Dr Juan Francisco Rivero
Juan Francisco Rivero, full academician of the Royal European Academy of Doctors (RAED), is the subject of a series of reports published in media outlets such as the newspaper “ABC”, the specialised portal Turiscom, the digital newspaper Madriddiario and the portal México Extraordinario on his recent admission to the RAED with the address “The importance of communication in the promotion of tourist destinations”, in which he reflected on the fundamental role that communication professionals, in their various functions, play in the dissemination and promotion of tourism, as well as on the new channels and formats of communication needed to reach the target audience. Rivero himself also published the article “The interesting tourism of Extremadura” in “El Periódico de Extremadura” on 11 June, in which he addresses the potential and appeal for foreign visitors of this autonomous community, which is removed from the sun-and-beach model.
“ABC”, in its digital edition of 29 May, highlights both the career of the new academician and the prestige held by the Royal Academy. “The Extremaduran Francisco Rivero, Doctor in Tourism and official chronicler of Brozas and El Hinojal (Cáceres), was recently appointed in the Great Hall of the Complutense University of Madrid as a full academician of the Royal European Academy of Doctors (RAED), chaired by Dr. Alfredo Rocafort. Rivero, Doctor in Tourism from the Antonio de Nebrija University and graduate in Journalism from the Complutense University, worked in Mallorca for 12 years at the newspaper ‘Baleares’ and at a radio station. He also founded the press agency Mallorca Press and the press office of Palma de Mallorca Airport,” the newspaper notes.
For its part, Turiscom, in a highly personal chronicle signed by the specialised journalist María José Cavadas, highlights Rivero’s career and his academic recognition. “Francisco Rivero has been cured of all fevers, if he ever had any. When you have him face to face, he conveys frankness and sincerity. You can rest assured that he will not try to deceive you, look down on you or tell you tall tales. Despite having devoted half a century to telling the world as he sees it. Juan Francisco Rivero Domínguez (Hinojal, Cáceres) has entered the Royal European Academy of Doctors, after a life dedicated to narrating the places he visits and the people he encounters along the way. Always with the purpose of fostering knowledge and encounter among people,” the post begins.
Madriddiario also devotes an author’s chronicle, in this case by Agustín de las Heras, president of the Royal Spanish Association of Official Chroniclers, to Rivero’s admission. “Today, our colleague Juan Francisco Rivero Domínguez, Excellency and Doctor, official chronicler of the Cáceres towns of Hinojal and Las Brozas, has been appointed full academician of the Royal European Academy of Doctors. And from the very beginning, emotion almost overwhelmed him, but with the composure of experience he led us through an address that became a master class. He spoke to us about tourism as a science and the importance of communication in the promotion of tourist destinations,” De las Heras explains.
Finally, México Extraordinario also devotes a prominent space to the admission ceremony in an article signed by its director, Armando de la Garza, who highlights as a link with the new academician that both are commanders of the Order of the Camino de Santiago, as are others present at the event. “From Mexico, we join in this celebration. Armando de la Garza, commander in Mexico, extends warm congratulations on behalf of all the ladies and knights of the Order in our country, recognising the great contribution of Dr. Rivero to culture and professional development represented by this appointment,” the author states.
As for Rivero’s own reflection in “El Periódico de Extremadura”, the expert welcomes the fact that this media outlet, a benchmark in local communication, devoted a special supplement to tourism in Extremadura. “Extremadura is a tourist destination that offers everything to travellers: from historical monuments to places of great natural beauty, which is what the new tourist now demands, and these new trends must be offered through tourism communication. What visitors are really looking for is a personal experience, which leads them to travel either to fashionable places or to almost unknown places, and that is the key to current tourism promotion. Hence the role of the media is to mediate in the process of transmitting the offer of tourism products from the professionals who provide them to their specific audience so that they may be consumed; not in vain, tourism too, in the broad sense of the word, is a consumer product of today’s society,” the academician states.
Editor-in-chief of the newspaper “Baleares”, head of news at Radio 80, founder and director of the press agency Mallorca Press and of the communication office of Palma de Mallorca Airport, Rivero worked for more than three decades at Turespaña. He is a member of the Spanish Federation of Tourism Journalists and Writers, where he served as Vice-President, and of Skal International, an organisation that brings together 13,000 tourism-sector professionals in more than one hundred countries, where he has chaired both Skal Madrid and Skal Spain. He was one of the creators of Visión-Latin American Association of Tourism Journalists and Writers, secretary general of the European Academy of Tourism Journalism and of the World Travel Media Guild.
