Sixth International Conference on Tourism & Leisure Studies

Abstract

This study looks at the relationship between Portuguese colonial history, the rise of tourism in the country and, what I have elsewhere called the touristification of culture and imperial identitarianism (Rito, 2017). With increased global mobility and national investment plans to touristify natural and cultural landscapes, tourism income became a significant contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP). This phenomenon has been especially significant after the 2008 crisis, until the beginning of the Covid-19 outbreak. In 2015, and again in 2016, Lisbon’s municipality announced a new regeneration plan to invest some of the income generated via the tourism tax (18,2 million euros). This plan included the contested Discoveries Museum that, according to Lisbon’s Mayor, was a “long due project” (Boaventura, 2015). Although the museum was promised to be concluded in late 2018, its construction has not yet started—probably due to the significant debate generated around the meaning of such museum in contemporary times. The celebration of Portuguese colonial history and its contestation disclose unresolved colonial affects and systemic racism in contemporary Portuguese society. This paper explores these phenomena, the opportunity to reflect upon this legacy, and the role of museums in the configuration of the present.