Business plan of a three-star hotel in the city of Lisbon “Lisbon Journey hotel”

JEL Classification System: • M10 – General Business AdministrationTourism has become one of the most significant industries in the whole world, being in continuous change, either due the appearance of new types of offer, but also due the changes on the demand side, both influenced by the globalization and the internet, which increased the number of tourist and changed their motivations and behaviors. This way, and in order to compete and grow in this industry, it is crucial to define a suitable strategy. This applied project is based on the creation of a centrally located three-star hotel in the city of Lisbon – Lisbon Journey Hotel – through the rehabilitation of an existing building in Avenida da Liberdade. The main goal of the hotel is to offer a good Bed & Breakfast service at a very competitive price, aiming, primarily, to reach people who travel for professional reasons, but also the city-breakers. Regarding to Food and Beverage services, the Hotel will not have any Bar or Restaurant available. A competitive pricing will be based on a strategy of cost leadership through the optimization of operations and processes. The business plan presents firstly an environmental and market analysis, highlighting Lisbon’s current hospitality industry and competition. After that, it defines the Hotel’s target and positioning, as well as the strategy to pursue. Finally, it identifies the resources and investments required to implement and exploit the Hotel, followed by an economic and financial analysis that evaluate and support the project.O turismo tornou-se num dos setores de atividade mais importantes de todo o mundo, estando em constante mudança, quer pelo aparecimento de novos tipos de oferta, mas também pelas mudanças verificadas ao nível da procura. Ambas as vertentes são influenciadas pela globalização e pela utilização da internet, que têm conduzido a um aumento do número de turistas e a uma mudança nas suas motivações e comportamentos. Desta forma, para competir e crescer nesta indústria é fundamental definir uma estratégia adequada. O projeto aplicado baseia-se na criação de um hotel de três estrelas, localizado no centro da cidade de Lisboa – Lisbon Journey Hotel – através da reabilitação de um prédio existente na Avenida da Liberdade. O objetivo do hotel é prestar um bom serviço de Aposento e Pequeno-almoço a um preço bastante competitivo, visando alcançar, primeiramente, turistas que viajam por motivos profissionais, mas também os citybreakers. Relativamente ao serviço de Alimentação e Bebidas, o Hotel não contará nem com Bar nem com Restaurante. A competitividade pelo preço será baseada numa estratégia de liderança nos custos, através da otimização das operações e processos. O plano de negócios apresenta, primeiramente, uma análise do meio ambiente e do mercado, focando o setor hoteleiro e a concorrência atual de Lisboa. É também definido o público-alvo e o posicionamento do hotel, tal como a estratégia a seguir. Por fim, são identificados os recursos e os investimentos necessários à implementação e exploração do hotel, seguidos por uma análise económica e financeira, que avalia e suporta o projeto

Charcos Temporários do Sul de Portugal

Este livro oferece, de uma forma simplificada, uma visão integrada da biodiversidade dos charcos temporários da região Sul de Portugal Continental, com especial enfâse para as espécies de flora características destas habitats

Indoor air quality assessment in grocery stores

FCT_UIDB/05608/2020. FCT_UIDP/05608/2020.Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) is a public and occupational health concern, as we are exposed to air pollutants daily given that we spend a great amount of our time in indoor environments. IAQ can be affected by numerous factors, from outdoor pollutants that get indoors through ventilation to building materials, furnishings, and activities carried by the building occupants. Exposure to air pollutants has been linked to a panoply of adverse effects on our health, well-being, and performance. The aim of this study was to assess the IAQ in grocery stores (GSs) in the municipality of Cascais in the Lisbon metropolitan area (Portugal) to characterize the workers’ occupational exposure to air pollutants. The study was conducted in 13 small “family” grocery stores. The IAQ monitoring campaign was conducted using low-cost sensor technologies and focused on several parameters, namely: carbon dioxide (CO2), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), particulate matter (PM10 and PM2.5), temperature (T), relative humidity (RH). Overall, the IAQ of the studied GSs complied with Portuguese legislation, except for PM2.5, where 23% of GSs presented levels above the established limit value. The mean inhaled dose of workers during a workday was estimated to be 157.7 ± 57.2 μg for PM2.5 and 165.8 ± 56.0 μg for PM10. The IAQ assessment allowed the identification of the best strategies to improve worker experience in indoor workplace environments.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Comparison of indoor air quality during sleep in smokers and non-smokers' bedrooms: a preliminary study

People spend one third of their life sleeping, but the bedroom, as a specific micro-environment, is often neglected when assessing human exposure to air pollutants. However, exposure during sleep may be significant in the long-term to the integrated individual exposure. This study aimed to assess the exposure during sleep, focusing on a multi-pollutant approach (comfort parameters, carbon dioxide - CO2, carbon monoxide - CO, formaldehyde (CH2O), total volatile organic compounds (VOCs), particulate matter - PM2.5 and PM10 - and ultrafine particles, particle number concentrations - PNC - and lung deposited surface area - LDSA). For that, the air quality during sleep (in real conditions) was monitored using real-time devices in 12 bedrooms of urban (Lisbon and Vila Franca de Xira) and rural (Ponte de Sor) areas of Portugal for one night. Volunteers were smokers and non-smokers. Considering the Portuguese legislation for indoor air quality (IAQ), 67% of the bedrooms registered CO2 levels above the limit value, while CH2O, VOC, PM10 and PM2.5 thresholds were exceeded in 30, 100, 36, and 45% of cases, respectively. Regarding ultrafine parameters, LDSA and PNC ranged from 7.3 to 95.2 μm2/cm3 and from 0.6 to 4.8 × 103/cm3, respectively. Even with no smoking indoors, smokers' bedrooms were found to have significant higher levels of CO, CH2O, PM2.5, PM10 and LDSA than non-smokers' bedrooms, showing the effect of thirdhand smoke, exhalation of pollutants after smoking and infiltration on the degradation of the air quality in the bedroom. A recent new model of real-time monitor was also used for a wide set of IAQ parameters. Its performance to measure PM2.5 and CO2 was assessed, showing its applicability in real conditions. Although often neglected, these micro-environments should be considered in the integrated individual exposure to air pollutants and further studied. MAIN FINDINGS OF THE WORK: Several pollutants (CO2, PM, VOCs and CH2O) exceeded the guidelines during sleep; smokers are exposed to higher levels of CO, CH2O, PM, and LDSA than non-smokers while sleeping.publishe

