01
Understand the system
Frame the destination before attempting to improve it.
FRAMEClarify the strategic question.Destination, stakeholders, context and constraints.
EXPLOREIntroduce frameworks and theory.Build a structured language for analysis.
GBSB Global Business School · Barcelona
Bringing Operating Reality Into the Classroom.
Since 2022, Yuri Hidalgo Alonso has collaborated annually with GBSB Global Business School in Barcelona as an Associate Professor, bringing practical tourism, hospitality, technology and transformation experience into an English-taught international learning environment.
The value is not in replacing academic theory with anecdotes. It is in helping learners test concepts against destinations, customers, institutions, technology, operating constraints and execution.
01Industry ExperienceReal destinations, operators and transformation context.
02Applied LearningCases, frameworks, workshops and field evidence.
03Applied JudgmentContextual decisions, trade-offs and strategic reasoning.
04CapabilityTransferable thinking for future leadership decisions.
2022–PresentAnnual academic collaboration
BarcelonaClassroom delivery described in this case
EnglishTeaching and learning environment
THM122Destination Management & Tourism Product Conception
Applied LearningCases · workshops · visits · guest speakers
AssessmentProjects · presentations · individual problem solving
Destination as an Operating System
Understanding destinations as connected systems.
Destination decisions sit at the intersection of demand, hospitality supply, technology, operations and governance. The teaching approach makes those dependencies visible before asking learners to recommend what should happen next.
Demand. Visitors, segments, positioning and evolving expectations.
Supply. Hospitality, tourism products, services and the commercial proposition.
Technology. Platforms, data, digital channels and the infrastructure behind the experience.
Operations. Processes, people and the practical ability to deliver consistently.
Governance. Strategy, institutions, stakeholders and the choices that shape long-term destination value.
DemandVisitors & markets
SupplyHospitality & services
TechnologyPlatforms & data
OperationsProcesses & people
GovernanceStrategy & stakeholders
Applied Learning Architecture
From experience to executive capability.
Instead of six narrow steps competing for attention, the learning architecture is built around three phases. Each phase combines two actions and moves the learner closer to a defensible decision.
02
Test the operating reality
Challenge assumptions with evidence and direct exposure.
CHALLENGEUse cases and executive evidence.Compare theory with markets, campaigns and operating examples.
EXPERIENCEBring the destination into the learning process.Workshops, practitioners and field visits.
03
Turn analysis into judgment
Build a position and defend why it should work.
BUILDConvert evidence into a proposition.Research, design choices, recommendations and trade-offs.
DEFENDMake the reasoning visible.Presentation, challenge, evaluation and refinement.
Case-Based Evidence
Use cases to create judgment, not imitation.
Destination cases and executive readings expose learners to different strategic problems: segmentation, brand positioning, competitiveness, technology readiness, sustainability and the institutional conditions behind tourism growth.
Targeting and positioning connect market understanding with the tourism proposition and communication choices.
AU
Brand promise, place identity and destination assets become material for strategic discussion rather than campaign admiration.
NZ
World Economic Forum reading connects infrastructure, digital readiness, branding, sustainability, skills and tourism-growth readiness.
AR
Learning Beyond the Classroom
Two destinations. Two operating realities. One learning system.
Field learning gives learners something a classroom cannot: the ability to observe how destination identity, institutions, access, services and visitor experience come together in place. Castelldefels and Montserrat create deliberately different lenses.
Castelldefels · Smart Destination LensSee local destination governance in action.
The visit and presentation took place at Castelldefels Castle, coordinated with the Castelldefels Tourism Office / Ajuntament de Castelldefels and the Consorci de Turisme del Baix Llobregat.
Montserrat · Destination Identity LensRead an iconic destination as a living system.
Montserrat broadens the discussion to natural landscape, heritage, spirituality, access, visitor services, destination identity and stewardship.
Collaborative off-campus learning — documented group evidence from the Castelldefels destination visit.
Local Destination Context
Institutional references belong here because they were part of the learning experience.
