Franco, MaraMota, Luís2024-04-262024-04-262021Franco, M., & Mota, L. (2021). Reopening for business post-COVID-19: augmented reality as a strategy for attracting visitors to a tourist destination. European Journal of Tourism, Hospitality and Recreation, 11(1), 54-65.http://hdl.handle.net/10400.13/5653Critical thoughts about tourist destinations overcoming and mitigating impacts from COVID-19 lie in the opportunities created by the pandemic. In this paper, an innovative way to attract tourists to Madeira Island and specifically for the Caminho Real (CR) is proposed, assisted by augmented reality. There are important con siderations for developing software suitable for mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets; values and benefits for sustainable tourism development and for being an educational experience respecting social dis tancing; and services included in the augmented reality application. Therefore, some propositions are presented to evaluate the possibility of augmented reality as a secure opportunity to show historical, cultural, and eth nographic aspects when visiting a tourist destination, while respecting social-distancing constraints.engAugmented realityCOVID-19Social distanceMadeira Island (Portugal)QR codesTour guide.Escola Superior de Tecnologias e Gestãojournal article10.2478/ejthr-2021-0006