With the aim of offering a detailed diagnosis of the current situation, defining the main challenges and strategies and giving priority to the specific actions that will be carried out in the coming years, this April the first works of the Strategic Plan for Rural Tourism in Galicia begin, which will allow us to delve into the opportunities of this growing segment, which has already accumulated in the four years of continuous growth in the number of travellers and overnight stays, but which presents various threats such as depopulation.
In order to gain a better understanding of the current situation, the plan includes a first phase in which the quantitative and qualitative data required for subsequent analysis and diagnosis will be collected. Thus, 14 working groups will be set up (1 in each geodestination) in which town councils with great projection in rural tourism, GDR, GAPL, regulatory councils, rural tourism associations, active tourism, universities, food and wine organisations and representation of the marketing subsector (travel agencies and online platforms) will be present. In addition, surveys will be carried out in all the rural tourism houses and individual interviews will be carried out with 60 of them and with 40 experts, in order to obtain conclusions regarding the business situation of Galician rural tourism.
Experiences in rural areas
With this document, Tourism of Galicia will design new tourist experiences around the Galician rural environment that will be added to those already successfully implemented as the Gastronomic Autumn, which mixes nature with gastronomy; Ornithological tourism initiatives; the Mountain Bike Route centres, which combine sport with the rural environment; the Camellia Route, the Wine Route and the Iacobus Pass on the Pilgrim’s Way to Santiago, among others. In addition to promoting synergies with the primary sector and with the Camino de Santiago, with a view to Xacobeo 2021.