Industrial tourism is gaining ground in the country

On January 25, the Punt Avui made a report on Industrial Tourism. Moli de l'Oli de Vandellos, landmark of Les Terres de Mestral, comes off as integrated into the XATIC equipment.

The MIDIT 2014 and gave keys to competitiveness in the tourism sector in this regard, after the conclusions drawn from a study, "Competitiveness and economic diversification of the territory of the MIDIT: Reinventing the Future" prepared by the Institute for Research in Tourism (INSETUR) of the University of Girona and within the project under the MIDIT 2020 Strategic Plan and the innovative project "Competitiveness and economic Diversification in the territory of the MIDIT: Reinventing the future II" funded by the SOC, the European Social Fund and the Ministry of Employment and Social Security - Public State Employment Service under the aid program innovative and experimental projects, regulated by the EMO / ORDER 280/2013 of 6 November.

We leave the article:

INTEREST More than one million people each year opt to take their vacations to visit the extensive industrial heritage of Catalonia GLOBAL Xatic, the entity that encompasses the sector, although in 2016 with the aim of attracting more foreign visitors

A few weeks ago counselors Boi Ruiz and Felip Puig presented the brand Barcelona Medical Destination, a new initiative that aims to expand tourism in Catalonia. Aware of the economic importance that is taking the tourism sector for the country, for years the Catalan authorities work to promote strategic tourism sectors that offer visitors much more than the typical postcard of sun and sand. The goal is to make Catalonia a tourist reference in almost everything and everyone.

In this sense of tourism expansion, it is the Industrial Tourism Network of Catalonia (Xatic), a municipalist entity that promotes tourism offer in museums, interpretive centers, old factories and mines throughout Catalonia. The association, which was formed ten years (2006) ago, currently groups 26 towns in the country with past and present industry, including Terrassa, where the headquarters is. And moreover it located in a symbolic place of the city: Freixa Masia.

The fifty integrated facilities in the Xatic receive more than one million people each year. Guided tours and educational at the Interpretation Centre de l'Oli visits Vandellos i l'Hospitalet de l'Infant (Tarragona) and Tavascan Water (culd) are two of the assigned resources they receive more visitors. Most visits are native-families family audiences with children and schools-but in recent years the interest in this tourism is growing in other target audiences. "The industrial tourism aimed at anyone who is curious and are interested in discovering and learning. It is not exclusive, is a large and very diverse network. It is tourism that wants to go further," explains Jordi Garreta, head of Tourism Terrassa City Council and member of the technical management of the network.

International projection
For 2016 the goal of Xatic is precisely this: to accommodate this growing interest through an offer of industrial tourism for different audiences. To this end, in the association they have already taken the first steps and offer the possibility for visitors to create completely individualized itineraries with activities tailored depending on the interests and ages. also they begin to offer joint activities with food service in restaurants and created the Xatic club, which allows you to enjoy discounts on activities throughout the territory. But in the network they want to go further. They want to further segment the offer and make it a first level complaint following the model of French success Decoubert Economique.

As proof of this growing interest in the sector, the Government has recognized the brand Industrial Tourism as one of the hallmarks of the country. In addition, through the Catalan Tourism Agency, the Xatic is coordinated with the government in promotions and national and international fairs, which opens many doors in the entity. "We are an association of municipalities and can not do direct marketing activity. It is therefore very important that tour operators and travel agencies are interested in our offer as a complement to the tourist activities that can be done Catalonia, "explains Pepi Martinez, technical secretary of the network, adding:" and what we have to do this year is to structure these products we already have to make them more attractive for tourists, for example, come in cruises Barcelona."

Internationally, the sights are set on all those visitors who, besides sun and beach, "want to go further," recalls Garreta. In Europe, industry sector eliniciaturisme is a long history. In the Xatic they are convinced that offering visits to the business can also be attractive. "Ultimately, the goal we all have is that visitors come again. And the best way to repeat is to offer a very wide range of complementary" say in the technical management of the entity.

Fees according to the ratio
Through the website Xatic can know all the activities and prices. The cost is decided by each museum, factory and interpretation center attached to the network, meanwhile, they are responsible for funding the association together with the associated municipalities. In the case of the consistory, the fee is calculated from the ratio for people with a bonus of 50% since 2011. In business, the sum is calculated according to the number of workers. "Quotas are symbolic," they say in the association, which hopes to win partners in 2016.

The Xatic is an entity created in 2006 by diverse populations with industrial heritage and decided to promote tourist. The project initially was financed by European funds. When they were finished, funding became dependent almost exclusively on partners, which has led to the hardest years of crisis, the association has passed difficulties and has had to resize. Once this phase, the Xatic faces the future with optimism. On February 19 the bank will celebrate the tenth anniversary with a ceremony at the Museum of the Waters, a day that will also use for the first day of industrial tourism in Catalonia with the presence of all partners. It is a good opportunity to join forces and demonstrate the good health of the entity.
THE POINT Ferran Espada
Tourism and industry, the necessary alliance

Catalonia has combined its economy in two basic sectors: tourism and industry. And much of the development achieved in the last century has been based on this binomial. But too often are two parallel realities. And with the current crisis they have triggered alarms by a worrying deindustrialization and excessive dependence on tourism. Therefore, the initiative of the Network of Industrial Tourism of Catalonia forging an important alliance between the two sectors. And we can talk about that more than one million people are betting every year to visit the factory still extensive ecosystem of Catalonia. Which helps to maintain the activity of the two sectors. And it makes it clear that the economy will be increasingly interdisciplinary.