Message from 1st Vice President

Dear Fellows,

On June 2 Pauline Sheldon and I took a trip to Logroño, the capital city of the Spanish Rioja region where our next conference will be held. This visit came after hard work on the part of Eduardo Fayos-Sola to set the stage. We started with a visit to the local Convention Center that will host most of our meetings. The Center is a state-of-the-art facility with a number of rooms that will easily accommodate our needs for plenary sessions or small group meetings.

Next place we visited was the hotel where we will be hosted (Hotel AC La Rioja). This is a four- star property belonging to AC Hotels, a Spanish-owned international hotel chain. It only takes about three minutes to walk from there to the Convention Center. The hotel has all the amenities to ensure an enjoyable stay for us and our guests.

At lunchtime, we met with Ms. Mónica Figuerola, Director General for Tourism for the Rioja region and discussed different organizational issues, among them, our traditional Wine & Cheese meeting. Though it is too early to be totally precise, it will be held in one of the best-known local wineries with all the savoir-faire on wine, cheese, and other local delicacies they are known for.

It is difficult to start talking business when their taste still lingers in my mind, but I do not want to digress. While we whet our mental appetites, we will also have a lot of work ahead of us. This is how we envisage distributing it at this initial stage of our planning.

Friday June 5, 2009

• Meeting at the UNWTO Headquarters in Madrid (See our President’s message )
• First Business Meeting
• Transfer to Logroño
• Orientation to local amenities

Saturday June 6, 2009

• Executive Committee meeting
• Scientific program starts

Sunday June 7, 2009

• Morning and afternoon: Scientific Program
• Wine & Cheese Reception

Monday June 8, 2009

• Opening ceremony
• Morning and afternoon: Scientific Program
• Late afternoon: Second Business Meeting

Tuesday June 9, 2009

• Field trip

Wednesday June 10, 2009

• Morning: Scientific Session
• Afternoon: Business Meeting to Evaluate Nominated Candidates (per new bylaws)
• This completes the formal Academy Program

Thursday June 11, 2009

• Local Conference organized by the Rioja regional government begins.
• Guest speakers and other Fellows joining the conference will remain in Logroño and follow host’s program (See Pauline Sheldon’s Message in this issue).

IMPORTANT REMARKS

• This is a DRAFT Program to be fleshed out in the following months. More precision will be provided in time.
• No mention is made at this time of organizational issues as to the format of the Scientific Program. We will fine-tune them along time, after polling our membership.
• On this anniversary occasion, we are looking for the best way to honor our Charter Fellows that created the Academy in Santander. Suggestions are warmly welcome.
• Scientific Sessions should provide the occasion to discuss Fellows’ papers on the Conference subject. This does not depart from established procedure and meets two of our Conference goals: scientific debate and rationale for travel funding.
• However, it was decided in Mugla (2007) that we should look for innovative ways to foster collective thinking and enliven discussions. We are still thinking on the best ways to comply with this decision and, once again, new ideas will be welcome.
• Bear in mind that, according to Spanish habits (with lunch never before 1:30 PM and dinner at 9:00 PM at the earliest), we can stretch our meeting time if needed. Indeed, it will go to the detriment of visits to the excellent tapas bars that one can find in the neighborhood.
• Programs for spouses, as well as pre- or post-conference trips will be announced in future postings.