Personal information
Biography
In 2000, I was awarded a Degree in Biological Sciences, Agricultural and Environmental Specialty. I was mainly interested in everything related to the natural and agricultural environment and tourism. That was the reason why I decided to do a PhD in Geography and Regional Tourism Planning (2005). My first predoctoral internship was done in Mexico (2001), with a programme of assistance to the indigenous communities of Sierra Tarahumara (Chihuahua). That experience arose my interest in revitalizing territories for tourism. Once I successfully completed my Doctorate, I worked in Madrid for the international consultant Antar where, among other duties, I arranged tourist wine routes in Spain, planned tourism activities in Navarra and designed the Museum of Ceramics in Córdoba.
While I was working for Antar, I did postdoctoral studies in Nicaragua (2006), a project financed by US-AID to develop tourism on shrimp farms in the north of the country (Chinandega); this project was combined with University teaching at UCA. Later I taught tourism seminars in Mexico, Nicaragua and Peru; and in the last country I joined the Vice Ministry team of Tourism to develop the Peruvian National Strategic Plan of Tourism (PENTUR 2008-2018), financed by UNDP. The prestige and the resonance of this project allowed me to come back to Spain and start working at the University of Cantabria, leading the Tourism Observatory of Cantabria (2009). At that time, I was still involved in projects in Peru and I carried out several investigations which were financed by the Government of Navarra (2009-2010) and AECID (2011-2013). Regarding my duties, I had to coordinate multidisciplinary and multinational teams. The results of this experience were published in articles and books that I mention in my Curriculum Vitae.
My research, as well as my teaching, involves interdisciplinary fields such as Management, Economy, Geography and Development Cooperation. For this reason, in 2015 I completed my training with a Master's Degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Cantabria to gain knowledge in evaluating business viability of rural projects.
With over 15 years' experience and research in Spain, Mexico, Nicaragua and Peru I believe I am acquainted with the policies of rural development, negotiating with stakeholder groups and models of tourism competitiveness. It is no coincidence that, so far, the projects are valued at more than one million Euros. Since 2009 I am a Lecturer in the University College of Tourism affiliated to the University of Cantabria, where my teaching would not be the same if I had not acquired valuable knowledge from my global experiences.
Activities
Employment (6)
Education and qualifications (3)
Funding (24)
07483
07482
863-2014
15728-2013
03512-2013
03488-2013
01845-2013
01842-2013
01843-2013
1309-2013
1215-2013
01753-2013
510-2013
A1/036100/11
C/032490/10
308-2008
101-2008