FROM INDUSTRY TO TOURISM: THE CASE OF LX FACTORY IN THE ALCÂNTARA DISTRICT (LISBON)

Abstract

In the past few years Lisbon has been through many changes, most of them related to the tourism growth. Alcântara is one of the neighbourhoods that became popular, once an industrial area that is presently experiencing a process of urban regeneration. Alcântara is probably the best district of Lisbon to recall the industrial era. At the same time, it has all the services that it needs to welcome visitors: diversity of tourist supplies; a vibrant image, trendy, but also authentic; a barycentric position between two well-known quarters (Baixa and Belém); a good accessibility, still being strengthened; a fast growth in accommodation supply. Arguably, an important role in the tourist development of Alcântara is played by the LX Factory, a former industrial area of around 23.000 m2, where important companies were located. LX Factory is considered a successful experiment of reconversion of an industrial space into a multifunctional complex, which still preserves the former factory atmosphere, although according to a contemporary formula. The LX Factory was inaugurated in 2008. It hosts design offices, art ateliers, start-ups, shops, restaurants, cafés, night clubs, co-working spaces, and even a hostel. It also hosts cultural activities, concerts, workshops, and a Sunday market of vintage and biological products. A previous research (Zarrilli et al., 2019) showed that LX Factory is by far the main tourist attractor of Alcântara. In this contribution, we will try to deeper investigate what we may call the LX Factory phenomenon, in terms of tourist image, flows, motivations and assessments. At this aim, a questionnaire was administered to a sample of shop owners located in its facilities. Conclusions allow us to understand LX Factory main issues from the shop owners’ perspective, regarding the commercial activity, the current image, the people who visit it, and their opinion about the neighbourhood.