IS

Interview

	Jaume Font Deputy director general of Tourism Programming for the Government of Catalonia
“The tourist is a seeker of experiences"	Jaume Font i Garolera is professor of Geography at the University of Barcelona and deputy director general of Tourism Programming for the Government of Catalonia. Married with two daughters, he has always been very interested in all aspects of territorial issues. His fundamental hobby has always been to know about the world, the region and Catalonia itself. He loves to read travel books, above all ones from the 18th century.
Jaume Font shows himself to be a practical man, full of ideas. Even before starting the interview his empathy was particularly notable – perfect traits to carry out his job in Tourism Programming. His office, dominated by a large map of Catalonia covered in symbols, is a reflection of his curiosity about the region, which, he confesses, was what led him to study geography.	Is the role of museums as a tourist attraction being exploited efficiently, and to its full potential? I think that the museums are being exploited enough from the tourist point of view. In any case, I would take into account that tourists are people who do lots of things when they go to a place and one of the things they usually do quite frequently is visit museums, but they can do plenty of other things at the same time, can’t they? See the landscape, go and explore a city, look at its monuments and, of course, visit museums. One thing is a museum viewed through the lens of cultural heritage and another thing is the museum seen through the lens of tourism. Yes, there are tourists who are compulsive visitors to museums, but they are not usually the most common type. Is our museum offering adapted to the profile of the tourists we get in Catalonia? Catalonia has an immense museum offering and a huge concern for culture and heritage, and for safeguarding it. I believe that we are a country with a lot of heritage, and in this sense we have many museums and an offering that is adapted to the needs of the tourists that come here. Is there good harmony between museums and the organisations and centres dedicated to tourism? Museums have evolved a lot in recent years, their collections are increasingly well presented, and they mount exhibitions in which the interaction with the public is more and more educational; in this way they have become more attractive. Now museums are open to the outside; before, museums waited for the visitor at the door but now they programme tours, excursions, joint activities; these activities are not in competition with centres dedicated exclusively to tourism, but rather they strengthen a cultural offering that is exclusive to each regional setting. How would you assess the creation of a network structure to boost industrial heritage? I consider territorial diversification, like that of the Science and Technology Museum of Catalonia, to be very important in that it helps a themed and varied programme emerge from the regions. Also, the fact that there are top notch facilities means that you can promote that region based on those specific assets. With regard to tourism, should museums aim to create jobs? Tourism is essentially an economic activity and a very important one for the country, and above all in certain zones such as Priorat and Berguedà. In these places, tourism is an important future sector, not least because they have experienced a significant decline in traditional activities. What are the future prospects for tourism in Catalonia, is there a plan, are you working on some kind of strategy? With regard to what mNACTEC could be and what tourism could be, up until now we have worked on a plan to dynamise industrial tourism which has also been drawn up through XATIC (Catalonia Industrial Tourism Network). Industrial Heritage has been gaining status, and I believe that, increasingly, people are valuing it and finding out more about it. In fact, we are a country with an industrial tradition and, therefore, industry should also be represented.