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Manuel Mirás stresses that "this study will allow us to know our strengths and weaknesses, but also the opportunities that lie ahead".
Julio Abalde hopes that "work is a very valid tool for municipalities to plan their future"
The President of the Association of Local Councils of the Camino Inglés, Manuel Mirás Franqueira, and the Rector of the University of A Coruña, Julio Abalde Alonso, signed a collaboration agreement this morning at the Rectorate of the UDC to carry out a complete socio-cultural, economic, environmental and institutional study to identify the most relevant elements of the Camino Inglés with a view to proposing specific strategies and actions to strengthen its sustainability.
Manuel Mirás highlighted the agreement signed today as one of the three most important events in the short history of this entity, as well as its own constitution and the achievement of the support of the Diputación de A Coruña. "I am convinced of the great potential of this route and I am sure that, with the collaboration of the University of A Coruña, we will continue to join forces to put the Camino Inglés in its rightful place," said the president of the entity.
In this sense, Manuel Mirás highlighted that "this work will allow us to know many things that we still do not know about the Camino Inglés and, above all, it will allow us to know our strengths and weaknesses, but also the opportunities that lie ahead". The president of the Association stresses that the Camino Inglés "can become an important economic source for the neighbours of the town halls where it runs".
"According to data from the Pilgrim's Office, in 2019 a total of 15,780 people made the Camino Inglés. It may seem a small figure to you, compared to the almost 190,000 pilgrims on the French Way... if we look back ten years, we see that the Camino Inglés is the one that is growing at the highest rate of all: 780% in the last decade. The French Way is also growing, but at 68%", exemplified Mirás Franqueira.
Make the Camino visible
For his part, the rector of the University of A Coruña stressed that "this is the first agreement to be signed by teachers of the degree in Tourism", recently incorporated, and highlighted the importance of carrying out this type of work because "it is important have the ability to analyse all the possibilities of economic and social development that allow us to return to the previous situation as soon as possible ”.
Julio Abalde also stressed that "it is important that other Ways be made visible, not only the French one", especially when we enter a decade with three Holy years. "I hope that the work is a very valid tool so that the municipalities through which the Camino Inglés passes can plan their future," said the rector from A Coruña, who thanked the trust placed in the University of Coruña "and that this is the beginning of a future collaboration ”.
Work
Present at the event were Carlos Rodríguez Carro and Pablo Abeal, professors from the UdC responsible for the research. Carlos Rodríguez explained that the object of the study “has as its main objective the identification of the most relevant elements of the Camino Inglés for the proposal of strategies and concrete actions that strengthen its sustainability. This perspective has four essential pillars: socio-cultural, economic, environmental and institutional. The necessary information will be obtained mainly from the design and conduct of surveys. The sequence of work with the main points is as follows:
- Analysis of the knowledge of the Camino Inglés from the national and European perspective (focused on the United Kingdom and northern European countries). Study of the characteristics, perception and motivation of the potential pilgrim.
- Analysis of the profile, needs and opinions of pilgrims in this atypical year of pandemic by Covid-19.
- Study of the knowledge of the Camino Inglés by the people in charge of tourism management in the different municipalities through which this route passes.
- Analysis of the vision of the Camino Inglés by the residents of the different municipalities through which this route passes.
- Analysis of the profile, needs and demands of the companies that provide tourist services on the Camino Inglés.
- Joint analysis from the perspective of the sustainability of the Camino Inglés (economic, social, institutional and environmental vision).
- Study of the socioeconomic impact of the Camino Inglés in the territory for what it takes.
The signing of the collaboration agreement was also attended by the managing director of the Fundación Universidade de A Coruña, Juan José Gómez Romero; the manager of the Association of Local Councils of the Camino Inglés, Cristina García Souto; and the provincial deputy responsible for the Economy, Antonio Leira Piñeiro.
