Activities

Half a hundred experts verified the enormous potential of Galicia for the development of this type of tourism

Professionalization and structuring of the sector and its marketing, main challenges for active tourism Galician

The finding that there is still no active tourism brand or a professionalized or organized sector in Galicia together with the enormous potential of our territory with an image strongly linked to the landscape and nature were some of the conclusions Which were extracted in the Novo Turismo Activo in Galicia Day, promoted by the Clúster Turismo de Galicia in collaboration with Turismo de Galicia and Galicia Destino Activo, which was held this morning at the Caldaria-Laias Spa in Cenlle.

“There are quite a few active tourism companies that are doing very well in Galicia but we lack a lot of information about the real situation of this sector in Galicia, we have to structure it, professionalize ourselves and position ourselves as a brand, first internally and nationally,” he explained. Agustín Rico, representative of the Association of Active Tourism and Nature, AGETAN, who said that “Galician potential is enormous, with the great advantage that resources are distributed throughout the territory.” “Well structured and with good marketing, the impact of active tourism in Galicia is enormous, both as a complementary offer or as the main motivator of the arrival of travelers seeking this kind of experiences.”

Half a hundred professionals and three working tables
During the conference, which was attended by fifty professionals, it was divided into two parts, a first of analysis of situation and presentation of a successful case of organization of an active tourist destination such as Prepyr365, in the Aragonese Pyrenees, which set up an umbrella destination to overcome the atomization of micro-destination supply, working together to position the brand and increase the flow of visitors. “Entrepreneurs must be the ambassadors of our product, the ones who create the most in our product and bet on the positioning of a powerful brand,” said Javier Garcia, president of the Association Prepyr365.

Precisely the public-private cooperation and the enhancement of these resources was one of the aspects highlighted by the secretary of the Cluster Turismo Galicia, Cesareo Pardal, who spoke at the opening of the day, which also included the director of Competitiveness of Tourism in Galicia, José Luis Maestro and the Mayor of Cenlle, Javier Alén, who also stressed the need to overcome localisms and work together in the sustainable exploitation of Galician tourism resources. In this sense, Maestro also stressed the need to work on a specific green label linked to active and sustainable tourism. In addition, he defended in his speech the need to differentiate the free practice of this type of tourism and its commercialization, an issue that generated many comments at the roundtable with which the day was closed, in which the professor and responsible of the Master of Tourism of Ourense, José Antonio Fraiz, and the head of the technical office of Prepyr365, Adrián Tejero.

In addition, and developing in Ourense and in a spa, the day also paid attention to the creation of synergies between active tourism and thermal tourism, a differentiating element of this province, which was one of the themes of the working tables that were developed In parallel to the discussion table. In addition to this work table, two other activities related to the competitiveness and the promotion and commercialization of this type of tourism were developed with the aim of involving the entire value chain of tourism, creating synergies between the different agents and establishing a communication to Long term that improves the implementation of active tourism in Galicia.