Tourism in Portugal during the Republican era ...

A few weeks ago  ... (basically out of curiosity) I walked into one of the exhibitions being held  around Praça do Comércio to celebrate the one hundreth anniversary of the Portuguese Republic and the most amazing thing was that in a way it was like walking into a completely different world, though I identified some parts of "that world" with some of my own childhood memories (regardless of the fact that some of the pictures looked fairly old).   

The picture of this yound lady sitting on the beach of Cascais in 1921 could easily correspond to my own image in the seventies ... the look ... that "hippie" look ...

This brochure about Figueira da Foz (my hometown), dating back to 1920  refers to something I constantly heard from my early childhood through  to my adulthood period " [...] Figueira da Foz, the most beautiful beach in Portugal" ... and what's more  ... I believed in it until I moved into Lisbon many years later.

One of my biggest fears as a child, (which I have referred to before), was the forced  sea "dives"  at the mercy of the  "banheiros" (bathing attendants on the beach) in the name of  building up one's bravery ... and the truth is that looking at this photo the whole process does not "feel" that bad  ...

Having always liked guides, as a first "approach" to any city or country  before focussing on other important related issues ... I had the priviledge of having had a look at the first ever guide about Portugal in French (dating back to 1909) to be seen on the left, together with the first one by a Portuguese writer  Henrique Mendonça, who happens to have been the author of the Portuguese National anthom (to be seen below on the right).

 I have also had access to  one of the oldest guides about Sintra (Left), whose cover is quite interesting with its well known poets'quotations. 

 Having looked at some of the earliest photos of foreign tourists visiting Portugal was interesting as well. The one taken in Cais do Sodré impressed me because of  having allowed me to see how much this Square has been able to keep of its past.

"Awaiting Italian tourists to Lisbon", June 1923, Cais do Sodré (Left). "Arrival of American tourists", July 1922, Cais do Sodré (Right).

"German tourists in Lisbon", March 1925.

I was drawn to a specific document, which defined the required skills people involved in the Tourism industry  should have, so as to perform the necessary skills adequately, as well as the course objectives aiming at achieving the minimum required level. The whole document made me realise the large range of  general acquired knowledge they should have in a wide variety of subjects.

I feel some of the intervening actors in our daily life should have half of those skills ... particularly those related to the Languages and "writing" ...

Requirements and Course  content.