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The day Rural Tourism held in Santiago served to learn the main conclusions of the latest report of the Rural Tourism Observatory for the sector in Galicia

With the aim of generating synergies among professionals in the rural tourism sector, getting to know the sector better and its tourist profile as well as addressing the main future challenges, the City of Culture of Galicia hosted the Rural Tourism Day promoted by the Galician Federation Of Rural Tourism in collaboration with Tourism of Galicia and the Cluster Turismo Galicia in which also some of the data obtained in the last Observatory of Rural Tourism elaborated by Rural Escapada in collaboration with the University Master’s Office of Tourism Companies was presented EU CETT- UB. Among the data offered by Enric López, Director of the Master’s Degree in Tourism Business Management, EU CETT UB and Germán Sierra, responsible for communication at EscapadaRural.com, highlighted the fact that 26% of Galician tourist establishments raised prices in 2016 or that 40% of these travelers repeat their destination, the profile of which is mostly composed of couples (37%) and families (35%), with a concentrated expenditure on accommodation and food, and very little on complementary activities. Of this profile of tourist, the Observatory of Rural Tourism centered on the data of Galicia emphasizes its profile of ecotourist, since 87% is identified with this definition although only 32% of the accommodations generate activities for this niche. Rural tourists in Galicia travel mostly in spring, May and summer bridge and especially value the hospitality and equipment / wellness they receive in rural establishments Galician.

Owner profile of rural accommodation in Galicia
The study also assesses the characteristics of rural homeowners, based on the responses of the 105 owners who answered this survey, allowing to know aspects such as the time that the owner dedicates to his business or the channel that is used For reservations – mostly email is still, only 17% are reservations made in rural tourism houses in Galicia is done via online. “It is important to evaluate the motivations that have taken the rural tourist to our business and to put into value such strengths as customer service or the environment, as well as controlling online reputation and measuring ROI,” said Enric López. In this sense, the day also included a presentation by Germán Sierra about the ROI in which he addressed the importance of analyzing the main metrics of email marketing, defining KPIs and having tools and managing online channels that help us improve results.

Seasonalization, improvement of marketing and bundling of rural tourism, lack of foreign tourists or the health of associations of rural tourism in Galicia were also aspects that were addressed in the round table with which concluded the day. Manuel Lema, from the Casa Perfecto María, José Luís Fernández, from Amextreme and Enrique Rodriguez, from Viajes Tambre, who emphasized the need to work together and in a cohesive way for the Galicia brand, strengthening the associations and guaranteeing That different public administrations guarantee the conservation and cleanliness of the environment, an aspect that is of concern to rural dwellers. The difficulty of developing seasonal products and maintaining the authenticity and identity of the destination Galicia were also elements that were touched on the table.rural, the lack of foreign tourist or the health of the association of rural tourism in Galicia were also aspects that were addressed In the round table with which concluded the day. Manuel Lema, from the Casa Perfecto María, José Luís Fernández, from Amextreme and Enrique Rodriguez, from Viajes Tambre, who emphasized the need to work together and in a cohesive way for the Galicia brand, strengthening the associations and guaranteeing That the different public administrations guarantee the conservation and cleanliness of the environment, an aspect that is of concern to rural dwellers. The difficulty of developing seasonal products and maintaining the authenticity and identity of the destination Galicia were also elements that were touched at the table.