I'm Mafalda Patuleia and my passion is travel and getting to know other cultures. From an early age, I realized that tourism would be my field of study and knowledge. I earned my degree in Tourism at the INP- Instituto Superior de Novas Profissões, and later I did my Master's in Communication, Culture, and Information Technologies at the Sociology Department of the ISCTE – Institute University of Lisbon, with a thesis on Tourism. I later completed my Ph.D. at Algarve University with a thesis on "Residential tourism, integrated resorts, and motivations: the case of the West region". I have over 24 years of teaching experience and have made some contributions to the scientific literature with publications in indexed scientific journals and authorship of book chapters and conference proceedings, case studies, and working papers.

Today I'm the head of the Tourism Department at the University of Lusófona, director of the Bachelor in Tourism, and director of the Master in Development and Management of Tourism Destinations. I coordinate the work placements for all the students in the Tourism program.

I’m a researcher at the INTREPID LAB/CETRAD and in the GOVCOPP - Research Unit on Governance, Competitiveness and Public Policies (Aveiro University) with an interest in areas such as lifestyle entrepreneurs, second homes, short-term rental, and competitiveness of tourism destinations.

I’m married and have a daughter. My main hobby is traveling, and I have already been to over 40 countries.