Interview Sandra Touza (Creative Tourism in Galicia)
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Sandra Touza defines creative tourism as arising from rural sustainable and responsible tourism that engages travelers in local projects without leaving a negative impact. She created Creative Tourism Galicia to promote an alternative, non-massive tourism that appreciates local culture and people. Through programs like "Put a Face to Tourism" and "Put a Face to Education", her team connects Galician residents with tourists through cultural, artisanal, and business initiatives to sustainably promote the region.
Interview Sandra Touza (Creative Tourism in Galicia)
- 1. Meeting our members Sandra Touza, from Creative Tourism in Galicia •What is your definition of creative tourism? In my opinion, Creative Tourism arises from Rural Sustainable Tourism and Responsible Tourism. It is very important to create a “clean” Tourism and that the travelers feel involved and engaged into local projects in a destination, but also that they do not leave a negative sign. Indeed, an alternative tourism, not a massive one, so that the destination can obtain its unique additional valuable resource, creating also an identity mark for itself. With this type of tourism, the territory and the people are much more appreciated, and we can feel closer to the local population. •Please, explain briefly your professional career, until the creation of a promoting creative tourism program. I realized that the type of social tourism which I was referring to in my project perfectly matched with the concept of creative tourism, which was being developed in other countries and in other cities like Barcelona. I started researching and I got in touch with Creative Tourism Network ®, that provided me all the guidelines to follow in order to be a member of the network, to establish myself as Creative Tourism Galicia, and to set into an international panorama. It is a very important support. •Why choosing creative tourism? I think that it is a growing kind of tourism. Everybody talk about it and it is increasingly fashionable. There is a brand new tourist with new needs whose trip expectations have been increasing more and more. There are new trends and the tourist wants to find himself, to live experiences, meet people, get involved, create things with his hands, feel an artist for one day and, even more important, SHARE. •What do you propose through "Put a face to tourism“ and "Put a face to Education"? • We are a team of multidisciplinary and self-taught professionals, with a constant business spirit. We combine quality with the desire to improve, always betting, for a collective enrichment. We believe in our region and its people, therefore we approach the Galician local population, through their business, cultural, tourist or artisanal initiatives. Only then we will know their past, understand their present and bet on its future. We promote a creative and accessible tourism, because we believe in a more participatory and responsible education, in short, in a more sustainable and collective society. www.creativetourismnetwork.org
- 2. •What have been the steps that led to the creation of this program? I have always wanted to be my own boss and to improve the system by small actions. After many seasonal jobs and journeys that opened my mind, three years ago I decided to create my own project in rural areas, where I'm living. Having worked in the tourism field for years, I had collected many contacts in several areas of Galicia, so I observed the available resources around me and soon I began to work. I started creating attractive routes designed for tourists, who could this way participate actively in a destination. This need arises from my concern as a traveler to visit a destination and to get involved with the local population. From this idea soon came others, so I got in touch with curious and active people that had something to show to the tourists. They were craftsmen, painters, masons, fishermen companies, fishermen, basketmakers, etc. I also visited many hotels, cottages and campings in the area to attract people and start making those routes with tourists. Web was very useful for the diffusion of the project. I started working actively, organizing creative activities for European groups invited by a local development group. I have been developing this project with great enthusiasm, perseverance, patience and creativity, that is what lets me keep going on, because I believe in it and I know it will soon reach the importance it deserves. •What is your "target"? My target is the creative foreign tourist who comes to see Galicia in a different way. •What are, in your opinion, the best practices to develop a creative tourism project? There are a lot, but I would cite: - The relationship between the tourist and the native - The diversification of activities and actions - The creation of a unique identity of the destination - The physical and economic accessibility The tourist initiative "Put a face to tourism" is an example of a best practice in Creative, Social and Responsible Tourism, that operates in rural Galicia, putting in contact national and international tourists to the natives, promoting the work directly performed by local authorities. www.creativetourismnetwork.org