Research Group in Tourism, Culture, and Territory

TURCiT is the Tourism, Culture and Territory Research group and is part of the CETT Barcelona School of Tourism, Hospitality and Gastronomy.
Its objective is to generate applied research projects and knowledge transfer activities that promote ethical, sustainable tourism that energizes the territory and its heritage and that provides value to visitors and residents.
In this sense, the research of this group integrates a diversity of perspectives and approaches to achieve a holistic view of the tourism phenomenon.
Research lines
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Tourism and Territory
The link between tourism and the territory is inseparable as it is a spatial phenomenon. Faced with this reality, the tourist space becomes a complex and diverse environment where multiple relationships and interests of a social and economic nature converge at the same time. This link also entails the appearance of a series of effects that must be understood and interpreted from an analytical and careful perspective.
The study of tourism and its territorial aspect involves, in the current context, an intelligent approach in the application of strategies, measures and tools that promote understanding between the different actors that converge and achieve more sustainable destination models. That is, territorial tourism intelligence through the application of indicator systems, smart management of aspects associated with the territory such as mobility, or the promotion of governance as an effective process of territorial and tourism cohesion for decision-making. decisions.
That is why this line seeks to generate academic knowledge around different areas of study:
- Smart tourist mobility in all its dimensions.
- Orientation and territorial information systems such as cartography and tourist signage.
- The role of territorial tourism indicators.
- The analysis of different tourism management models.
Keywords: tourist reception, cartography, tourist spaces, tourist indicators, tourist mobility, tourism management models, tourist signage, tourism and landscape.
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Tourism, Culture and Creative Industries
The intersection between tourism and culture is essential for the tourism phenomenon, since much of the attractiveness of destinations lies in their cultural heritage. Even so, in the current tourism context, culture is not only a source of motivation for travel.
The intersection between tourism and culture is essential for the tourism phenomenon, since much of the attractiveness of destinations lies in their cultural heritage. Even so, in the current tourism context, culture is not only a source of motivation for travel.
Thus, the purpose of this line is to generate academic knowledge around three main areas:
- The processes, tools and spaces for enhancing culture.
- Current intermediation and promotion strategies.
- The particularities inherent to the enhancement of tourist typologies based on intangible cultural expressions such as literary tourism or creative industries.
Keywords: tourist communication, cultural facilities, creative industries, tourist itineraries, mediation, museums, historical-cultural heritage, intangible heritage, natural heritage, creative tourism, literary tourism, social networks
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Tourism and Audiovisual
The audiovisual industry in general and feature films and series in particular are acquiring more and more prominence among tourism managers. Filmed images reach millions of people around the world and, used properly, can become a particularly important tool in the field of tourism marketing and promotion.
Thus, collaboration between tourism organizations (DMOs) and audiovisual organizations (Film Commissions) will be increasingly common, sharing interests, objectives and joint actions.
In this sense, the objective of this line is to generate knowledge of the audiovisual and tourism binomial around various areas such as:
- Film tourism as a promotional tool.
- The influence of movies and series on the image of destinations.
- The creation and structuring of a tourist offer based on films and series.
- The various impacts (economic, tourism, etc.) of film tourism.
Keywords: structuring offered, tourist experiences, tourist image, film itineraries, tourism marketing, new tourist attractions, audiovisual productions, promotion, film tourism.
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Tourism and Gastronomy
This line of work focuses on the study of the relationship between tourism and gastronomy from a territorial perspective. Therefore, all aspects linked to the economic, social, cultural, political and environmental dimensions of phenomena such as gastronomic tourism and/or wine tourism are addressed from the paradigm of sustainable tourism.
Consequently, the purpose in this case is to generate knowledge about the various aspects of gastronomic tourism. This is knowing in depth:
- The needs of supply and demand.
- The impacts it generates to design strategies for correct management.
- The influence of tourism policies on this phenomenon.
- The relevance of promoting gastronomic tourism based on the heritage, identity and traditions of the people, among others.
Keywords: territorial dimension, impacts, intangible heritage, sustainability, wine tourism, gastronomic tourism.
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Tourism and Society
Tourism is a phenomenon that goes beyond being a simple economic activity and has diverse effects on the societies where it develops.
Thus, the sustainability and social legitimacy of tourism models depend not only on economic and environmental aspects, but also on the interaction that tourism activity produces with the social and political contexts of the territories, which depend, to a large extent, on the tourism management and participatory decision making.
In this sense, this line of research seeks to deploy academic knowledge by:
- Open spaces for debate.
- Allow a better understanding of the social dimension of tourism.
- Develop formulas to revalue the social aspects of tourism.
To achieve these objectives, tourism studies include social disciplines that provide new perspectives in the investigation of the binomial tourism and society.
Keywords: anthropology, ethical codes, citizen coexistence, tourism law, ethics, gender, tourism management models, tourism policy, volunteer tourism.
The TURCiT is integrated into the Tourism, Hospitality and Gastronomy Research Group (TURHOGA), recognized as an Emerging Research Group by the University and Research Grant Management Agency of the Generalitat of Catalonia, with file number 2021-SGR- 00939.
Memories
The Tourism, Culture and Territory Research Group; offers a visualization of the group's main lines of work, as well as material related to studies and training projects. These actions are collected in the following reports of the last courses: