The Mayoress of A Coruña, Inés Rey, presented this morning the Tourism Observatory of A Coruña, a tool that will make it possible to analyse data related to tourist flows in the city. This initiative, a pioneer in Galicia, is currently being carried out by the City Council, through the Tourism and Congress Consortium and with the collaboration of the UDC and the Fundación Universidade da Coruña (FUAC).

A research team made up of professors Iria Caamaño, Eduardo Guillén Solórzano and Manuel Martínez is studying different indicators for monitoring the city's tourist information. The secretary general of the UDC, Carlos Aymerich, also took part in the presentation. The creation of a Tourism Observatory provides the city's tourism agents with the possibility of having access to the main data on the dynamics and impact of tourism in the city on a single platform and in real time. This data can be shared with the sector's stakeholders to help them make decisions at any time of the year, making the actions that each one of them can take more effective.

"From the City Council we are firmly committed to quality tourism to show the world why A Coruña is a different city, which leaves a mark on everyone who visits it," said Inés Rey. This Observatory, the first to be created in Galicia, will enable analytical and predictive studies to be carried out on tourism dynamics in the destination and to monitor the relationship between the local population and tourist activity, thus contributing to better planning of municipal strategies. In addition, a measurement of the carbon footprint of major events in the city will be carried out, in a bid to promote sustainable tourism.

The first data, collected during the month of February, were obtained through surveys and other primary sources that make it possible to know the profile of the visitor who is in the city at any given time and to act accordingly. Visitors' evaluations of different aspects of the city change throughout the year. Knowing these variations at all times is an advantage in decision-making and product creation.

"Tourism has been one of the main axes of our government's action in recent years. A Coruña is today one of the great powers in the sector, for example, in congress and event tourism", said Inés Rey. The final objective of this research process is the creation of a platform that brings together all the data studied and which will soon be available to economic agents and the different areas of the municipal administration.