Interview with Mario Crecente
Here you can read an interview with Mario Crecente published in the newspaper "La Voz de Galicia" on 31st January.
Mario Crecente is a professor of Heritage Touristic Management in the Universidade de A Coruña, as well as the Director of Crecente Asociados consulting firm. PhD in Architecture and former Deputy Director of Tourism in the Xunta de Galicia, he specialises in thermal tourism (among other aspects) and he is an expert in the Costa da Morte and the Way of Saint James. Last week he attended the fair FITUR.
Question: What does your company do?
Answer: We have knowledge and equipment in the areas of heritage and tourism, and experience in combining these two disciplines. We created this company to try to improve the relationship between tourism and heritage as much as possible. For example, we create products such as the thermal tourism plan in the Ourense province, based on its thermal resources. Also, the dynamisation of the Way of Saint James: now we are finishing the signposting of the English route, a work made by the A Coruña Deputation. The same happens with the thermal tourism, in which we are designing and redesigning new products, such as the Balneario de Lugo, among others. We collaborated in Paris, in the Thermal Towns Association, in which we are one of the founder members.
Q: What can we do in the Costa da Morte?
A: After the Prestige disaster, the first coordinated action was created, and it was a touristic dynamisation plan, one of the first projects of this company. There are still many things to do in relation to that plan. What are the positive aspects? The coordinated action. It is complicated to coordinate public administration and private enterprises, as it should be. There is still a long way to go. And also trying to turn a disaster into an opportunity. We always say this is the end of the world, but we should try to move to the centre. How is that? The coast is an indescribable, inexhaustible and incommensurable. The gastronomic wealth needs to be taken advantage of. There is a heritage part, which is intangible, that should have other formulations. That is the practice. In theory, we need to set out the delimitation of the Way to Fisterra and Muxía. Also, the inn: it needs to be reactive for the territory. If there is an area in this country that deserves an inn, the Costa da Morte definitely is worth a public action of dynamisation with an offer creation. Besides, the lighthouse route is still to be closed. There is a magic triangle, the Way to Fisterra and Muxía, with its connection to A Coruña. It was a proposal suggested at the time. By sea, this triangle would be prominent, although hazardous, but by land it is spectacular.
Q: From your point of view, what is the best thing the Costa da Morte offers?
A: I was impressed by the condition of Fisterra. There is a beautiful text by Cees Nooteboom that talks about the Way and that uses an example in which the Cathedral of Santiago is the bridge of a boat that takes us to the end of the world: the Coast. This border is something we still do not get to exploit and that needs to be the base for quality, resource generation and wealth. With the tourism we have, the income level and stay fees are to be consolidated. To that end, we need to be more careful, organised, and to have more impeccable towns that the ones we have now. The potential is huge and we have the itinerary.
Q: What should we do in order to be included in the top touristic destinies of Galicia?
A: First, defining this top. Number of tourists? The ideal top would be the profits from these tourists. They need to leave a profit. Way, end of the world and inn, which I already mentioned. We also need to talk about thalasso. One of the most spectacular places in Europe for a thalassotherapy project is on the Costa da Morte: the former whaler of Gures. This building is getting more and more derelict. There were property projects that did not go ahead. If anyone gets involved in the investigation project of Talaso Galicia, they would realise that the logo, the image, is this whaler. Our idea is not to pull them away, but to try to get the most of the premises. Receiving customers all year long, regardless weather conditions, would push us to the front line. A planning action was proposed and it will be later executed by a private entity. If it is possible, the ideal situation would be that spa companies in Galicia were present, as they are the role model in Spain: we talk about health and wellness tourism that does not rely on weather conditions to work. Receiving a thalasso treatment when the weather is unpleasant would be even better. The French Brittany is one of the more powerful thalasso destinies in the world. Do they have a better climate than we do? No, they do not. They have 20 benchmark centres. That is the path we should follow as well.
juan mario crecente maseda architecture phd tourism professor
