Cultural Tourism in the Urban Context: Museologic Routes – The cases of Aveiro and Ílhavo (Portugal)

This study identifies how crucial are the relationships between cultural resources and touristic attractions, passing through a journey of transmutation that meets two essential requirements: the need for cultural storytelling or information and the need of providing a unique experience to cultural consumers. One of the most successful products, in the relationship between tourism and culture, are museum routes. This ex-post facto study creates a whole cultural-touristic dynamic through museum routes and their planning in urban areas. We also try to encompass the museum activity of Aveiro and Ílhavo in order to protect and promote sociocultural and patrimonial resources. Our main goal consists on the integration of related areas such as tradition, heritage, art, costumes, crafts, ethnography and history by creating a stronger regional cultural touristic product, that we named “Route Museums, Memories and Stories in the Urban Context of Aveiro and Ílhavo”.