On December 1, 2017, the Department of Tourism of the University of Deusto together with the Department of Tourism of the Basque Government celebrated the San Francisco Javier Conference once again, this time on the San Sebastian campus. The title of the day was THE IMPORTANCE OF MEASUREMENT IN TOURISM, an issue without doubt extremely relevant if destinations and companies are committed to developing sustainable tourism.
Precisely in this line the President of SEGITTUR, Fernando de Pablo, gave a keynote address on Smart Tourist Destinations and measurement of tourism. The importance of data management. Within the concept of Intelligent Destinations that SEGITTUR has been advocating for years, sustainability is included and data-driven decision-making is defended, not only traditional sources but also intelligence systems fed from unstructured data sources that are generated at high speed (BIG DATA). Likewise, De Pablo called attention to the caution that must be had with obtaining them, the privacy and sustainability of the variables that they want to collect, that is to have such data in a stable manner.
Likewise, in the round table that took place after the break moderated by our CEO, Nagore Espinosa, the importance of measuring the impact of events was discussed. The session had a great list of professionals:
• Mikel Huarte. Fly Group Net
• Iñigo Argomaniz. Get In
• Fernando Ibarreta. Behobia- San Sebastián
• Mario Goffard. Bilbao Exhibition Center (BEC)
Within this debate the importance of making rigorous measurements that can be undertaken every year to know the evolution of events, taking into account variables beyond the number of participants, and economic return, especially values of environmental sustainability were highlighted and the feeling of residents. Both the specific events and those that recur, as indicated by the participants, have been evolving towards greater sustainability, especially because the audience demands it, therefore the brands are aware and the producers undertake it under said principles. The measurement was evident that it is an intrinsic part of this business, both to know the viability of the projects, as well as to obtain sponsors, as well as the communication and search for the loyalty of the audience that, at the same time, forces us to evolve and advance in new methods for events and therefore new ways of measuring and incorporating more variables.
The conference was attended by the Deputy Minister of Tourism and Commerce of the Basque Government, Isabel Muela, the Dean of the Faculty of Social and Human Sciences of the University of Deusto, Eduardo Javier Ruiz Vieytez and the Director of the Department of Tourism of the University from Deusto, Asunción Fernandez Villarán Ara. And an important moment of the day, was when the prizes were awarded to the best final projects of both campuses, to best interships and recognized the tutors of the companies that have hosted such students. It is a beautiful recognition to students who stand out in their study of different perspectives of the tourism sector and the performance in the real environment of companies and institutions.
Thank you very much for counting on us for this new edition, the in2destination team is always excited to contribute to provoke reflection among the new generations of tourism professionals