The Polytechnic Institute of Viana do Castelo (IPVC), founded in 1980, is a public higher education institution (HEI), located in Portugal, strongly committed to the regional development and value co-creation. IPVC offers several undergraduate and postgraduate degrees, with Tourism playing a relevant role. Bachelor degree is member of the Association for Tourism and Leisure Education (ATLAS), has been awarded the Tedqual Certification by the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) since 2005 and is certified by A3ES (Agency for Assessment and Accreditation of Higher Education - A3ES). The main strategic areas that underpin IPVC Mission and Vision are: Cooperation with the regional community of Alto-Minho; Research, Education/Learning, Transfer of Technology and Knowledge; Cooperation with public and private organisations, at the national and international level (internationalisation), with protocols with Brazil, China, Portuguese-speaking African countries (PALOP) and 120 educational international institutions, as part of the various European student and staff exchange programs. IPVC has an internationally certified Quality Management System in accordance with ISO 9001:2000.

IPVC is the Applicant of INCOME Tourism and will be responsible for the overall management of the Project, namely, financial management and technical coordination, production of the necessary reports (financial, interim and final reports); organization and coordination of respective workshops and meetings. Additionally, IPVC will participate in the implementation of the project as a whole and will undertake specific activities within each work packages, namely WP1, WP2, WP3, WP4, WP5, WP6, WP7, WP8 WP9, WP10, WP11 and WP12.