Blended Intensive Programmes as a Tool for Critical Tourism Education: Insights from Military Tourism in Portugal

Abstract

This paper examines Erasmus+ Blended Intensive Programmes (BIPs) as both an educational format and a research platform for critical tourism education. Using a Lisbon-based BIP in which 21 Generation Z tourism students engaged with six Portuguese military-heritage sites, the study explores how they evaluate and reimagine the design of interpretation. An interpretivist qualitative approach combined non-participant observation, informal stakeholder mini-interviews, reflective journals, and student artefacts. Cross-case qualitative content analysis identified recurring expectations shaping Gen Z military-heritage engagement, leading to a four-pillar interpretation framework: (1) narrative-first technology; (2) multisensory and inclusive access; (3) community co-creation as authenticity; and (4) choice-based immersion and gamified edutainment. These pillars are synthesised into a concise Gen Z “signature” of visitor expectations and paired with low-, medium-, and high-resource recommendations for progressive implementation. The study demonstrates BIPs as living-lab settings that bridge classroom learning, applied research, and site-level innovation, while positioning student co-production as a legitimate route to context-sensitive and ethically alert interpretation practice.