For yet another year FITUR will participate, along with the Spanish Association of Tourism Experts (AECIT), in the awarding of the FITUR/Jorge Vila Fradera Prize. Participation in the 12th edition has been strong, featuring 14 studies from which the winner will be chosen and announced between January 19-23, coinciding with the celebration of FITUR 2011.
The documents received address some of the most timely issues in the tourism industry, among them works which take an in-depth look at the results of the application of new administrative processes in different travel industry segments, with titles including: Process-based management applied to the hotel sector. The adaptation of an urban hotel; Analysis of the impact of quality management, knowledge and innovation on hotel companies’ results; Crisis management at touristic locations: risks and opportunities. The case of Galician hotels; and Yield Revenue Management: An empirical analysis of its application and results in the Spanish hotel sector.
A CLOSER LOOK AT NEW TOURISM TRENDS
Other studies presented look at new tourism trends that are set to shape the market’s immediate future, among them concern with making the industry increasingly sustainable, as seen in Tourism and the environment: a sociological interpretation. Meanwhile, the influence which this economic activity can have on communities is examined in The potential of marine tourism as a factor in local, endogenous development or in An explanatory model to evaluate the quality of life in a local community and its relationship to tourism activity: the case of San Fernando de Maspalomas (Gran Canaria). Along this line, another of the candidate essays for the prize presents An Analysis of tourism and poverty: a look at the south Andes.
Also among those competing for the prize are works dealing in depth with specific segments, like options for older travellers in the form of spa-based trips, as covered in Tourism for seniors: a study of health resorts, spas and thalassotherapy facilities. There is also work on the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community, as explored in LGBT tourism: the case of Galicia. In addition, the impact of other kinds of travel is considered, such as wine tourism, in An analysis of wine tourism: the impact of “denominación de orígen” on the selection of destinations.
Business cooperation as a growth strategy for rural lodging companies in Mérida, Venezuela will explain the results of this collaboration in a behavior model based on both tangible and intangible capital, while changes in the way people decide where they are going to spend their vacation are considered in The determination of a tourist’s loyalty to his destination: the application of the new and dominant service logic.
In addition to the changes having come about in trends, management and demand, the title An evaluation of a tourist destination’s perceived image: a study of strategic positioning in a feature film evaluates the impact which the appearance of a location in this medium can have on it.
All in all the FITUR/Jorge Vila-Fradera Prize will promote academic research in the sector. To this end, the jury, made up of members of the AECIT, tourism experts, as well as FITUR representatives, will select the studies, evaluating, among other criteria, the work’s innovativeness, structure and methodology used. The winning piece of research will be published by the Centro de Estudios Ramon Areces, thus favoring its diffusion in the Spanish and Latin-American academic community.
At the 2010 edition of the Fair the prize was won by A holistic look at a tourist’s decisions, by Juan Luis Nicolau, who holds a doctorate in Economics and Business and serves as an associate professor in the Department of Finance, Accounting and Marketing within the University of Alicante’s School of Business and Economics.
