Francisco Gonçalves holds a Ph.D. in Tourism from the University of Aveiro and a Master's in Tourism from the Polytechnic Institute of Viana do Castelo. As a member of the Research Unit on Governance, Competitiveness, and Public Policy (GOVCOPP) at the University of Aveiro, he has actively contributed to numerous national and international research projects focused on Tourism models. He teaches several courses on Tourism at the School of Hospitality and Tourism of the Polytechnic Institute of Cávado e Ave in Barcelos, Portugal, and he is the Director of the Degree in Tourism Management. He is also a prolific author and co-author, demonstrating his expertise through papers presented at conferences both nationally and internationally, as well as through publications in reputable scientific journals. His extensive academic background, active participation in research, and dedication to education highlight his substantial contributions to the field of Tourism.
EDUCATION
PhD in Tourism
RESEARCH, TEACHING, or OTHER INTERESTS
Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Management, Tourism, Leisure and Hospitality Management
18
Scopus Publications
Scopus Publications
From Heritage Interpretation to Sustainable Tourism Routes: The Barcelos Rooster Case Study Within the UNESCO Creative Cities Network Francisco Joaquim Gonçalves, Carlos Manuel Costa Petfluencers and Pet Powered Branding, 2025 This chapter proposes a sustainable tourism route in Barcelos, integrating its cultural and historical landmarks with a special focus on the iconic Barcelos Rooster. Through heritage interpretation, the route aims to enrich visitor experiences, raise community awareness, and promote sustainable tourism aligned with the UNESCO Creative Cities Network. The methodology includes a literature review and qualitative surveys of residents and visitors to gather diverse insights. The outcomes involve identifying the best practices for sustainable tourism, analyzing Barcelos' current tourism landscape, and designing an itinerary centered on the Barcelos Rooster. The research also evaluates potential impacts on local communities and heritage, ensuring this route reflects local values. Innovative digital marketing strategies are trying to promote the route, emphasizing Barcelos' cultural identity. The chapter contributes to a sustainable tourism model that may serve as a benchmark for other UNESCO Creative Cities.
The Relationship between Sports Clubs and Regional Development: Destination Management in Barcelos (Portugal) Ana Margarida RIBEIRO, Bruno Barbosa SOUSA, Francisco GONÇALVES Ibima Business Review, 2025 Sport has a great and indisputable link with the tourism sector, which helps to boost local, regional, and national development. That said, sports tourism has been gaining an increasingly important place in the tourist offer. This is due to the fact that sport has a great capacity to attract tourists, either to practice it or even to attend sporting events as spectators. Since sports tourism can be considered a driving force behind the development of regional tourism, there may be a need for municipalities and local sports associations to work together. The aims of this project are to understand the importance of sports organizations for local tourism, with the main focus on the Gil Vicente FC and Óquei Clube de Barcelos clubs. Data were collected by interviewing the director of the Culture, Tourism, Youth and Sports department of Barcelos Municipality, with the aim of studying the municipality’s relationship with the main local sports entities. The results will make it possible to identify what joint work is being carried out between the aforementioned entities, as well as the importance of the two clubs for sports tourism in Barcelos. From an interdisciplinary perspective, this study seeks to present some preliminary insights into sports tourism and its contribution to territorial development in the context of Barcelos.
Digital Communication and the Crisis Management in Hotel Management: A Perspective in the Euroregion North of Portugal and Galicia (ERNPG) Diana Cardoso, Bruno Sousa, Dália Liberato, Pedro Liberato, Eunice Lopes, et al. Administrative Sciences, 2023 The current unprecedented globalization of the social economy, with worldwide mobility of people, products and services in an increasingly connected market and society, has promoted the rapid geographic spread of the coronavirus (i.e., crisis management) outbreak, negatively affecting tourists’ behavior and their well-being, whether due to restrictions imposed by governments on international travel, or due to tourists’ fear of catching the disease. This manuscript aims to understand how digital communication has helped the tourism industry in general and the hotel context in particular to face the negative consequences caused by the new coronavirus pandemic. The development of the research followed a qualitative methodological approach, constituting an exploratory study, based on four semi-structured interviews with managers of hotel establishments, located in the Northern Region of Portugal and Galicia. As main conclusions, it is possible to highlight that digital communication and the use of social networks were fundamental tools for hotel establishments during the pandemic caused by COVID-19, especially during the confinement period, when establishments had to close, many of them completely. There were many changes brought about in the tourism industry in the Euroregion of Northern Portugal and Galicia (ERNPG), with an increase in domestic tourism, a decrease in the external market and a change in tourist profile and behavior, whether due to sanitary and public health issues that induced fear of travel, or by the measures imposed by the government that prevented such trips. According to the strategies implemented by the hotel establishments, the intensification of digital communication use and social networks stands out, since, for a long time, it consisted of the only connecting tool between the hotel and its customers and the initiatives of the Regional Entities and Turismo de Portugal (regional and national DMOs), through numerous training courses in the area of digital marketing and the implementation of hygiene, sustainable and safety measures in hotel establishments. Regarding the future of tourism, it is expected that it will recover in the coming years and approach the historical values of previous years, given the advance in vaccination against the disease and the tourist’s desire to travel. In the short term, strategies are expected from hotel establishments that include valuing the destination on digital marketing platforms through attracting qualified human resources and a commitment towards tourism sustainability.
Measuring Sustainable Tourism Lifestyle Entrepreneurship Orientation to Improve Tourist Experience Mariana Antunes, Álvaro Dias, Francisco Gonçalves, Bruno Sousa, Leandro Pereira Sustainability Switzerland, 2023 This study develops a four-item scale to measure the impact of a tourism lifestyle entrepreneur on the touristic experience, and seeks to understand to what extent a tourist perceives, through what is provided, that a tourism business owner, is not a “common entrepreneur”. After an item generation, data was collected from two different surveys with 200 answers, and exploratory and confirmatory factorial analyses were performed to test discriminant and nomological validity. The correlation between the variables was significant at level 0.01 and the coefficients were positive. Cronbach’s Alpha was acceptable with a value of 0.736. The results complemented existing literature on this topic and allowed further research to measure the perception of tourists in regard to tourism lifestyle entrepreneurship. From an interdisciplinary perspective, this manuscript presents insights for entrepreneurial management, tourism marketing and business sustainability. At the end, the limitations of the study are presented, and lines of investigation outlined for future research.
The contribution of the heritage interpretation for the development of creative tourism. The case of the cock of barcelos Revista Portuguesa De Estudos Regionais, 2019
Creative tourism development and implementation model. The case of the rooster of barcelos Journal of Tourism and Development, 2019