I am Irati Icardo Isasa, and I will be working for NECSTouR as EU Project Assistant until April 2021, supporting the NECSTouR regions in their green and digital transition, while building recovery for their tourism from the COVID-19 impact.

My main mission will consist of providing support to NECSTouR on:

- Helping in the activity implementation and financial administration of NECSTouR projects.

- Supporting NECSTouR Members on project engineering tasks and monitoring opportunities of European cooperation for regional tourism authorities.

- Assisting on the organisation of meetings and events, and I will report on the different relevant tourism-related conferences.

Part of my work will be also dedicated to support the current NECSTouR Presidency, the Catalan Tourism Board as member of NECSTouR. I will identify and assess opportunities for Catalonia within the network and support their regional strategy with EU Affairs and Projects.

II am originally coming from the Basque Country in Spain. I have a bachelor’s degree in Tourism (University of Deusto) and I hold a Master’s Degree in International and European Relations (Linköping University). I have been working in Brussels for over 2 years, including a traineeship in the Delegation of the Basque Country to the EU, the Bluebook Traineeship in the European Commission’s Tourism Unit (DG GROW) and as a MEP Assistant trainee in the European Parliament. I have also done an internship for the GECT Euroregion Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Euskadi, and Navarre, and for the Bureau International des Expositions in France.

I really look forward to start helping NECSTouR with the development of the work programme by supporting the regions in the green and digital transition of the tourism sector. I am glad and motivated to contribute to the network in such a timely moment when the sector needs to find the way to recover from the impacts of the covid-19 crisis. I am sure that my adventure in NECSTouR and the Catalan Tourism Board will be challenging and rewarding.

You can address me in Spanish, English, French and Basque; in the meantime, I will keep improving my Italian and Catalan skills.

Looking forward to meeting you all (virtually or in person), please do not hesitate to contact me in the following address:

Irati.icardo@necstour.eu