Tourism is considered a phenomenon of the extreme importance in society’s structural way of life. From the remote travels of pre-historical humans, until the end of the XVIII century, when the first tourist flows took place, and afterwards during the first half of the XX century, this phenomenon grew steadily gaining ever more socioeconomic importance, especially for the regional development of Portugal’s border areas.

The confirmation of the economic and social advancement of certain regions based on tourism activities, hand in hand with their rich heritage, has always left question marks regarding the unequal degree of development verified in areas of similar or even superior resources with the potential to bring about positive evolution for their respective population or even integrated progress.

With this work we aim to evaluate and discuss tourism’s contribution towards regional development, based on tourism and heritage potential of the Parque Natural do Douro Internacional/Arribes del Duero. We will bring to the surface what we consider good opportunities and potential for the development of these border regions, highlighting the fact that the results of the dynamism applied to the Parque Natural do Douro Internacional/Arribes del Duero, amount to capital gains for the global betterment that any political policies may try to achieve for this region.