The role that geodestins are called to play in the Galician tourist sector was the focus of much of the seminar that representatives of Galician tourism carried out in Noia within the framework of a day promoted by the geodestination Ria de Muros-Noia. A total of 19 geodestins gathered at the meeting, in addition to mayors, territorial delegates, representatives of other entities of the sector such as the Cluster of Tourism of Galicia, which participated in a round table discussion with Manuel Veloso, from the technical secretariat, as well as the director of Tourism of Galicia, Nava Castro, who was responsible for chairing the day.
In her speech, the Director of Tourism of Galicia stressed the importance of geodestins as catalysts for the development of tourism in Galicia, as well as the economic support they continue to receive from the public administration to contribute to the computer development of the sector. In fact, the Tourism Strategy of Galicia 2020 establishes the preponderant role that geodestins must assume in this planning and management of tourism in Galicia.
The conference also served to learn first-hand experiences in the implementation and development of different geodestinations and to make a common understanding of the need for these entities to work together and with the public administration for the enhancement of the territory and its diverse and complementary tourism offer while analyzing experiences in the field of promotion where they work with strategies that operate with differential attributes related to culture, traditions, heritage and activities. In this sense, the seminar provided a better understanding of the functioning of the different geodestinations, from those that are more consolidated and with a long trajectory to those that take advantage of the need to define a road map or those aspects such as an orientation towards collaboration, political support or the attributes of the territory itself that help and facilitate the management of a geodestination.
The event closed with a panel discussion, where the creation of the geodestines with a historical vision was reviewed, as well as a critical reading with the aim of orienting them towards a better future management. In this panel, the Cluster has provided its contribution on the management of geodestins, providing the collaboration of the private sector for a better and more efficient actions and promotion strategy and whose objective should be the generation of higher incomes at the local level. Thus, a common challenge has been defined, which is to work for the sustainability of destinations and to claim the social, economic and employment generation importance that tourism brings to our society.