The initiative is from the Municipal Council, which, in partnership with the Feira Business Association, wants to promote the economic growth of businesses in this city in the district of Aveiro, integrating digital technologies into their activity that help to promote their respective offer and attract more customers.

The mayor of Santa Maria da Feira, Amadeu Albergaria, noted that the local authority had already made an initial effort in this direction in 2021, with the first phase of "Vai-me à Loja", but now wants to reinforce the adaptation of local commerce to current consumption trends, which increasingly involve 'online' research and purchases on the Internet.

"The digital transition is no longer an option, but rather an urgent need to guarantee competitiveness in the global market. If most medium and large companies are managing to keep up with this transition using their own means, the same is not true of small companies, in local commerce, and that is why the establishments in the historic centre of Feira need this support, not just to survive, but above all, to prosper economically", defended the mayor.

Of the 200 establishments that joined the project, 55.1% operate in the services area, 25.3% are commercial spaces and 14.3% are dedicated to accommodation, catering and similar.

Until September 2025, the programme foresees the implementation of various measures to benefit these operators, starting with total wireless Internet coverage in the area delimited as their digital district.

Other announced actions are the urban installation of information centres and digital signage, the activation of geolocation devices "to locate visitors' 'smartphones' within a certain radius" and the production of virtual reality content for people with reduced mobility.

The investment also involves increasing the number of physical and digital advertising platforms, structuring the district's street furniture in order to create pollination gardens, equipping the area with smart lockers, developing a bicycle sharing system and installing a long-range radio frequency network to identify the level of occupation of car parks and analyse the flow of people.

In the specific case of catering, Amadeu Albergaria also highlighted the creation of a 'microsite' or telephone application "intended for the promotion and sale of the most ephemeral and creative local gastronomic offer", which is in line with the commitments that the local authority assumed with UNESCO within the scope of the classification of Santa Maria da Feira as a creative city in the area of gastronomy.

Leia Também: "Temos uma geração de políticos mais bem preparados, temos de aproveitar" (Portuguese version)