Asociación de Turismo da Costa da Morte

The Costa da Morte Starlight Board met this week to evaluate the applications received and select the venue

Four municipalities presented their candidatures to host this important international event: Carnota, Cee, Laxe and Vimianzo

ZAS, 18/03/2024. The Costa da Morte Tourism Association (CMAT), after receiving last February the resolution of the Starlight Foundation indicating selection of Costa da Morte as the venue for the VII International Starlight Meeting, opened a period of candidacy to all the municipalities to apply for the physical location of the congress.

After the end of the period for receiving applications, the Starlight Committee met to carry out an exhaustive and rigorous evaluation of all the proposals and, finally, to make the decision to choose the location for the VII Starlight Meeting, which will take place from the 1st to the 4th of October this year in the Casa de la Cultura of Cee.

This committee was constituted on 5 September 2023 in Torres do Allo, in Zas, and among its objectives is to promote the development of astro-tourism on the Costa da Morte. It is made up of the CMAT board of directors and five honorary members: the director of the Starlight Foundation, Antonia Varela Pérez; the director of the Applied Physics Department of the USC, Jorge Mira; the expert in Tourism and Heritage and lecturer at the UDC, Mavi Lezcano; the vice-president of Deputación da Coruña, Xosé Regueira; and the Turismo de Galicia agency, on this occasion represented by Santiago Bacariza Cortiñas, Head of the Product Area of Turismo de Galicia.

A carefully considered decision

All the members of the Starlight Committee highlighted the difficulty of choosing a single location, given the quality of the proposals received from all the candidate town councils: Carnota, Cee, Laxe and Vimianzo. Manuel Muíño, president of the CMAT and of the Starlight Board, underlined: "It was a very difficult decision, which really cost a lot given the quality of all the proposals we received". They also valued very positively and thanked all the entities for their work and effort, and for their active participation in this process, and for the quality of all the forms submitted with the respective candidacies, as it shows the great interest and capacity to host this important event for the Costa da Morte and is a great indication of the enormous involvement and commitment of the local councils to our geodestination.

The director of the Starlight Foundation, Antonia Varela, congratulated the Costa da Morte and stressed once again that "it will be a perfect venue for the Meeting due to its strong commitment and solid astro-tourism strategy".

After taking the decision, the Starlight Bureau also wanted to highlight that the activities to be held during the congress will not be centralised but will be distributed throughout the whole territory of the Costa da Morte, and will count on the involvement of the different agents and the local tourism sector (especially the Starlight monitors). An intense social programme is planned throughout the whole Costa da Morte territory with activities organised for the congress participants and for the local population and visitors, from the 31st of September to the 6th of October.

Importance of the Meeting

The Starlight International Meeting annually brings together professionals, companies, public and private entities, media, Starlight monitors and guides, focusing on the cross-cutting themes of the Starlight Foundation: astro-tourism, local sustainable development, natural and cultural heritage linked to starlight, protection of the sky and dissemination of astronomy. In addition, this year it will coincide with the 2nd International Astrotourism Conference and the Starlight 2024 Guides and Monitors meeting.

In its previous editions, this event has been held in places as diverse as Cuenca (Castilla La Mancha), Gredos (Castilla y León), Menorca (Balearic Islands), Mosteiro del Olivar (Aragón), Évora (Portugal) or Fuencaliente de la Palma (Canary Islands) and usually attracts an average of 150-200 participants, proving to be an event of major economic and social impact on the territory.

+ info: Costa da Morte Asociación Turística - Gabinete de Prensa da CMAT. 623297799