Tourism Academics Highlight Torrevieja

Torrevieja will host the final phase of the fourth International Congress of Residential Tourism on Saturday, with a round table of discussions to explore domestic opportunities.

The councillor for Tourism, Fanny Serrano, chaired a presentation, accompanied by the Professor of Sociology of Tourism at the University of Alicante and coordinator of the Congress, Tomás Mazón, and the coordinator of the headquarters of the UA in the city, José Norberto Mazón.

The international congress will be held from September 13 to 15, with free admission, in the Assembly Hall of the Germán Bernácer building of the University of Alicante. José Norberto said that the educational centre has always opted for research on tourism issues, despite the fact that residential tourism has been questioned by academics for years.

Tomás Mazón, who has worked in the tourism sector since he was 14, said that this fourth congress is different from the previous ones. If before the academics thought that a resident cannot be a tourist and vice versa, this concept is changing now. After several years of research, the professor assures that the economic crisis will continue to “lash out” those municipal councils that do not empower the sectors of construction and real estate.

“I think you have to keep betting on brick because it feeds you, and first you have to think about the stomachs and families, and then everything else,” said Mazon. The professor explained that the area of ​​the Vega Baja is a magnet for European citizens, especially for early retirees and retirees, for many reasons, such as the weather, the safety of the streets and public services, in addition to the proximity of airports that connect directly with several European cities.

This year’s international congress has an inaugural conference by Daniel Hiernaux, 2017 National Tourist Research Award from the Mexican Academy of Tourism Research (AMIT), with thematic tables and presentations on the different issues related to residential tourism, such as talks on non-labour immigrants, health as a tourism product, foreign media, residential tourism, key for territorial growth or urban planning and tourism territorial planning.

Regarding the events that will be held in Torrevieja, on September 15, international speakers will visit the city to learn about one of the main destinations of residential tourism guided by the Geography Professor Fernando Vera Rebollo. After the tour, a round table will be held at the Nautical Club with the participation of Fanny Serrano, the professors of the UA, Armando Ortuño Padilla and Tomás Mazón and the professor of the Universitat de les Illes Balears Salvà Tomàs, when they will discuss the new opportunities and at the same time the problems of residential tourism.