Fairway, 5th Forum of the Camino de Santiago, which will be held on November 1 to 3 in the Palacio de Congresos y Exposiciones de Galicia, has started its programme with three fam trips. “Each year we try to highlight different itineraries. On this occasion, we opted for the Primitive Way, the Portuguese Way, and the Fisterra-Muxía route,” explained Manuel Oreiro, one of the event’s co-directors. “We have around thirty participants, including tour operators from up to 16 different countries, and journalists and bloggers specialising in travel, which will undertake the itinerary up to Tuesday, October 31,” he added.
The main objective of these initiatives is enabling “renowned professionals in the field of tourism to experience for themselves what the different Camino routes can contribute.” In the case of the Primitive Way, beginning in Asturias, the participants will become acquainted with, among other places, the Historic-Artistic District of Avilés, Oviedo Cathedral, the towns of Grado, Cornellana, Salas, Tineo, Pola de Allande, and Grandas de Salime, thereafter entering Galicia via the province of Lugo, converging, in the municipal district of Melide, with the French Way as far as Compostela.
For its part, the fam trip along the Camino Fisterra-Muxía, which departed this morning from Praza do Obradoiro, will take the tour operators to outstanding sites such as Pontemaceira (Ames), the old town of Negreira, the Ézaro waterfall (Dumbría), the town of Fisterra, or the Virgen de la Barca Sanctuary in Muxía. The start of the itinerary featured the presence of A Coruña Provincial Tourism’s Camino representative, Antonio Leira; the mayor of Ames, Blas García; the councillors for Tourism in Ames, Manuel Lens, and Cee, María Luisa Rodríguez, respectively, in addition to Manuel Oreiro and Ana Trevisani, co-directors of Fairway.
In the case of the Portuguese Way, which also started its itinerary today, will take participants to places of interest such as Porto, Braga, or Valença, thereafter entering Galicia via Tui, A Guarda, Baiona, Redondela, Soutomaior, and Caldas de Reis before reaching, once again, Compostela. Their experience along the Camino is proving to be very enlightening.
Exhibitions, tastings, music, and leisure activities
All the fam trips will come to an end in the opening day of Fairway, 5th Forum of the Camino de Santiago, with an extensive programme of free Open Day activities. This day open to the public will include two important additions to the programme: an exhibition of silverware and jet-stone jewellery, thanks to the Compostela Association of Goldsmiths, and a free tasting of Lestedo “Filloas” (Galician crepes) organised by the Cultural “Filloa” Association.
This opening day, apart from the exhibition space with more than 80 exhibiters (a new record of participation), will feature cultural and leisure activities for all ages. The “I Camino” Route, several Escape Room sessions, a Mindfulness Workshop, or Gastroway make up some of the activities. An outstanding feature of the programme is the storytelling show called Peregrinas del Além. Instruccións para volver á casa quando xa morriches, starring Quico Cadaval and Sole Felloza, and the concert by the Xabier Díaz Trio, which will round off the public holiday of November 1 in the Palacio de Congresos y Exposiciones de Galicia.
In apparel to these activities, this first day will also feature a new Fairway section: the Job Market. In addition to training and informative activities, the organisation will facilitate in-person job interviews so that more than 20 companies in the sector can find suitable professional profiles to fill around 30 job vacancies.
More than 3,000 business meetings programmed
On November 2 and 3, the international tour operators participating in the fam trips will participate in the Workshop, which will resume its 100% in-person format. This Fairway section will enable more than 3,000 business meetings to be held between local service providers and 40 tour operators from 16 countries. A very important initiative since it contributes to the economic development of small and medium-sized enterprises that work in the sector linked to the Camino de Santiago.
Training and debating programme
In addition to business meetings, on November 2 and 3 Fairway will also host in the Pazo de Congresos y Exposiciones an extensive training and debating programme thanks to its Academy and Congress sections. In the case of the former, it will feature practical workshops and round tables on subjects linked to digital marketing, artificial intelligence tools, the creation of quality content in social media, in addition to example of projects in which the principles of the circular economy are applied.
For its part, the Congress section will discuss matters of interest to the sector. Coexistence between residents and tourists, the tourist tax, of the problem of pests will be the focus of the different debating forums. These will feature the presence of experts in different fields, as well as representatives of public and private institutions. All these sessions are free, as long as register to attend beforehand on the website www.fairwaysantiago.com.