1. Interview to Carmelo León (Director of Tides Institute Tourism and Sustainable
Development Research Center) Universidad de
Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
TIDES, a new Tourism and Sustainable Development Center in Gran Canaria, is looking for industry partners to help
spearhead cutting edge tourism research for the Canary Islands. Global Transportation among other companies
and institutions is already on board, taking advantage of the expertise and experience of the academic team. But
the 54-person institute has resources and personnel for many more entrepreneurial projects to boost tourism.
Heading up TIDES is Professor Carmelo León, holder of the is relevant but not as urgent right now.” Although happy with the
UNESCO chair in Tourism and Sustainable Economics. His response of university personnel to the first two conferences, he
mission is to bring the fledgling center, now in its second year, is concerned about the relatively low attendance from industry:
into the top ten tourism institutes in the world (now in position “The objective is to bring more industry people in through time,
27) via a multitude of interdisciplinary research initiatives. “Ran- especially as a result of media attention. By bringing people as
king is made based on scientifically refereed publications for prominent as Dr Simon Hudson from the University of South
which we must put together diverse research projects and get Carolina, Brent Ritchie from University of Calgary, we hope it
new data. We need to be more visible in scientific and academic will grow.”
publishing,” says León. He is confident that, coupled with the
institutes secure funding, the eclectic team of professors in nine To counteract traditional inertia between university and society,
different divisions will be able to achieve breakthroughs in re- the institute is promoting pilot projects - such as the collabora-
search into entrepreneurship, marketing, statistics, sustainable tion with the Development Iberoamerican Bank, to predict the
development, natural resources, land planning, urbanism, de- tourism demand of Paraguay; the collaboration with the Spa-
sign and innovation in tourism products and cooperative ventu- nish Government in a pilot project to re-design the new tourism
res with developing countries. “We already have links with Indo- model on Gran Canaria according to the segment preferences:
nesia and Colombia to expand our activities in Asia and South and many other projects with governments and companies such
America, which relate directly to our UNESCO goals, giving an as Global - designed to create a free demonstration effect. The
international dimension to the institute,” León explains. bus company (Global) employs 5000 local people and is very
Industry recognition and collaboration rank high on Leóns wish focused on social responsibility, one of the keystones of the
list. Bi-annual conferences are enhancing local awareness of institute. “In this collaboration we will have a dedicated follow-
the institute’s potential with extensive media coverage. “We hold up team which evaluates every three months what’s going on
two conferences per year, one in the summer and another at with the institute and the company. We then write up proposals
Christmas when we have a festi- and apply for grants .They provide their research objectives and
ve dinner,” says León. “However, what they want us to focus our researchers and PhD students
this is a difficult task as we’re on,” says León. Companies that collaborate with the center can
finding people are too busy with also contribute funding for specific projects but TIDES has al-
the economic crisis, they don’t ready succeeded in gaining grants with mainland Spain and the
have time to think. They know Canary Island government as well as developing countries such
the information and knowledge as Morocco, Colombia and Guatemala.
Dr Teresa Aguiar Quintana is the industry liaison for TIDES, responsible for spreading the word about
their research objectives. “She is very good at making contacts, talking to industry leaders and trying to
communicate that we’re there and can provide them with a service,” says León. The university-industry
relationship would not be primarily about money as the center has funding and the scope to apply for
further grants - “It is more a question of two-way information channeling and time,” he explains.
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2. One of the center’s ambitions is to transfer their research and
data to local Canary Islanders, providing a knowledge base
and experience to enable cooperative tourism development in
the islands as well as with other countries. León also plans to
reach out to universities in North America for collaborative pro-
jects and grants on projects such as a tourism incubator. Tides
is also leading some tourism projects into the Campus de ex-
celencia as a recognition from Universidad de Las Palmas de
Gran Canaria for their merits in tourism.
With social media the latest business buzzword for advertising
new endeavors, León is intending to explore the possibilities
of social media marketing to raise the institutes profile: “I hope
once we have the website in operation it will be the first step in
social media marketing, both internally and externally.”
INSTITUTE TiDES
www.tides.es
tides@ulpgc.es / +34 928 458 216
Instituto Universitario de Turismo y Desarrollo Económico Sostenible (TiDES)
Parque Científico y Tecnológico, Polivalente II, Despacho 101, Tercera planta
Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
Being a recognized research center is important, but
transferring this knowledge to society and industry is
our responsibility.
Louise
Hudson
Louise Hudson is a freelance writer for a variety of print and online publications including
the Calgary Sun and Canoe Group, Calgary Herald and canada.com group, Globe and
Mail, Dreamscapes Magazine, Dallas Morning News, More Magazine (Canada), The State
Media (South Carolina), Alberta Hospitality, Verge Magazine, Opulence Magazine, Sheen
Magazine, Silver Travel Advisor, Calgary’s Child, AlbertaParent and TravelMag.co.uk. She is
the co-author of the book “Golf Tourism” published by Goodfellows UK and is currently writing
another book on customer service.
www.tourismgurus.com
www.calgarysun.com/sports/snowscene
snow.business@sc.rr.com
803 708 2772
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