Modelling tourist itineraries in heritage cities: Routes around Old The District of Girona

Tourists do not follow random behavior in heritage cities, but they are consciously or unconsciously guided by socially constructed itineraries. This article studies the shaping of these itineraries in a heritage city (Girona), using the direct observation methodology during the visit (following the tourists from a prudent distance and gathering all the information about their visits) and the conventional questionnaire at the end of the visit. It also establishes which the sociodemographic, environmental and informative factors are that explain this behavior. The simultaneous use of the observation method and a questionnaire was found to be a useful technique for analyzing tourists' behavior and the factors that explain this behavior

El Papel de la Biblioteca universitaria frente a las nuevas titulaciones: el caso de la Biblioteca de la Universidad de Girona y la Diplomatura en Turismo

La formación y enseñanza en materia turística en España ha sufrido, en el último lustro, importantes cambios con el fin de adaptar estosestudios a las necesidades reales de uno de los sectores económicos más productivos de nuestro país. Esta evolución no ha sido ajena a las necesidades informativas y documentales tanto de alumnos como de docentes y profesionales que trabajan en dicha materia. En este artículo se analiza la evolución de la Biblioteca de Turismo de la EOTGC (Escola Oficial de Turisme de la Generalitat de Catalunya) desde su creación hasta su plena integración en la estructura universitaria de la Universidad de Girona, así como una reflexión sobre su rol actual y de futuro

Girona, una ciutat amb turistes

Article que estudia el perquè de l'increment del nombre de turistes que visiten la ciutat de Girona

Torroella-l'Estartit: el turisme i els seus cicles

Valoració de la temporada turística a Torroella i l’Estartit al 1995. També s’aprofita per fer un repàs sobre l’evolució del turisme en aquesta zona, i per fer algunes recomanacions sobre el model de gestió i activitat turística

La Situació econòmica i turística a la Costa Brava

Visió de la realitat econòmica de la Costa Brava 20 anys després del Debat Costa Brava de 1976, sobretot centrat en l’activitat turística

El turisme: de l'estiueig dels forasters a la invasió dels visitants

Repàs de l'evolució que ha experimentat el turisme a la Costa Brava els darrers cent anys, durant tot el segle XX. La intenció no és tant reconstruir la seva historia, com parlar dels diferents models turístics que l'han caracteritzat, en un context mes ampli. Publicat dins el context d’un número monogràfic de la Revista de Girona sobre el s. XX, i ocupant l’apartat dedicat al turisme

El Turisme, present i futur

L’aparició del turisme ha estat una de les claus per a entendre la transformació que ha patit la plana del Baix Ter, tant pel que fa al paisatge humà com al paisatge físic. Les raons de la massificació del turisme a la Costa Brava serien la bellesa de l’entorn, la bona climatologia i l’oferta de serveis a un preu assequible

Short-term Hydropower Planning System

The Thesis gives a decision support framework that has significant impact on the economic performance and viability of a hydropower company. The studyaddresses the short-term hydropower planning problem in the Nordic deregulated electricity market. The basics of the Nordic electricity market, trading mechanisms, hydropower system characteristics and production planning are presented in the Thesis. The related modelling theory and optimization methods are covered aswell. The Thesis provides a mixed integer linear programming model applied in asuccessive linearization method for optimal bidding and scheduling decisions inthe hydropower system operation within short-term horizon. A scenario based deterministic approach is exploited for modelling uncertainty in market price and inflow. The Thesis proposes a calibration framework to examine the physical accuracy and economic optimality of the decisions suggested by the model. A calibration example is provided with data from a real hydropower system using a commercial modelling application with the mixed integer linear programming solver CPLEX.

