of the United Nations.
The proposed recommendations aim to enhance the overall visitor experience and establish Porto as a progressively sustainable destination that offers added value to all stakeholders.
The Municipal Recognition Programme “Trust Porto” was created in 2021 and aims to distinguish excellence in hospitality services through training and recognition of good practices implemented by the tourism sector.
Initially intended for Tourist Accommodation, it has expanded to include Tourist Walking Tours and Motorised Tourist Circuits, focusing on enhancing the quality of the city experience and respecting its authenticity and uniqueness. The “Trust Porto” seal recognises excellence in service provision and management good practices, such as the business model, human resources management, and sustainability.
The programme includes free-of-charge, non-mandatory training based on sharing best practices and guidelines.
Cartão Porto (Porto Card) is a card freely distributed to local residents and students that gives access to several services, discounts and benefits in different areas such as culture, sports, mobility and information.
With a single card, holders can visit municipal swimming pools at half price, borrow books from municipal libraries, consult newspapers and magazines for free, and watch shows at half-price at several museums and venues. The benefits in 2024 will include 22 free trips per year on the city’s public transport (metro and buses).
It also includes an SMS Alert service that provides local information about traffic and parking restrictions, suspension of water, electricity, and gas supplies, and changes to recycling bin collections.
