The Association for Cooperative Research in Tourism (CICtourGUNE), is a co-operation platform created with the objective to boost both new research skills and to gather those existing scientific capacities that could potentially be applied in the tourist sector.
The CICtourGUNE has been conceived within the Basque Research, Development and Innovation strategy for tourism (i-tourgune) is set up within the Basque Government's Tourism Competitivity plan for 2006-2009, which derives in the Business Competitivity and Social Innovation Plan for 2006-2009, designed to undertake the second greatest economical transformation of the Basque Country.
The international economy forefront‘s requirements and the complete insertion of the knowledge-based society demand the development and consolidation of new knowledge-intensive sectors. Within this economic framework, where knowledge and innovation are the key elements, it is necessary to work on a cutting-edge tourism model. Thus, the CICtourGUNE aim is to facilitate the adjustment of the tourism industry towards an intensive knowledge-based social and economic sector. Hence, the present cooperation platform is committed to work on intensive strategic research activities as well as the convergence of both traditional scientific and technological areas.
This transformation has to necessarily increase the scientific-technological activity in the traditional tourism sector in such a way that it allows a qualitative increase in the added value generated by tourism increasing the degree of competitiveness of the entire sector. CICtourGUNE responds to a clear strategy to create new sub-sectors or market places for companies with strong roots in the Basque socio-economic reality and with a clear potential to design the future economic network in tourism.
The CICtourGUNE will establish co-operation alliances among the most representative associates in different areas, such as science, technology, research and tourism to facilitate the fulfillment of such objectives.
The CICtourGUNE will endorse dissemination and knowledge transfer activities within the agents of the Basque Innovation System, the tourist sector and the Society in general.
The CICtourGUNE has been conceived to achieve a fore-front position within the key scientific-technologic fields, based upon dynamic management and working models. Technology Centers, Universities, Tourism and Technology Companies and Public and Private Tourism initiatives will converge within the CICtourGUNE.
The CICtourGUNE shall have an international dimension in order to reinforce the co-ordination of the tourist innovation system and its integration within the European Research Area (ERA).
At present, 41 researchers distributed along the Basque research and technology network are collaborating in the following innovation and research truck:
Concurrently, the CICtourGUNE platform is wholly engaged in the definition of its strategic plan and future knowledge paths.