Una Mirada turística para el patrimonio cultural: Centro de Atención al Visitante del Camino de los Príncipes, Santa Catarina, Brazil

En este trabajo se lleva a cabo la planificación de un centro que sirva como punto de referencia para la información de la región del Camino de los Príncipes, en Santa Catarina, Brasil. Allí, a través de actividades turísticas, se buscará difundir i preservar el patrimonio cultural y natural por medio de su valoración. Este centro será denominado “Centro de Atención al Visitante”, y allí el turista, la población local y los administradores podrán acceder a todas las informaciones relevantes y oportunidades de servicios del Camino de los Príncipes

Planning and control of internal development projects in a fast changing environment: Case study

Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on kuvata ja ymmärtää kuinka sisäisiä kehityshankkeita voidaan hallita onnistuneesti kun toimitaan nopeasti muuttuvassa ympäristössä. Tutkimus kuvailee etenkin projekteille tärkeitä menestymistekijöitä, kuten suunnittelu, kontrollointi ja päätöksenteko. Tutkimus selvittää yleisimmät ongelma-alueet case-organisaation sisäisten kehityshankkeiden hallinnassa. Tutkimus on luonteeltaan laadullinen tutkimus, jossa tutkimusmenetelmänä on käytetty tapaustutkimusta. Empiirisessa osassa käsittellään case-organisaation sisäisiä informaatioteknologia-hankkeita (IT) ja uusien konseptien kehityshankkeita (NCD). iSisäisten kehityshankkeiden erilaisuuden ymmärtäminen oli tutkimuksen tärkein tulos. Tutkimuksen empiirinen osio osoitti sen, että epävarmuudella on erittäin suuri vaikutus projektihallintaan sekä projektin kontrollointiin. Case-organisaation IT-projektien onnistuminen riippuu organisaatiomuu-toksen onnistumisesta. Asiakkaisiin ja markkinoihin liittyvät epävarmuudet ovat vaikuttavimmat NCD projektien epävarmuuksista. Näillä epävarmuuk-sil­la on vaikutusta projektihallintaan jonka myötä NCD projektit juuttuvat useim­mi­ten noidankehiin tai ne lopetetaan jo aikaisessa vaiheessa.

Estratègies d'adaptació al canvi climàtic a la Costa Brava: una reflexió teòrica sobre la relació amb el rejoveniment de les destinacions madures

Aquesta Master Tesi té per objecte investigar la relació entre el canvi climàtic i el desenvolupament de destinacions turístiques madures. En concret, es pretén avançar en el coneixement que es té sobre: 1) com afectarà el canvi climàtic a les destinacions madures; 2) quines mesures s’estan prenent per a fer-hi front des de l’àmbit públic; i 3) en quina mesura la lluita contra el canvi climàtic pot alinear-se al costat dels processos de rejoveniment de les destinacions, de forma que ambdós es retroalimentin i generin sinèrgies positives perquè les destinacions turístiques les aprofitin per esdevenir més sostenibles i, a la vegada, es projectin cap al futur resultant més atractives. Per contrastar els avenços teòrics a nivell pràctic, s’ha decidit delimitar l’àrea geogràfica de la Costa Brava (Catalunya, Espanya) per tal de formular un estudi de cas, que consisteix en l’anàlisi de les Agendes 21 locals dels municipis de litoral. Aquesta anàlisi ha permès extreure conclusions que, si bé encara s’han de considerar a nivell prospectiu i les quals caldrà que siguin revalidades per la comunitat científica, igualment s’han de considerar valuoses per la seva aportació en les teories de gestió de destinacions turístiques i d’estratègies per fer front del canvi climàtic

Gallery districts of Barcelona: the strategic play of art dealers

This article focuses on Barcelona"s art market to explore the underlying factors behind the clustering of art dealers in several of the city"s districts. Drawing upon quantitative and qualitative data, the article analyses how such clustering reveals a strategic action in the sense attributed to it by Crozier and Friedberg (1981). Gallery districts are not a reflection of structural factors (economic, urban development-related or social) but the result of a combination of strategic choices either individual or collective which explain the permanence of leading gallery districts or the emergence of new ones.

