Nuno Trigo, from the Local Accommodation Association in Portugal (ALEP), said that the We Respect project was tested in Lisbon and will be imported to AL in Porto, with the aim of developing and supporting more responsible tourism.

“This project is important because it advocates the soul of what ALEP thinks for the future of Local Accommodation. This project will improve the coexistence of economic activity and the neighbourhood”, declared Nuno Trigo, during the 1st National Congress of ALEP.

According to Nuno Trigo, We Respect also intends to support condominiums in seeking to help find solutions.

The project has been tested in several cities in Spain and in Lisbon, and it makes perfect sense to “import this project as a first step towards responsible tourism”, he said, adding that a protocol is currently being signed between Porto City Council, ALEP, Roomonitor (the company responsible for creating the programme) and Airbnb to outline the promotion of more responsible tourism.

In addition to monitoring noise in ALs, We Respect will also support the separation of waste produced by tourists.

The president of ALEP, Eduardo Miranda, says that this project is a “step towards responsible tourism”.

According to Gabriel Perez, from Roomonitor, the company that created We Respect, he presented some conclusions about the results in Lisbon and said that, taking into account the type of noise alerts, “32% refer to dinners” and “17% to television”.

“We are talking about family tourism that uses Local Accommodation for their stay due to the type of traveller. These are travellers who consume around the community, buying in local shops for their dinners and other meals”, he stated.

Then there are 47% of alerts for “various noises”, related to “children crying, children playing, loud conversations”.

Still, on the subject of noise in Lisbon monitored in the ALs, Gabriel Perez states that only “2% of the noise events detected by Roomonitor sensor alerts were identified “as parties”, which is equivalent to 0.03 parties per apartment per month”.

According to information available on the We Respect website, the system analyses the acoustic levels inside the home in real time and without interruption and warns of any event that may cause discomfort to neighbours.