38 ADVENTURES AND MISADVENTURES OF A RESEARCHER – Contributions by Agueda Esteba
38 ADVENTURES AND MISADVENTURES OF A RESEARCHER – Contributions by Agueda Esteban Talaya
My first contact with tourism research was in the 1979-1980 academic year when I was studying Economics and Business at the Autonomous University of Madrid. In order to pass the 4th year Econometrics class, we had to make a model on some sector, demand, price or other economic indicator. My group chose, at random, to do a model on Tourism. The teacher recommended that we talked to the head of studies at the Instituto de Estudios Turísticos (Institute of Tourism Studies) part of the State Department for Tourism. I had no idea at the time that a large part of my professional life would be linked to this institution.
I liked this subject so much that the following year I specialized in Econometrics. In November 1982, I defended my Bachelor’s thesis with the title Modelos de comportamiento y previsión de la demanda turística española (Behavioural models and forecasting of Spanish tourism demand), under the supervision of the same professor who had taught me Econometrics. An anecdotal but important fact is that this same professor wrote the first doctoral thesis in Spain on tourism models in 1966. His influence was decisive.
After graduating, I continued to collaborate with the research department of the Institute of Tourism Studies, in specific research carried out by this Department, while I was preparing my doctoral thesis and until I obtained a permanent position at the public university.
Another fact due to chance was my dedication to university teaching. Although I had taught some basic courses on statistics, it was not until a family acquaintance told me that there was a vacancy, because of retirement, in the area of Marketing at the Complutense University of Madrid. I applied and got the job as less than an assistant. Although I didn’t teach econometrics or tourism, I thought that marketing was a good topic for modelling demand, prices, distribution or the impact of communication.
My Ph.D. dissertation was in February 1987, with the title Análisis de la demanda: aplicación a la actividad turística de las técnicas de predicción (Demand analysis: applying forecasting techniques to the tourism industry), and I obtained my PhD in Economics and Business Administration from the Complutense University of Madrid.
In my early days, Tourism was considered a very minor area. Tourism from the academic perspective had no official studies within the University. No degree, no diploma, no second cycle, no doctorate. Nothing. There were only a few regulated studies, recognised as Diplomas and supervised by the Ministry of the day (Economy, Commerce, Industry, Transport, Energy… which has been through many).
It was thought that research in tourism was a minor subject because it was not considered an industry per se, nor an economic activity, it was just a phenomenon. Some people even said to me: that’s good, you must travel a lot. Tourism was somewhere between “Let others m