Javier Sánchez-Rivas García (p), Inmaculada Crespo Morán, María Pablo-Romero

Daniel Barrera-Fernández

In light of the world situation experienced with the COVID-19 pandemic, the production crises of 2021 and 2022, and the imminent economic crisis that looms over international relations, the need to reformulate the existing relationship between the Cultural Heritage, as the basis of the main international motivation of tourist movements, and the economic impacts that it generates in the regions, in addition to the legal, social and artistic issues that it suggests.
The traditional ways of seeing Cultural Heritage have become obsolete to respond to the new reality of today's societies. The central objective of this course is focused on providing a general framework on the subject of cultural heritage, economics, legal science, urban architecture, artistic restoration, etc. in a transversal way, exposing, in this way, the challenges presented by the public management of Cultural Heritage in the 21st century and in view of the Sustainable Development objectives of the 2030 Agenda.
The management of Cultural Heritage has as its starting point the legal protection and conservation of certain objects especially appreciated, produced by human activity in a more or less distant past, which have lasted until the present, that is, what has come to call the “Inherited Resources of the Past” (Dywer and King, 2007). Advanced societies do not cease in the continuous generation of new patrimonies administratively protected under a modern legal system, developed during the last two centuries, and in which Spain and Mexico are in the international vanguard. The sustainable management of Cultural Heritage requires reconciling conservation with the new economic and social perspectives, simultaneously opening the object of study and development to new perspectives on the matter, in which tourism is key.
The course is divided into two days, where eight individual dissertations are presented in which the topics discussed above are addressed transversally, in addition to detailed case studies in Spain and Mexico. In the same way, as theoretical-methodological reflections on the subject, two dialogue tables are proposed in which the participating experts will give their vision of the situation of Cultural Heritage in view of the objectives of the 2030 Agenda and its resilience process in the face of the challenges of a very unstable economic future on the 2023-2025 horizon.

Francisco Sánchez-cubo (p), José Luis Sánchez-Ollero, Antonia Guerrero-Barrionuevo

Javier Sánchez-Rivas García

During the last decade, the Academia and tourism stakeholders' interest in Smart Destinations has sharply risen. The concept emerged as an evolution of Smart Cities but presents several particularities given the specific characteristics of the tourism activity. One of them refers to the knowledge and skills that human resources in hospitality and tourism may need to work in Smart Destinations. In other words, individuals willing to work in the industry may need a certain set of skills and knowledge different from the ones required in traditional tourism destinations. Currently, most of the research discusses the need for data analytics and ICT profiles in job positions in the back and front offices, in addition to language knowledge and soft skills. Besides, entrepreneurship appears to be also determinant in contributing to the development of Smart Destinations as it may add flexibility and novel ideas to them. However, the first step to getting the desired human resources is to provide specialised and up-to-date education and training, which may allow current and future hospitality workers to increase their human capital and, consequently, the productivity of the tourism industry in the given Smart Destination. Nevertheless, rethinking the mentioned skills and knowledge requires identifying where they are lacking, which turns highly challenging because of the difficulties in measuring skills and educational mismatches. In fact, Smart Destinations may need adaptative workers with problem-solving capacity and ease with learning new technologies instead of focusing on education levels or certain fixed skills.

Carlos Alberto Hiriart Pardo (p), Daniel Barrera-Fernández

Francisco Sánchez-cubo

Following the COVID-19 epidemic, cultural tourism is one of the sectors of the major tourism-receiving countries that is rebounding the fastest. Inland towns resume the use value of heritage resources in the face of post-COVID-19 tourism with socioeconomic changes and conflicting consequences on the local community and its legacy. This new environment will offer new chances to reevaluate governance and tourist management approaches that prioritize the quality and proper operation of historic attractions over visitor volume and financial gains. This situation in Mexico needs a critical examination of the recent past to create new networks of administration and planning for tourist areas. The Pátzcuaro Lake Basin in Michoacán, a rural area with significant tourist potential and a wealth of intangible cultural heritage, is the subject of the case study. The prevailing public policies and inadequate management procedures, according to the theory, prevent the area's cultural sites from consolidating. The current model of tourism governance and management is subjected to a critical study. It is constructed methodologically using an empirical and qualitative approach that draws data from primary and newspaper sources, fieldwork, and other sources. The findings demonstrate how trademarks like "Magic Towns" and "World Heritage" are imposed before a new, all-encompassing management plan is developed to unite the region and its different inhabitants.