Overview CST “Cultural Sustainable Tourism” 2021

The third edition of the International Conference on “Cultural Sustainable Tourism” was held in collaboration with the University of Maia in Portugal, and took place virtually from the 13th to the 14th of October, due to the travel restrictions caused by the pandemic.

The Conference discussed the impact of the pressing issues in the world nowadays on tourism and cultural preservation. The Conference’s topics attracted scientists, architects, cultural preservation enthusiasts, and researchers to discuss their papers and come up with possible solutions to solve the problems of endangered cultures worldwide and promote cultural tourism.

Among the main topics discussed in the conference:

1-     Policies and Mechanisms for Heritage Preservation

2-     Social and Economic impacts

3-     Future Prospects and Trends of Tourism

4-     Sustainable Environment: Geography and Tourism

Day 1:

Welcoming Session:

The Opening Ceremony started with the online registration and welcoming speeches from the Conference Chair and IEREK’s founder.

First a Presentation about IEREK introducing IEREK as a company and its activities to the audience.

Following IEREK’s introduction, short welcoming speeches were given by the conference chair Professor Eduardo Cordeiro Gonçalves, University of Maia-ISMAI, and Center of Tourism Development Studies, and the conference co-chair Professor Fernando Faria Paulino, University of Maia ISMAI, Portugal.

Plenary session:

A plenary session followed introducing the first keynote speaker Professor Manuel Salgado, Ph.D. in Tourism from the University of Aveiro, Portugal, whose speech was entitled: “Sustainable development and tourism research perspectives”.

After the keynote speech was the First Session of the conference titled “Development Strategies for Sustainable Tourism”. The session was moderated by Professor Antonio Jose Pinheiro, Ph.D. in Tourism from the University of Coimbra, Portugal, and Professor Roberto Reis, Ph.D. in Tourism from the University of Coimbra, Portugal. The session had six presentations before a short break.

Following the short break was the second Keynote Speaker Professor Xerardo Pereiro, Associate professor of anthropology and cultural tourism, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Portugal, with a speech entitled: “Tourism and Pilgrimage in post-secular times: The Portuguese Inner Way to the Santiago de Compostela (PIWSC)”.

The Second Session entitled “Sustainable Environment: Geography and Tourism” then started and was moderated by Professor Antonio Vilares Melo, University of Maia and Professor Ricardo da Costa Guerra, Phd in Tourism from the University of Coimbra. Four presentations were discussed during the second session and concluded the first day of the Conference.

Day 2:

The second day of the conference started with the speeches of the remaining keynote speakers, Professor Norberto Santos, Director of the Department of Geography and Tourism at the Faculty of Arts, University of Coimbra, with a speech entitled: “Culture and Tourism Development and Sustainability,” and Professor Ante Mandic, Assistant Professor at the University of Split, Faculty of Economics, Business and Tourism, Croatia, with a speech entitled: “Smart governance for heritage tourism destinations.”

After the keynote speeches, the Third Session, which is moderated by Professor Roberto Carlos Reis, Ph.D. in Tourism from University of Coimbra, Portugal, and Professor Antonio Jose Pinheiro, Ph.D. in Tourism from the University of Coimbra, Portugal. The third session discussed seven presentations, before a short break.

Next was the Fourth Session of the conference and it was moderated by Professor Antonio Vilares Melo, Professor at the University of Maia. The fourth and last session of the conference discussed the remaining five presentations.

A discussion and a Questions and Answers session followed, and the Conference was concluded by a Panel session where final remarks and feedback were discussed.

 The United Nations World Tourism Organization defined Cultural Tourism as a category of tourism that helps tourists to learn about other tourism places and excavate their cultures, arts, literature, and history. It also sheds light on civilizations and their unique impacts on the world these days.

With the world's increased focus on the preservation of archaeological sites and promoting architectural tourism, cultural tourism stands as the guardian of ancient civilizations and promoter of contemporary ones.

One of the objectives of promoting cultural tourism and heritage preservation is to introduce a new understanding of certain cultures and their lifestyles, education, literature, and arts. These are factors that shape the essence of civilizations in the ancient world and the contemporary ages. It also aims to destroy the everlasting stereotypes about old or foreign civilizations. 

Moreover, through focusing on the cultural aspects of civilizations, it is easier to discover new techniques of integration and promoting global dialogue. This has become crucial in the current circumstances where the world joins to face the threats of Covid 19. This resulted in open discussions on how to encourage sustainable tourism and eco-friendly environments.

Therefore, IEREK is organizing the 3rd edition of the international conference on Cultural Sustainable Tourism (CST2021) to help researchers discuss sustainable approaches to preserving the cultural heritage of countries across the globe. The conference also aims at creating a mutual understanding of the importance of green tourism through explaining civilizations' various techniques of spreading their cultures.

The 3rd edition of the conference is an integration opportunity to allow participants from different cultures and backgrounds to present their unique natures. From the comfort of you home, due to the global threat of Covid 19 and travel restrictions, you can participate in the discussions, attend the sessions, and present your research paper where it will be discussed by world experts and tourism enthusiasts.

