Cultural tourism is a growing economic activity forecasted to continue expanding. In the present, UNWTO (2018) estimated that four out of ten tourists choose their destination based on its cultural offering.

Accordingly, culture - as a tourism resource, product or experience -has an important value both for tourists and host communities, shaping community identities and fostering respect and tolerance among individuals.

In consequence, the ‘interconnectivity’ between tourism, culture and creativity has been deepening in the framework of sustainable development. The megatrends towards adding culture as the fourth dimension of sustainability has support in the 2030 Agenda and its goals. Simultaneously, the interconnection between this Agenda and the 2005 Convention and subsequent second Global Report (2018) is underlined in the document titled ‘Culture in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda: A report by the culture 2030 goal campaign’ and in several public debates known as ‘Create 2030’.

This thematic edition titled ‘Cultural Tourism: New Products Tendencies’ aims to discuss the importance of this type of tourism, once culture is recognised as strategic to the future of tourism competitivity and sustainability. Different types of cultural tourism are considered, from more tangible expressions (such as literature, artwork, industrial heritage) to more intangible ones (celebrations, wine, …), among others.

Guest-Editors: Cláudia Henriques, Pedro Bittencourt César, Lurdes Varela and Maria Cristina Moreira