Supply chain integration: studies on linking customer responsiveness and operational efficiency in logistics policy planning

Abstract The research problem in the thesis deals with improving the responsiveness and efficiency of logistics service processes between a supplier and its customers. The improvement can be sought by customizing the services and increasing the coordination of activities between the different parties in the supply chain. It is argued that to achieve coordination the parties have to have connections on several levels. In the framework employed in this research, three contexts are conceptualized at which the linkages can be planned: 1) the service policy context, 2) the process coordination context, and 3) the relationship management context. The service policy context consists of the planning methods by which a supplier analyzes its customers' logistics requirements and matches them with its own operational environment and efficiency requirements. The main conclusion related to the service policy context is that it is important to have a balanced selection of both customer-related and supplier-related factors in the analysis. This way, while the operational efficiency is planned a sufficient level of service for the most important customers is assured. This kind of policy planning involves taking multiple variables into the analysis, and there is a need to develop better tools for this purpose. Some new approaches to deal with this are presented in the thesis.The process coordination context and the relationship management context deal with the issues of how the implementation of the planned service policies can be facilitated in an inter-organizational environment. Process coordination includes typically such mechanisms as control rules, standard procedures and programs, but inhighly demanding circumstances more integrative coordination mechanisms may be necessary. In the thesis the coordination problems in third-party logistics relationship are used as an example of such an environment. Relationship management deals with issues of how separate companies organize their relationships to improve the coordination of their common processes. The main implication related to logistics planning is that by integrating further at the relationship level, companies can facilitate the use of the most efficient coordination mechanisms and thereby improve the implementation of the selected logistics service policies. In the thesis, a case of a logistics outsourcing relationship is used to demonstrate the need to address the relationship issues between the service provider andthe service buyer before the outsourcing can be done.The dissertation consists of eight research articles and a summarizing report. The principal emphasis in the articles is on the service policy planning context, which is the main theme of six articles. Coordination and relationship issues are specifically addressed in two of the papers.

Implementación de un servicio de apoyo a las convocatorias de evaluación de la investigación

Desde 2011, el Área de Programación y Calidad de la Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) trabaja de manera transversal con el Grupo de Servicios de Biblioteca de Apoyo a la Investigación para ofrecer un servicio de apoyo a las convocatorias de evaluación de la investigación (AQU, ANECA). Se ha hecho una apuesta institucional para que el profesorado de la UOC supere satisfactoriamente las calificaciones y reconocimientos externos exigidos para las titulaciones del centro y tenga suficiente y valorada experiencia docente e investigadora.

Breast cancer incidence and overdiagnosis in Catalonia (Spain)

Introduction: Early detection of breast cancer (BC) with mammography may cause overdiagnosis and overtreatment, detecting tumors which would remain undiagnosed during a lifetime. The aims of this study were: first, to model invasive BC incidence trends in Catalonia (Spain) taking into account reproductive and screening data; and second, to quantify the extent of BC overdiagnosis. Methods: We modeled the incidence of invasive BC using a Poisson regression model. Explanatory variables were: age at diagnosis and cohort characteristics (completed fertility rate, percentage of women that use mammography at age 50, and year of birth). This model also was used to estimate the background incidence in the absence of screening. We used a probabilistic model to estimate the expected BC incidence if women in the population used mammography as reported in health surveys. The difference between the observed and expected cumulative incidences provided an estimate of overdiagnosis. Results: Incidence of invasive BC increased, especially in cohorts born from 1940 to 1955. The biggest increase was observed in these cohorts between the ages of 50 to 65 years, where the final BC incidence rates more than doubled the initial ones. Dissemination of mammography was significantly associated with BC incidence and overdiagnosis. Our estimates of overdiagnosis ranged from 0.4% to 46.6%, for women born around 1935 and 1950, respectively. Conclusions: Our results support the existence of overdiagnosis in Catalonia attributed to mammography usage, and the limited malignant potential of some tumors may play an important role. Women should be better informed about this risk. Research should be oriented towards personalized screening and risk assessment tools.