This week, twenty one years ago… I taught my first class in Touristology. I soon realize that my students in their last year knew more about tourism than myself. I put all my energy and effort to change that! I learn from my students (I still do!), I learn from other teachers, I become a regular in the library, I talk with any professional related with Tourism… The more I learn the more I wanted to become a Touristologist! I knew that the best way to learn something is to teach it. So, I got voluntary to teach any subject: Financial Maths, Business Administration, Statistics, Technology, Economy, Entrepreneurship… anything BUT with always ending up “TO TOURISM”. Some people make fun of me and call me the firefighter teacher… Anyway, after two years I was absolutely in love with Touristology. When I decided to do my PhD. I chose as a topic … Touristology, what else!!!
My kids enjoy writing a letter to the Three Wizard Kings AND … so do I! I only ask for three things (one for each Wizard!).
“Gods, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, And wisdom to know the difference.”
Serenity, Courage and Wisdom… those are real gifts!
I hope they help me to:
1) Focus on do great things, as Steve Jobs said “Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me.”
2) Surrounded myself with young people hungry of doing these great things. Then create a startup with them using both a business model and a technological scheme. We will need people working with the first (business model) here My Touristologists are a fast, lean killing machine perfectly suited for this job! What about the second (technological scheme)? Any of My Touristologists is able to communicate with a technician; many of them are able to create the basic technological skeleton BUT we need a team of people able to focus on the Web-Engineering side, the kind of people more happier talking binary code than English, not so excited when two human begins or organizations make a deal but when the data base (SQL or NoSQL) finally is dealing with the server, the laptop or the Smartphone. If you are one of these people, or if you know them… Maybe we can do big things together!!!
3) Pay minimum attention to mediocrity and envious people. Yes, you have to deal with them BUT never pay extra attention. All your mind, energy, generosity… are for the great things and for the people that help you to achieve them.
Some people believe that 2013 will be a bad year, I don’t believe in bad years. My happiness, my passion, my vocation is from within. I’m not immune to external events it is just that I have been in worse places and circumstances and there is an eternal truth: whoever resists wins!
I still want to be a Touristologist! What about you?
I still want to revolutionize our lovely sector! What about you?
I still want to make clear than Touristology is a science! What about you?
THE BEST IS YET TO COME!!!
Jordi Oller
