Two key areas for the future of the eastern Cuban province of Las Tunas: tourism, and sustainable energy development, came together in the First Convention organized by the local University, in the halls of the Las Tunas Hotel. Through two simultaneous workshops, experts in both subjects presented research focused on the progress of both areas of study.

Las Tunas, Cuba.- “Tourism is one of our biggest energy consumers due to its own way of working. So, of course, it has to make efficient use of energy and adapt to climate change, making its development sustainable and mitigating its impact on the environment. That is why we both work together,” explained Daniel Rodríguez Peña, director of the Development and Innovation Unit of the Center for the Study of Energy Efficiency and Technological Processes of the main institution of Higher Education here.

Students and professors specialized in the so-called non-smoke industry discussed topics such as marketing strategies, creation, and plans to improve services, and sustainable use of energy. They also dedicated space for an expo-fair with dishes and drinks prepared by students of the Tourism career.

"Developing this type of event brings new ideas for the design of products and destinations, the diversification of the offer, improving the quality of the processes, both those of restoration and management of the destination as such," opined the Msc. Gency Ramírez Ferreiro, coordinator of the Bachelor's degree in Tourism at Las Tunas University. "From the first moment it was thought to open this degree in our province, it was always done to contribute elements that are needed from the theoretical-practical envisage to develop this process here," she commented.

At the same time, in the second workshop, three research projects related to renewable energy sources, and the development of products and jobs in the sugar industry were exposed. In this forum, initiatives were announced to replace the imported flocculant used in the clarification of sugarcane juices with another from national production. Also, projects that, if successful, would allow the utilization of a bio-lubricant obtained from sugarcane instead of those currently used resulting from oil processing, which must be purchased abroad.

“It has been shown that there has to be a will, so the Academy alone is not enough nor with the impulse of the same industry. A political will is needed at the national level from the main authorities that is emerging due to that political will,” Rodríguez Peña said.

The organizers of the First Convention on Tourism and Sustainable Energy Development (TURDES) hope to hold similar appointments annually to systematize the links between academic analyses of these aspects and their potential areas of application in this territory.