Portugal is one of several countries investing big into industrial tourism – a term that describes experiences where travelers can visit factories to see how products get made. Of course, vineyards and liquor distilleries along with many food manufacturers have long offered this sort of experience. But Portugal is taking it one step further. In São João da Madeira, you can visit a pencil making factory, or a hat factory or facility that makes high end belts. The entire idea is a perfect twist on the usual sterile tourist experiences offered in gift shops where you can buy “artisan” products without any real experience of how those things were created.
Industrial tourism bridges that gap, and is one of the factors that helped Portugal achieve record profits from the tourism sector last year. The idea is perfectly on trend, and actually encompasses a lot of experiences that reach every sector – from touring a BMW factory in Germany to seeing how perfume is made in the famous French town of Grasse. If you’re thinking about your next trip or planning it now, there’s probably a fascinating industrial tourism experience you could add to your itinerary too.