The impact of COVID-19 confinement measures in the Air Quality in an urban-industrial zone in Portugal

Comunicação oral apresentada em 25th International Clean Air and Environment Conference CASANZ 2021, 17-21 de maio 2021, onlineThis work aims to evaluate the temporal evolution of the concentrations of pollutants PM10, NO2 and O3, from 2001 to 2020, and to evaluate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the levels of these atmospheric pollutants, in an urban-industrial zone (Paio Pires-Seixal, Portugal). The results showed that a significant improvement in air quality resulted from the large restriction of anthropogenic activities that occurred due to the pandemic, namely the March-May 2020 lockdown. The mean concentrations of PM10, NO2 and O3 in 2020 were compared with the average concentrations measured from 2014 to 2019. The most expressive reduction in NO2 (-43.9%, p=0.000) was found in April 2020, when a very expressive PM10 reduction was also registered (- 40.0%, p=0.000) and significant reductions of both pollutants were found in the months thereafter.N/

Lichens as biomonitors at indoor environments of primary schools

A biomonitoring study, using transplanted lichens Flavoparmelia caperata, was conducted to assess the indoor air quality in primary schools in urban (Lisbon) and rural (Ponte de Sor) Portuguese sites. The lichens exposure period occurred between April and June 2010 and two types of environments of the primary schools were studied: classrooms and outdoor/courtyard. Afterwards, the lichen samples were processed and analyzed by instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA) to assess a total of 20 chemical elements. Accumulated elements in the exposed lichens were assessed and enrichment factors (EF) were determined. Indoor and outdoor biomonitoring results were compared to evaluate how biomonitors (as lichens) react at indoor environments and to assess the type of pollutants that are prevalent in those environments

Citizens’ perception on air quality in Portugal: how concern motivates awareness

This study aimed to understand the knowledge of Portuguese citizens about air quality and the extent to which the concerns about specific environmental problems can motivate their acquaintance of information. Moreover, this study also allowed to understand which information about air quality needs further dissemination to provide the citizens with all the available tools and the correct knowledge. For this, a national online survey about air quality perception was conducted, where 1131 answers were obtained and two different populations were compared: the general population and a sub-population from an urban-industrial area of Lisbon metropolitan area that had experienced frequent air pollution events in the past. Air pollution was considered the environmental topic of higher concern among this sub-population (61.4%), while in the general population it ranked thirdly (27.4%). Generally, the sub-population showed higher knowledge about air quality than the general population, with 61% being able to identify at least one air pollutant. The perception of the local air quality was also very different between populations, with 61% of the sub-population considering it poor or very poor, while only 14% of the general population had the same perception, which highlights the different levels of concern between populations. A weak knowledge about air pollutants (50% of the general population could not identify any air pollutant) and an erroneous perception of the contribution of the different pollution sources to air quality levels were found. More than 50% of the respondents of both populations were considered to not have enough information regarding the air quality in their area of residence, with the national air quality database being unknown to almost everyone. Overall, strong efforts should be made to increase the awareness about the importance of air quality, which may promote a higher acceptance of the implementation of future actions to improve air quality.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Oxidative potential of fine aerosols from a Portuguese urban-industrial area: preliminary results

Trabalho apresentado em CQ UL 5th Meeting "Forging Bonds", 12-14 julho 2022, Lisboa, PortugalN/

Microplastic contamination of lettuces grown in urban vegetable gardens in Lisbon (Portugal)

: Urban vegetable gardens are very often a feature of cities that want to offer their citizens a more sustainable lifestyle by producing their own food products. However, cities can have significant pollution levels (or pollution hotspots) due to specific sources of pollution, such as traffic. Among the various pollutants, microplastics (MPs) are emerging as a consensual concern due to the awareness of the environmental contamination, their bioaccumulation potential and human intake, and, consequently unknown human health impacts. The present study compared the content of MPs in lettuce plants cultivated in Lisbon urban gardens with those cultivated in a rural area, as well as samples bought in supermarkets. Microplastics were detected in all washed leaves, with mean levels ranging from 6.3 ± 6.2 to 29.4 ± 18.2 MPs/g. Lettuce grown in urban gardens from areas with high traffic density showed higher MPs levels. Weak positive Spearman's rank correlations were found between MPs content and concentrations of Cu and S (determined by Particle Induced X-Ray Emission, PIXE), suggesting a possible role of traffic contribution to MPs levels, as both elements are considered traffic-source tracers. These results contribute to shed light on the MP contamination of vegetables grown in such urban environments, that may represent a potential MP exposure route through the dietary intake, corresponding to a 70% increase in annual MP intake compared to lettuces bought in supermarkets