Cluster

The centre inaugurated in Vilagarcía de Arousa are the result of the collaboration between several administrations and entities, among them the Galicia Tourism Cluster.

The Galician tourism sector now has a space of reference from which to promote its modernisation, encourage job creation and ensure that young talent does not leave this land. These are some of the objectives with which the Galicia TurisTIC Advanced Services Centre has just opened its doors in Vilagarcía de Arousa, a facility that is part of the Xunta de Galicia’s project to promote, through public-private collaboration, seven advanced manufacturing centres that offer companies in their respective sectors an infrastructure with technological resources and services within their reach.

The nearly 400,000 euros needed to make Galicia TurisTIC a reality have been provided by the Xunta de Galicia, but the project is the result of joint work with the local administration and various entities such as the Chamber of Commerce of Pontevedra, Vigo and Vilagarcía, the Port Authority of Vilagarcía, the Association of Municipalities of O Salnés, the ICT Cluster of Galicia and the Galicia Tourism Cluster, whose president, Cesáreo Pardal, was one of those responsible for speaking at the opening ceremony held on 4 May. “It was very necessary to have a space like this for the sector and I hope that it responds as quickly as possible because tourism companies have to continue modernising and, of course, those who do not digitise will have no chance”, explained Cesáreo Pardal in a speech in which he also vindicated the role played by the tourism sector during the pandemic.

The new centre has 275 square metres to house three laboratories for artificial intelligence and big data, smart devices and virtual and augmented reality. It also has an area for training in technology, another for customer demonstrations and a third for entrepreneurs and startups.

“The aspiration is that entrepreneurial talent, the business fabric and the administrations have at their disposal a test bench to introduce better products and services,” said Fernando Guldrís, director of the Galician Institute for Economic Promotion (Igape), at the opening ceremony. “We believe that one of the most important pillars for the tourism sector is training and innovation, as shown in our Master Plan Galicia Safe Destination 2021-2023, a roadmap that is guiding our recovery,” said the director of Tourism of Galicia, Nava Castro.