Experience Lisbon with 'We Hate Tourism' Tours

The effort to create a sustainable tourism industry is taking many forms around the world, ranging from increased regulations surrounding the way visitors experience destinations to fines for those who don’t follow rules.

But one of the most colorful and unique approaches to date involves a Lisbon company called “We Hate Tourism Tours.”

Created by a Lisbon local, the company’s goal is to expose visitors to Portugal in a responsible, unique and genuine manner.

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Company owner Bruno Gomes told Lonely Planet that We Hate Tourism Tours offer a “continuous exchange and cultural enrichment from people who want to see and experience a place in a different way.”

To that end, the company makes a special effort to help visitors gain an understanding of what makes Portugal different from other places. 

“We are not as interested in showing you the city as we are in making you understand it,” Bruno said of his company, which offers tours in Lisbon and Porto.

Tours listed on the company’s website include “Dinner with us or starve,” which involves having dinner at one of the most authentic restaurants in Lisbon, after which you travel to Belem to sample famous tarts and indulge in local nightlife.

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Another tour option, called “Lunch in our Home,” includes visitors being brought to a historical industrial complex that houses local start-ups. Once there, visitors have lunch, sample breads, fish, salad, and wines, and discuss the culture of Lisbon and the changes the city is facing.

Tourism worldwide has grown exponentially in recent years, with destinations throughout Europe and beyond receiving record numbers of visitors.

Iceland, for instance, witnessed a nearly 40 percent increase in visitors between 2015 and 2016. It was the largest year-over-year increase since 2010. The influx prompted the country to recently announce plans to start a program that allows visitors to pay for the planting of a tree when booking a flight, tour, car rental or any other sort of tourism service in Iceland. The goal is to encourage visitors to help offset the impact of their travels in the country.

In Venice, Italy meanwhile, where about 30 million visitors arrive annually, the city recently announced the Enjoy Respect Venice campaign, which includes fines being issued to tourists who do not follow basic rules.

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