The local entities are not presented as Guruti clients or commercial partners. They are referenced because the visit was coordinated with them and because their participation helps students understand the destination-management ecosystem around Castelldefels and the Baix Llobregat.
Guest Speaker SessionNúria GaliàOwner · International Coordination · Lu&Bo Hospitality
Hospitality representation · brand development · boutique & luxury hotel expertise · industry education
Practitioner PerspectiveGuest speaker session · Núria Galià brings a hospitality-industry lens without borrowing imagery from the field visits.
The documented course architecture also includes workshops and guest speakers. One evidenced session featured Núria Galià | Lu&Bo Hospitalitycontributing an external industry perspective linked to hospitality positioning, destination development and the Saudi Arabia tourism context discussed with students. This is learning evidence only, not a Guruti commercial-partnership claim.
Luxury & Boutique HospitalityOpenings & rebrandingTourism forums & lecturingRelais & Châteaux background
Why this matters here. Her profile combines hotel representation, brand development, quality management and industry education — useful precisely because it adds a different practitioner lens to the academic journey.
Build & Defend
The strongest evidence is what learners are required to build.
Assessment moves beyond recall. Learners must combine evidence, theory and destination context into a recommendation they can explain and defend.
Assessment Mechanics
01
Final Group Project
Research objectives, literature and theory, data collection and analysis, findings, destination-brand recommendations and oral presentation.
02
Final Individual Assessment
Knowledge, discussion and problem solving supported by concrete industry examples and analytical reasoning.
Capability Outcomes
A better way of thinking is the outcome that lasts.
01Systems Thinking
Connect destination, customer, stakeholder, technology and operating decisions.
02Evidence-Based Judgment
Support recommendations with context and a coherent argument.
03Strategic Translation
Turn broad ambition into propositions, priorities and practical choices.
04Technology Awareness
Understand technology as part of the tourism operating model.
05Communication & Defense
Explain a recommendation clearly and respond to challenge.
The Guruti Contribution
Executive experience becomes more valuable when it can be transferred.
Associate Professor · GBSB Global Business SchoolAnnual collaboration since 2022.
Barcelona-based classroom teaching in English, with project supervision, grading, evaluation and academic-review responsibilities.
TeachingDestination management, tourism-product conception, marketing, branding and tourism-development strategy.
Applied LearningCases, workshops, destination visits, guest speakers and current operating evidence.
AssessmentGroup project supervision, individual assessment and academic review.
Yuri Hidalgo Alonso's classroom contribution draws from operating and transformation experience across hospitality, hotel technology, commercial strategy, customer experience, enterprise systems and organizational change.
The point is not to give learners a practitioner's answer. It is to expose enough operating reality that they can build — and defend — a better answer of their own.
Frequently Asked Questions
Applied business education at GBSB Global Business School.
What type of teaching does Guruti contribute at GBSB Global Business School?
Through Yuri Hidalgo Alonso's Associate Professor role, the contribution focuses on applied tourism and hospitality learning, including destination management, tourism-product development, strategy, technology, case analysis, field visits and assessment.
How are destination visits used in the learning experience?
Field learning connects classroom frameworks with real destination contexts. Documented experiences include Smart Tourist Destination Management learning at Castelldefels Castle, coordinated with local tourism institutions, and a separate destination-exploration visit to Montserrat Mountain.
Does the GBSB case imply a Guruti commercial partnership with the institutions mentioned?
No. Institutions and practitioners are referenced only at the evidence-safe level needed to explain the learning experience. They are not presented as Guruti transformation clients or commercial partners.
Does Yuri teach at GBSB campuses outside Barcelona?
The classroom teaching described in this case is Barcelona-based and delivered in English. His academic responsibilities also include assessment and grade-review work associated with other GBSB venues, including Madrid.
Can Guruti provide similar capability-building programmes for companies?
Yes. Guruti's Executive Education & Capability Building practice can translate transformation challenges into executive workshops, applied learning, scenario-based capability development and organization-specific interventions.
Build capability around real decisions.
Guruti helps organizations translate strategy, operating models, systems and transformation experience into practical capability-building experiences for leaders and teams.