Tourism and destination strategy
Destination plans, tourism products and routes, positioning and tourism governance for municipalities, districts and provincial councils.
Cáceres · Extremadura · Spain
Jorge Villar Guijarro
Consultant and project director
I help public administrations and businesses drive tourism, innovation and territorial development projects.
What I do
From diagnosis to delivery, alongside public administrations and local areas
I combine experience in public management with running my own projects and businesses. I step in where a project needs strategy, coordination and deliverables that meet deadlines and requirements.
Technical assistance for public bodies
Technical office, reports and deliverables, liaison with public bodies and monitoring of public contracts.
EU funding
Identifying calls, preparing applications and managing funded projects (NextGenerationEU, ERDF, EDUSI).
Sustainability and SDGs
Aligning projects with the 2030 Agenda and the Urban Agenda, indicators and sustainable tourism criteria.
Communication and place promotion
Visual identity and communication plans, outreach materials, events and awareness-raising with local residents.
Digitalisation and project coordination
Smart tourism destinations, e-government and coordination of teams and suppliers through a single review process.
I work mainly with municipalities, provincial councils, LEADER local action groups and territorial development bodies, and also with tourism businesses and accommodation owners.
Professional collaboration
Senior Consultant at Open Ideas
Since 2025 I have worked with Open Ideas, a consultancy specialising in tourism, digitalisation and EU funding for public administrations and businesses.
As part of its team, I work on projects for municipalities, provincial councils and territorial development bodies across several Spanish regions.
Types of assignment
- Tourism sustainability plans and destination strategies.
- Technical assistance and technical offices for local authorities.
- Place marketing, identity and communication.
- Training and engagement of local stakeholders.
- Technical proposals for public tenders.
About the consultancy: services, team and projects
open-ideas.es
I bring the perspective of someone who has managed these projects from inside local government: I know the deadlines, the reporting requirements and what a municipal officer needs to get a project over the line.
Results
City Councillor for Tourism, Innovation, Technological Development and Transparency, Cáceres, 2019–2023
Results achieved by Cáceres City Council while I led these areas, together with municipal teams, the tourism sector and other institutions.
≈ €19.5M
in EU funding for municipal projects in sustainable tourism, heritage, innovation and urban development.
NextGenerationEU (≈ €9.5M) and EDUSI / Urban Agenda (≈ €10M)
500,000+
overnight stays in 2022, the city’s best tourism year on record at the time.
What I managed as councillor
- Applications for and delivery of EU-funded projects, including the Tourism Sustainability Plan “Cáceres 2025” and Cáceres Smart Heritage (Cáceres Patrimonio Inteligente).
- The City Council’s hosting of the filming of House of the Dragon (HBO) in the old town, for its first two seasons.
- Rollout of e-government and compliance with Spain’s National Security Framework (ENS).
- Promoting the destination at trade fairs and professional forums such as FITUR and Spain’s Smart Tourism Destinations Network.
Business and tourist accommodation
- Led export and international expansion for companies in natural stone, gourmet food and pharmaceuticals, across Europe and North Africa.
- Training and consultancy in digital transformation for businesses.
- Running my own tourist accommodation in Cáceres, Apartamentos de la Parte Antigua, and promoting sector associations in Extremadura.
Talks, papers and teaching
At academic conferences, professional forums and European meetings
A selection of recent research papers and talks. As a city councillor I also spoke at forums such as FITUR, Spain’s Smart Tourism Destinations Network, Tourism Friendly Cities (Venice) and Historical Cities (Kraków).
2026
Aug–Sep Bogotá, Colombia
Co-author of the paper “¿Innovación, complemento o conflicto? Un panel de expertos sobre la viabilidad de las monterías fotográficas en Extremadura” (an expert panel on the viability of photographic hunts in Extremadura), presented at the 33rd AEDEM International Conference by Adelaida Ramos Mariño.
Jul 5th Inter-university Doctoral Meeting in Tourism
Presentation of the research “Turismo cinegético en transformación: viabilidad económica, social y ambiental de las monterías fotográficas como alternativa y complemento sostenible en Extremadura” (hunting tourism in transition: photographic hunts as a sustainable alternative).
Jun FEMPEX
Speaker at the event “La Unión Europea más cercana: la ciudadanía toma la palabra” (bringing the EU closer to citizens), organised by the Extremadura federation of municipalities.
2025
Jun University of Cantabria, Santander
Presented the paper “Sustainable Hunting Tourism as an Engine for Rural Development in the Iberian Peninsula: Regulatory Harmonization and Cross-Border Collaboration” at the 39th AEDEM International Annual Meeting, with José Luis Coca Pérez.
2024
Nov 1st World Congress on Inland Tourism, Cáceres
Oral paper “La Transformación del Turismo Cinegético en España y Portugal: Retos de Regulación y Sostenibilidad en Áreas Rurales” (hunting tourism in Spain and Portugal: regulation and sustainability), co-authored with José Luis Coca Pérez.
Oct ISCE, Instituto Superior de Lisboa e Vale do Tejo, Portugal
Guest lecture for Master’s in Tourism students, in collaboration with Professor Teresa Cabezas.
Book (in Spanish)
Check-in al éxito
A practical guide to revenue management and digital marketing for tourist accommodation owners.
A guide to running urban or rural accommodation professionally, written from first-hand experience. It covers:
- how to automate pricing and fill your calendar;
- how to become less dependent on the big booking platforms.
Book launches
- Dec 2025 Moraleja, Casa Toril.
- Nov 2025 Cáceres, Caja Almendralejo.
- Nov 2025 Caminomorisco, International Beekeeping and Tourism Fair.
Social commitment
The non-profit sector in Extremadura
I work with organisations that promote the inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities and strengthen the region’s foundations sector.
Vice-President of FUNDHEX
Siblings’ foundation for equality and social inclusion, working to improve the quality of life of people with intellectual disabilities.
Secretary of the Association of Foundations of Extremadura (AFEX)
Governance and strategic direction of the association that brings together the region’s foundations. In November 2025 I took part in the opening colloquium on cooperation and disability.
Education and research
Applied tourism research
Inter-university PhD in Tourism (in progress)
I research ethical and sustainable alternatives and complements to hunting tourism in Extremadura, within the Faculty of Business, Finance and Tourism at the University of Extremadura.
Tourism Knowledge Medal as co-author of “Conocimiento Turístico” (Nexotur, edited by Eugenio de Quesada), a collective work by some 150 authors from academia and industry, presented at the Royal Spanish Mint (Real Casa de la Moneda) in January 2026.
Encina de Oro award for the best Master’s dissertation of the 2023–2024 academic year, from the Faculty of Business, Finance and Tourism at the University of Extremadura.
Education: Master’s in Social Science Research (University of Extremadura), DESEM in European Management (Reims, now NEOMA), International Business Studies ICADE E4 (Comillas) and executive education at ESSEC, Darden (University of Virginia), Stanford, Northwestern and ITAE.
Languages Español English Français Português
Contact
Let’s talk about your project
If you are preparing a tourism plan or an EU funding application, or need technical assistance in your area, write to me and we can discuss it. I work in Spanish, English, French and Portuguese.