With this BIP ‘Creating immersive military heritage tourism experiences: Authenticity, memorability and identity’, we aim to develop and share synergies that frame the tourism resources of each region/country, focusing on military tourism that covers the various historical eras, the Battle of Crete (Second World War) in Crete (Greece) , the medieval and Napoleonic periods in Lisbon (Portugal), the First World War and the Napoleonic Wars in Waterloo (Belgium).

Far more than visiting the battlefields, we want to explore new museum interpretations, digital applications and the dynamization of the experience and immersion in these historic landscapes, enhancing the creative and technological capacity, analysing the challenges and pointing out solutions that value the action of local stakeholders, who are also invited to share their practices.

The course aims to provide an immersive learning experience in the themes of Military Tourism, combining edutainment with living history, creative design thinking of touristic experiences and awareness of re-enactment importance. Students will engage in an innovative blended learning process through a series of lectures, workshops, fieldwork, and collaborative projects. This approach will provide them with hands-on experience in interviewing, analysis, and presentation of results on these themes. By adopting an agile, learning-by-doing pedagogy, students will enhance their practical research skills and achieve lasting knowledge.

The goals of this course are:

1) Military heritage tourism and battlefield tourism awareness impact for national and international tourism;

2) Significance of the historical military heritage in local, national, international history and common memory;

3) Awareness of the impact of Re-enactment in tourism and local communities and the promotion of Edutainment and Living History events;

4) Developing immersive and authentic experiences and interactive learning in military tourism;

5) Promote meaningful intercultural exchange and understanding;

6) Create and design diversified touristic products such as: cultural routes, touristic experiences, guided visits, etc.;

7) Meet the local stakeholders and enhance their approach to immersive tourism;

8) Develop and apply strategic touristic development plans;

9) Immersive digital approaches to heritage interpretation and musealization;

10) Dissemination of academic research and results amongst the stakeholders;

11) Promotion of student contact and interaction with stakeholders and enhance of creative networking;

12) Apply theory to practise and bring in international ideas/case studies to solve problems in host country;

Seminars with stakeholders;

Stakeholders-defined tourism problems;

Discussions based on examples;

Study trips, field-work, workshops, presentations, discussions, and interviews with stakeholders and military heritage tourism promoters;

Outcomes:

1) to understand the key concepts and definitions related to Military Tourism, heritage tourism, battlefield tourism, authenticity, edutainment, memorability, identity, and creation of immersive experiences;

2) to understand military heritage tourism and battlefield tourism awareness impact in national and international tourism offer;

3) to learn about the significance of the historical military resources in local, national, international history and common memory;

4) to create and design diversified touristic products such as: cultural routes, touristic experiences, guided visits, etc.;

5) to help provide solutions in developing immersive experiences and interactive learning while in a multicultural and diverse learning environment;

6) to learn about the variety of stakeholders in tourism operation/planning of military tourism and enhance their approach to immersive tourism;

7) to use innovative digital and in-person active learning pedagogical tools and methods to facilitate meaningful collaborative learning;

8) to learn and enhance research and analysis skills in the creation of immersive digital approaches applied to heritage interpretation.

13 May 2026

3 June 2026

1^st Virtual part, 27 April (before physical):

• Introduction to program & main concepts
• Definition of assignments, teams and objectives
• Identification of partners and needed INPUTS and OUTPUTS

2nd Virtual part, 4 May (before physical)

• Lecture on Military & Battlefield Tourism
• Teams update on program
• Assignment follow-up

3nd Virtual part, 29 May (after physical)

• Co-working sessions
• Student presentations
• Presentation of outputs: A Guidebook of proposals for best practices  and Strategic Guidelines for developing immersive touristic experiences

UNIVERSIDADE LUSÓFONA (P LISBOA52)

THOMAS MORE – UNIVERSITY OF APPLIED SCIENCES (B MECHELE14)