Carlos Fernández-Hernández (p)

Hugo Pinto

Stargazing tourism is an expanding market niche that requires having a high quality sky for night observation and an infrastructure of territorial resources for its attractiveness. Protecting the quality of the night sky becomes a strategic factor of competitiveness linked to sustainability. Thus, it is essential to maintain the absence of artificial light pollution and promote energy efficiency. This challenge connects with the need for the involvement of all stakeholders and to have cooperation and participatory governance mechanisms in tourist destinations (Carrillo Hidalgo, 2022). At the same time, the promotion of astrotourism in regions with suitable conditions is a useful instrument of territorial development of great interest in less developed countries.
Chile is a medium-developed country with marked persistent inequality (Mieres Brevis, 2020), highlighted as one of the countries with the greatest stargazing potential in the world (Fayos et al., 2014). In particular, the Coquimbo region has developed an intense innovative strategy to promote this tourism product (Fernández-Hernández et al., 2019). The desire to develop this tourism requires specific general regulations on the protection of light quality and specific strategies that allow managing and controlling the negative effects implied by the expansion of visitors to the places that need to be protected.
The work studies the sky protection systems implemented in Chile and that impact astrotourism, and delves into public and private actions, promoted at the local level to control unwanted effects due to concentration situations of visitors attending these products. It is about taking stock of the good practices developed that may be useful to other countries with potential for this tourism and similar characteristics.
Focusing on a niche market such as stargazing can help develop the destination, incorporating new opportunities for economic activity and employment in the local context.
This information is useful for the design of stargazing experiences that are sustainable in destinations, protect the sky resource and allow defining a framework of actions useful for public policies to promote the activity.

Mbaye Ba, Carlos Gustavo García González (p), Flora María Díaz Pérez, María Betehercourt Cejas

Carlos Fernández-Hernández

In less developed countries like Senegal, achieving full employment has been a longstanding goal of successive governments. Sectors such as tourism and health are seen as crucial contributors due to their labor-intensive nature. However, the phenomenon of brain drain, where professionals leave their home country for better opportunities elsewhere, poses a significant challenge. This migration often results in the loss of highly skilled individuals, particularly in sectors like healthcare. The departure of professionals exacerbates economic struggles and impedes development efforts.

This study focuses on exploring the potential of health tourism in Senegal's Littoral Region as a means to mitigate brain drain. By creating opportunities within the healthcare and tourism sectors, this initiative aims to retain professionals and stimulate job creation across various industries. Drawing on examples from South Africa and Tunisia, where health tourism has been successful in generating employment, the study proposes similar strategies for Senegal.

Low salaries in developing countries, compared to more developed counterparts, are a major driver of brain drain. The allure of better living standards and career prospects abroad entices professionals to leave their homeland. However, promisingly, many express a desire to return home after gaining experience abroad.

To address this issue, the study suggests policy interventions such as temporary returns of healthcare professionals and cooperation between sending and receiving countries. Additionally, imposing fees for medical training that are waived after a certain period of service in the home country could incentivize professionals to stay.

Data collection methods, including surveys and focus group discussions, reveal insights into the intentions of medical students regarding migration and return plans. Recommendations are made to align government policies with the goal of reducing brain drain and retaining skilled professionals in Senegal. Ultimately, the success of these recommendations hinges on a concerted effort to create conducive working environments and opportunities for growth within the country.

Flora Maria Diaz Perez (p), Leila Oliveira, Viviane Celine Chantre

Carlos Gustavo García González

Tourism has now become a major source of income for many countries and regions, as well as a way of combating poverty and promoting the development of underdeveloped and developing economies. This has raised questions about the viability of tourism's contribution to some destinations.
On a different note, the development and economies of island regions have been little studied by the scientific community. What happens is that the growth and development of these regions ends up being a senseless and frustrating copy of patterns followed by the great world powers. Not having many resources, they adopt tourism to fill the gaps, but without proper planning.
The aim of this study is to assess the growth and development of tourism in CV as a means for the sustainable development of its islands.
Based on the objectives outlined for this study, the qualitative approach was used. The data collection instrument used in this research was the questionnaire, which was unstructured (semi-structured) and had open ended questions.
This paper concludes that tourism can be an important tool for the development of island regions and countries where the economy is fragile. Specifically, tourism in CV is in a growth phase, but the current planning and management process of the activity is leading it further towards mass and unsustainable tourism, even when plans or strategies are presented that appear to be sustainable on paper. Thus, we can see from the qualitative analysis made in 2022 how the local population have opted for rural tourism. However, the statistical data obtained for the same year 2022, published in 2023, show that the tourism market in the islands of CV is still oriented towards sun and beach tourism (mass).

Hugo Pinto (p), Madu Uche

Flora Maria Diaz Perez

Resilience is the ability of a system to absorb disturbances and to learn and adapt in times of turmoil. This concept helps to understand how the tourism industry can effectively respond and adapt to external shocks. This communication focuses on the resilience of tourism in Nigeria after the severe economic downturn caused by successive closures during the Covid-19 pandemic. In particular, it focuses on governance and technology orientation as moderating factors of the region's adaptive capacity. The study has four main objectives: to explore the level of resilience in the tourism sector in Nigeria, to examine institutions and tourism governance in Nigeria, to analyse the role of technology orientation in resilience, and to discuss the key challenges facing tourism in Nigeria. The study presents a reflexive literature review to provide insights into key concepts and the actual situation of tourism in Nigeria. The data collection tool used in the empirical study was a semi-structured interview, covering a group of 30 key stakeholders in the South East region of Nigeria (Abia, Imo, Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi). The study uses thematic analysis and content analysis to analyse the information from the interviews. The findings suggest that tourism is one of the key sectors offering opportunities for accelerated growth in Nigeria. It also shows that the Covid-19 pandemic has severely affected the tourism industry due to movement restrictions. Collaborative governance raises the level of public awareness of the importance of tourism resilience and sustainability, bringing to the discussion notions such as efficiency, effectiveness, fairness, transparency, accountability, cooperation and legitimacy, fundamental for decision making in both the public and private spheres.