Porto Council launches PlanYourJourney in bid to relieve tourist concentrations in city centre

Porto City Council has launched a website to encourage visitors to the city to explore further afield in the city and not just concentrate in the historic downtown area.

PlanYourJourney provides a digital trip around eight new tourism district in the municipality and encourages tourists to plan their visits and sightseeing.

It also features a new official Porto tourism map which will be distributed at hotels, the airport, and Porto tourist shops and attractions, in Portuguese, English, Spanish and French.

“We have redesigned the city’s tourist maps according to the new tourism zones,” Catarina Santos Cunha, the city’s tourism and internationalisation councillor told ECO/Local Online.

They are: Baixa, Historic downtown area), Boavista (Boavista, Campo Alegre and Marginal do Douro), Atlântico (Foz and Matosinhos Sul), Campanhã and Antas, Bonfim, República (Lapa, República and Marquês) and Universitário (Asprela, Arca d’Água, Carvalhido and Ramalde).

The PlanYourJourney platform and the new tourist map are the “embodiment of the city’s organisation into eight tourist zones aimed at encouraging tourist footfall to not just concentrate in the historic city centre but explore further afield.

It also aims to enhance and preserve local authenticity, and strike a balance between visitor experiences while safeguarding the quality of life of the local residents,” continues Catarina Santos Cunha. The Mayor of Porto, Rui Moreira added that it was “also a matter of relieving the pressure on the historic center, safeguarding the well-being of residents.”