Clúster

• decisions for Galician tourism.
• The increase in competitiveness, professionalization and internationalization have been the priority lines of this first decade of work.
• Today the Cluster is made up of 68 entities, which represent 97% of the sector and more than 7,000 companies.

Ten years ago today, the City of Culture welcomed the formal constitution of the Galician Tourism Cluster (CTG). On June 20, 2013, an entity was born with the vocation of becoming the voice of the sector, being a unique interlocutor with the Administration and an essential actor in the planning and management of Galician tourism. Since then, the Cluster has worked to improve the profitability of companies, configure a quality, competitive and differentiated destination, betting on the professionalization of the sector, internationalization and seasonality.

In this decade the Cluster has contributed to expanding the tourist offer in Galicia. Undoubtedly, the Camino and its promotion have played a key role in promoting Galicia as a destination, but the Community is already known, in addition to the Jacobean Route and our privileged coast, for a wide variety of possibilities such as rural tourism, thermal, fluvial, nature, cultural, cycling, gastronomic or ethnological among others.

Throughout these ten years, a significant effort has been made to promote the destination, especially in internationalization, seeking to position Galicia worldwide. In this decade the Cluster has participated in national and international fairs such as the World Travel Market in London or the ITB in Berlin, as well as promoting Galicia through workshops in different cities around the world.

Public-private collaboration has marked the trajectory of the actions of the Tourism Car Cluster since its inception and this translated into important milestones throughout this decade such as the agreement to implement the Q for quality in 2014 or the key role of the Cluster in the preparation of the Galician Tourism Strategy 2017-2020, articulated through a collaboration agreement with the Xunta. This cooperation also allowed the creation in 2019 of the Galicia Tourism Awards, which were born with the aim of rewarding all those who have contributed to the tourism development of the Community.

One of the biggest challenges of these ten years was the crisis derived from Covid-19, with a strong impact on the Galician economy and with special incidence in the Galician tourism sector. At that time, the CTG focused its activity on mitigating the effects for the sector, working on various proposals for the different public administrations, from which concrete measures finally emerged, such as the #QuedamosenGalicia Tourist Voucher or the 100×100 Tourism Program.

In addition, the Cluster prepared the Tourism Master Plan 2021-2023: Galicia Safe Destination, highlighting the main axes to reactivate the tourism sector that we have in Galicia. One of the strategic objectives of the plan is sustainability as its central axis. This is how the Galicia Sustainable Destination project was born, an initiative that is articulated as a tourist product club that integrates all the Galician tourist offer that respects the environment, culture and society.

Ten years of union and progress

Francisco González, president of the CTG from 2013 to 2018, declares that “looking back on 2013, I think we can say that we have achieved a good part of the objectives that we set for ourselves, especially that of consolidating Galicia as a differential and quality destination”.

The current president of the Cluster, Cesáreo Pardal, assures that “these ten years of the Galician Tourism Cluster have strengthened us as an entity thanks to the work, effort and, above all, the union of the entire Galician tourism sector”.

The Galician Tourism Cluster begins a new decade working to consolidate a more international, more sustainable and innovative tourism.