Pilar Aurora Araújo, student of the Ourense campus, has added in 2025 a new academic recognition with the José Manuel Pérez Canal award for her final degree project on a new tourism model for rural and mountain areas of Galicia. The student, a sexagenarian woman born in Germany and settled in Ourense since she was 13 years old, is currently studying the master's degree in Management and Planning of Inland and Health Tourism after graduating in Tourism with two distinctions from the UVigo.
Araújo received during his university stage the extraordinary career award and the recognition for academic excellence. Now he continues his training in a 60 ECTS credit master's degree that is taught in the Faculty of Business Sciences and Tourism of Ourense.
An academic trajectory started after leaving his/her previous professional life
Before starting the degree in Tourism, Araújo had developed her career in the field of high-level secretarial work and commercial administration. She also had a higher FP. The leap to university came, she explains, due to a very clear personal conviction. "This is for me", she maintains when recalling the moment she decided to enroll.
Regarding his involvement with studies, he defends an idea he has repeated throughout his academic career. "One must give oneself 100% and firmly believe that you can contribute. People have no limits, why should they stop at an age?" He also asserts that intellectual development does not always keep pace with the body's life cycle and believes that he can still contribute both professionally and intellectually.
Currently she assures that she is in a stage in which she can dedicate herself completely to training. Her objective, she states, is to achieve professional and intellectual goals and ensure that this effort has a useful return. "That it positively impacts society," she summarizes.
Awarded for a proposal on rural and mountain tourism
The José Manuel Pérez Canal award has distinguished his final degree project, focused on a new tourism model for rural and Galician mountain areas. Araújo downplays the symbolic component of the awards and interprets them as a validation of the work done. In his opinion, they are not a goal in themselves, but a guarantee of aptitudes, values, and responsiveness to certain demands.
His/Her link with the tourism sector goes beyond the classroom. He/She is a guide and points out that he/she performs that work thanks to his/her linguistic background in German, English, and Galician. Furthermore, he/she completed internships at the Ourense Institute for Economic Development, Inorde.
Regarding the degree in Tourism, he/she/it emphasizes its formative breadth and the preparation it offers for decision-making. He/she/it highlights that it brings together subjects such as history, geography, languages, administration, accounting, statistics or law, which in his/her/its opinion provides a global vision useful both for business and for public administration.
A defense of the tourism potential of Galicia and Ourense
Araújo considers that tourism is "a very important sector in Spain, with a relevant weight within the GDP and a great future perspective". From that vision, he maintains that one of the challenges is to connect the rich heritage of Galicia and the province of Ourense with a differentiated tourist offer in the international market.
In that strategy, he recalls that Galicia's external brand is associated above all with the Camino de Santiago and gastronomy. He believes, however, that there is still room to give greater visibility to heritage from the historical origins of the territory. In his opinion, differentiation is the key for the visitor to perceive that they are in a different place.
In the case of Ourense, it places that differential trait in the use of water since antiquity by the communities, even before the arrival of the Romans. It also argues that it is possible to enrich the pilgrim's experience with the cultural legacy prior to the 1st century, in addition to the landscape and nature of the area.
Presence in university life and message to those who doubt
Married and mother of two children aged 37 and 27, Araújo thanks the family support and assures that they are a source of inspiration. Her involvement in the university also extends to participation in bodies such as the faculty and the Consello de Campus.
From that experience, it highlights the quality and excellence of the training at the Ourense campus, as well as its research lines and the academic level of the students. It also emphasizes the welcoming nature of the city towards students arriving from other countries.
He also defends coexistence between generations in the classrooms and maintains that the exchange of experiences enriches the group when there is collaboration and mutual respect. With that same idea, he encourages those who consider resuming studies in more advanced stages of life. If they believe they can enrich themselves and contribute, he says, they should not hesitate.