• 1. Aspects of a Sustainable Tourism

  1.1.Demand for Sustainable Travel and Mobility
  1.2.Governmental Role in Maintaining and improving destinations capacity
  1.3.Community interaction for Sustainable Tourism
  1.4.Development Strategies for Sustainable Tourism
  1.5.Integrated Relational Tourism (IRT) as a Tool of Development

• 2. Policies and Mechanisms for Heritage Preservation

  2.1.Heritage Preservation and Green Economy Integration
  2.2.Cultural Heritage Diversity and Green Tourism
  2.3.Globalization and Heritage Management
  2.4.Allocating Cultural Heritage and Environmental Resources, Wealth Conservation and Management
  2.5.Heritage Preservation and Integration in Modern planning

• 3. User Interaction Based Development

  3.1. User Centered Design and Management for Cultural Heritage
  3.2. Heritage Social Role in Sustainable Development
  3.3. How Demographic Shifts Affect the Cultural Identity
  3.4. Social Development in Public and Cultural Spaces
  3.5. Cultural Traditions evolution through the year

• 4. Social and Economic impacts

  4.1. Conservation of Cultural Heritage and Traditional Values
  4.2. A Responsible Touristic Approach: Stakeholders and user interaction
  4.3. Consumerism and Tourism
  4.4. Tourism Sustainability and Economic Efficiency
  4.5. Economic Sustainability, Concepts & Impacts

• 5. Future Prospects and Trends of Tourism

  5.1. Digital Technology and E Tourism
  5.2. Sustainable Tourism in Protected Areas
  5.3. The Effect of Transportation on Tourism development
  5.4. Health and Safety Development for Tourism
  5.5. Millennials Perception of Destination

• 6. Sustainable Environment: Geography and Tourism

  6.1. Ecotourism: Principles and Regulations
  6.2. Natural Resources Management
  6.3. Environmental Hazards: Industrialization, Urbanization and Agricultural
  6.4. Heritage in Socio Economic Sustainable Development
  6.5. Geocultural: Effect of Diversity of Places and Culture on Tourism

Instructions

- Each research paper should have one main author who should pay the full fee (Author fees) regardless of attendance.

- Each co-author (1-5 max) has his/her own separate fees to pay as shown in the table below.

- A research paper fee allows only one author, whether main or co-author, to attend the conference and receive only one copy of the conference Abstract book in both hard and soft copies. Extras can be requested for a fee shown below.

Conference Fees:  

Covid-19 Conference attendance Fees: Held online from the comfort of your own home, the fees below guarantee your virtual attendance for all days of the conference date above.

Authors must refer to, and abide by, the following instructions in submitting their abstracts/ papers:

Step 1: Abstract Submission Process

- The author should prepare and submit an Abstract (250 300 words) through the website and before the abstract submission deadline.

- The abstract should clearly state the purpose, results, and conclusions of the work to be described in the final paper.

- The author should select the most relevant topic for the paper from the corresponding conference topics.

- The author can use/download an abstract writing template to submit the abstract file accordingly.

To download the Abstract Writing Template, Click Here

Step 2: Abstract Review

- Upon submission, an abstract will undergo a preliminary evaluation process by members of our scientific committee.

-A relevant topic of the conference should be proposed with clear writing, aims, and objectives of the study clearly presented and sound literature and methodology of the work.

- The author will receive a notification by email, within 2 weeks, of:

• Approval, after which they will be requested to prepare and submit their full/short paper submissions.
• Rejection, if the topic proposed does not fit the theme of the conference.

Step 3: Paper Submission & Preliminary Review

There are 2 types of paper submission at this conference:

• Short Paper 
• Full/Long Paper 

Short Paper:

- A short paper submission consists of 4–5 pages and suits researches that make significant contributions, but still in progress or can be reported briefly.

- The structure of a short paper should contain its abstract, keywords, introduction, problem statements, and the hypothetical solution along with further studies that they will go through when they want to extend their paper to be published online.

- A short paper is only included in the conference Abstracts book and will not have a chance to be published online by Springer or by IEREK’s Journals unless the author extends their work to a full-length paper and pay the corresponding fee.

Full-Length Paper:

- The Full/ Long paper submission is 8 – 12+ pages in length.

- The full paper should state the major issue(s) addressed, the potential significance of the work, the theoretical and methodological approach(es) pursued, major findings, conclusions, implications, and relevant scholarly references.

- A full/long paper will be included in the conference abstracts book as well as get published online by Springer or by IEREK PRESS Journals.

- The author should submit the full/short paper written on the writing template, through our online system before the paper submission deadline.

- The full/short paper should be written in English as it's the official language of the conference.

Step 4: Similarity Check/ Plagiarism Detection

All Chapters will be screened for similarity using iThenticate; a Turnitin Plagiarism detection software, used for academic publishers. Springer Similarity guidelines are as follows:

• Max. % from all sources: 10-15%
• Max. % from one source: 3-5%
• Higher than 30% (all sources): Reject completely
• Lower than 30% (all sources): Ask for revision to decrease the similarities  

To download Paper Writing Template,   Click Here

Step 5: Payment Completion & Confirmation

Once Preliminary approval for presentation at the conference and/or consideration for publication is granted, authors will be expected to complete payment in reference to the Conference Fees.

