ABSTRACT
This chapter maps the 'cinematographic missions' that 'image hunters' Anathole Thiberville and Rene Moreau made to Portugal. The creation of the Propaganda Society of Portugal (SPP) in February 1906 would be decisive in the recognition of tourism as a significant form of economic development and political affirmation. Despite having emerged from private initiative, the SPP defined its programme in close connection to state, namely in the internal actions with public authorities and local administrations and in the international actions. The first official tourism structures were instituted in 1911, during the Provisional Government of the Republic. The third official tourism office established in any European country, after Austria and France, the Tourism Bureau was essential to affirming and modernising the sector in the following decades. In May 1917, the Revista de Turismo reported that, after several attempts, Anathole Thiberville, the cinematographic operator of Gaumont, would arrive in Portugal with the mission of depicting its landscapes and monuments.
