PhD in Tourism
Faro, Portugal
PhD
DURATION
3 years
LANGUAGES
English
PACE
Full time
APPLICATION DEADLINE
27 Mar 2026*
EARLIEST START DATE
Sep 2026
TUITION FEES
EUR 3,000 / per year **
STUDY FORMAT
On-Campus
* 1st phase: 23/02 to 27/03 2nd phase: 25/05 to 03/07 3rd phase: 12/08 to 28/08
** for International students| National students: EUR 2100 per year
Fast-track counseling
By contacting the school, you'll get access to free priority counselling for any study and application questions.
Key Summary
Tourism is by far the most important activity in the Algarve region. Hence, the University of Algarve (UAlg) recently selected Tourism Studies as one of its central domains (its academic cadre hosts the largest number of PhD holders in Tourism Studies in Portugal). Through this option, the University aims to contribute to the development of tourism by graduating qualified professionals and by disseminating knowledge towards the planning and development of this industry, both at national and international levels.
The Faculty of Economics is committed to this goal by providing a postgraduate programme in tourism conducting a PhD Degree. The PhD Program in Tourism looks to accomplish the graduates´ needs - holders of Economics, Management, Tourism or Social Sciences degrees -, towards their deep understanding and knowledge consolidation of tourism issues. From the scientific standpoint, the PhD Programme draws the foundations of the degree level. It approaches theoretical and methodological issues on the tourism system, at the regional, national and transnational levels. From an interdisciplinary viewpoint, it accomplishes the study and analysis of essential and complex economic relations in contexts of growing integration and global competitiveness.
Objectives
- To conceptualize, implement and manage scientific research
- To interact with interdisciplinary research teams to identify and formulate relevant scientific problems
- To reflect on current best practices in the areas of management and tourism development
- To stimulate innovation and development of new tourism products
- To integrate into a rigorous and demanding study degree, research findings and community service, providing tourism-related businesses and organizations with the necessary understanding for internationalization and the building of new business communities
- To widen training in advanced methods and techniques of analysis and applied research to tourism; in addition to the natural integration of the future doctors in the international scientific community, it is expected the hold future doctors of top positions in the Tourism Sector
Operating Mode
Generally, classes are on Fridays after working hours and on Saturdays in the morning. Sometimes, there are also seminars on some Thursdays after working hours.
Year 1
1st Trimester
- Research Methodologies
2nd Trimester
- Thematic Seminars in Tourism
3rd Trimester
- Advanced-Data Analysis
4th Trimester
- Conceptualization of the Thesis Project
Year 2
Annual
- Thesis I
Year 3
Annual
- Thesis II
PhD Goals & Learning Objectives
The main goal of this programme is to provide PhD students with scientific and professional skills that enable them to contribute to the development of the tourism industry. The PhD programme is structured around the market needs and presents course units based on the scientific areas of Tourism, Management, Economics, Quantitative and Qualitative Methods.
The general objectives of the PhD Program in Tourism are as follows:
- To develop advanced research and analytical skills
- To develop conceptual understanding, effective implementation and research management skills
- To develop skills for conducting original research and the capacity the carry out peer reviews in international journals
- To develop research group interaction skills of interdisciplinary scope to identify and undertake relevant research
- To develop skills in securing research funding through the production of state-of-the-art research proposals
- To develop skills in presenting ideas and results to specialized and general audiences
- To acquire skills related to entrepreneurship and self-employment
At a specific level, the program also aims to:
- To train executives to be able to articulate the process of tourism management in terms of spatial planning/territorial management and socio-economic development of destination areas
- To reflect on current best practices in the areas of management and tourism development
- To stimulate innovation and development in new tourism products
- To integrate into a rigorous and demanding study degree, research findings and community service, providing tourism-related businesses and organizations with the necessary understanding for internationalization and the building of new business communities.
- To widen the general understanding of the main actors of the tourism industry and recognize involved interactions
- To widen training in advanced methods and techniques of analysis and applied research to tourism.
- To exploit available resources at UAlg to develop a theoretical and applied research group affiliatedwitho the degree, offering international projection