Note: 
In this phase of revision, the research paper will be evaluated based on its originality, structure, and relativity to the conference theme. If the paper gets acceptance by one reviewer, a paper preliminary acceptance notification will be sent to the author accordingly.

- As soon as payment is confirmed and done successfully, corresponding official documents can be issued from our end such as:

• A signed/stamped preliminary acceptance letter
• Receipt of Payment
• Visa Invitation Letter

Step 6: Rigorous Peer Review Process (Full-length papers only)

Only after payment is confirmed,

- and the full paper submission deadline is reached, a submitted full-length paper is assigned to an Editor from the Editorial Board, in alignment with IEREK’s revision SOP (double-blind process).

- Each paper/ chapter is evaluated by a minimum of two reviewers, after which a final decision by the responsible Editor is made. There is no maximum to the number of times a paper can be reviewed, depending on the quality of the submission.

- Once a decision is made by the Editors, IEREK Editors will communicate one of the following three final decisions:

• Accepted without comments
• Revise and Resubmit – Minor or Major revision
• Final Rejection

- If modifications are in order, authors will be sent the relevant instructions and a deadline will be set. Missed deadlines may result in complete exclusion from the final publication/ final rejection.

- A back and forth process, modifications will be sent back to the responsible Editor/ Series Editor and another round of evaluation conducted.

Publishing in ASTI by Springer (Scopus indexed)                  

After the conference, the submitted manuscripts of authors interested in publishing in the ASTI book series will undergo a rigorous peer review process resulting in a final decision made by the editors. Only accepted research will be published as a chapter in the Book Series entitled “Advances in Science, Technology and Innovation” (ASTI) by Springer. The ASTI Book Series is by managed highly professional members of an International Editorial Board to ensure high-quality material for online publication.

The ASTI Book Series is fully indexed in Scopus. Some titles have been successfully indexed or submitted for indexation in Web of Science (ISI).

About the ASTI series

Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation (ASTI) is a series of peer-reviewed books based on important emerging research that redefines the current disciplinary boundaries in science, technology and innovation (STI) in order to develop integrated concepts for sustainable development. It not only discusses the progress made towards securing more resources, allocating smarter solutions, and rebalancing the relationship between nature and people, but also provides in-depth insights from comprehensive research that addresses the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) as set out by the UN for 2030.

The series draws on the best research papers from various IEREK and other international conferences to promote the creation and development of viable solutions for a sustainable future and a positive societal transformation with the help of integrated and innovative science-based approaches. Including interdisciplinary contributions, it presents innovative approaches and highlights how they can best support both economic and sustainable development, through better use of data, more effective institutions, and global, local and individual action, for the welfare of all societies.

The series particularly features conceptual and empirical contributions from various interrelated fields of science, technology and innovation, with an emphasis on digital transformation, that focus on providing practical solutions to ensure food, water and energy security to achieve the SDGs. It also presents new case studies offering concrete examples of how to resolve sustainable urbanization and environmental issues in different regions of the world.

The series is intended for professionals in research and teaching, consultancies and industry, and government and international organizations. Published in collaboration with IEREK, the Springer ASTI series will acquaint readers with essential new studies in STI for sustainable development.

About Springer:

Springer is a leading global scientific, technical and medical portfolio, providing researchers in academia, scientific institutions and corporate R&D departments with quality content through innovative information, products and services. Springer has one of the strongest STM and HSS eBook collections and archives, as well as a comprehensive range of hybrid and open access journals. Springer is part of Springer Nature, a global publisher that serves and supports the research community. Springer Nature aims to advance discovery by publishing robust and insightful science, supporting the development of new areas of research and making ideas and knowledge accessible around the world. As part of Springer Nature, Springer sits alongside other trusted brands like Nature Research, BioMed Central, and Palgrave Macmillan.

Click on the below image to learn more about the editors

Publishing in ARChive by IEREK Press                                  

ARChive is an open access journal that publishes conference proceedings in a wide range of topics and across all scientific disciplines, from Sciences, Engineering and Technology to Environment, Energy and Earth Sciences. Consequently, it accepts original research papers in a wide spectrum of subjects. ARChive is a journal published on behalf of researchers that perpetually make an effort to contribute to their fields and provides them with a high visibility of research submitted. The series publishes, both, theoretical and experimental high quality papers of current and perpetual interest. It serves to cultivate, propagate, and essentially archive academic research that has been authored and submitted for academic conferences.

ARChive welcomes diverse approaches to innovative ideas that could potentially be a breakthrough in a particular field of study. To provide permanent archiving, ARChive is archived in the collaborative digital preservation archiving systems in LOCKSS, as they provide access to permanent and authorized digital content for electronic scholarly journals.

In accordance with the definition of open access journal provided by BOAI, ARChive is a model of the fully open journal that allows global open access to its content which is freely available without charge to users and institutions. They are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose for non-commercial use, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author.