184 Letter from Célia M.Q. Ramos

Dear all,

I was very pleased with the invitation to participate in this book alongside other women whom I greatly admire, which makes me feel blessed for the opportunity to share my journey, ideas, and some recommendations.

My path in tourism was neither linear nor foreseen, as my educational degree is in computer engineering from the University of Coimbra. When I started my academic career, I started teaching IT and information systems in the tourism and hotel management degree programs at the School of Management, Hospitality and Tourism (ESGHT) of the University of Algarve. In 1994, I sought to integrate a master’s degree that favoured the multidisciplinary intersection between information systems and technologies, a subject area to which I belonged at ESGHT, with the areas of management, hospitality, and tourism, to add value to the classes I taught. I received my master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering from the Instituto Superior Técnico in Universidade Técnica de Lisboa. My dissertation was titled “Computer Support System for Tourism Planning and Management”. My first publications began in 1998 when I started my research in the area of tourism.

In 2006, intending to continue to develop research activities in the field of tourism, considered an anchor area for the University of Algarve, I began a PhD program in quantitative methods applied to economics and management, in the speciality of econometrics, in the Faculty of Economics, University of Algarve. My thesis was titled “The Influence of Information and Communication Technologies on Tourist Demand: An Approach with Macro Panel Data”.

As far as research is concerned, the link between information systems and technologies and tourism predominates, including the integration of econometric methods. The tourism area allows interconnection among many areas of knowledge, among which IT has a privileged relationship, making this a truly fascinating field to research.

The knowledge acquired allows for creating knowledge bridges with tourism, complemented with concepts of management, decision-making, consumer behaviour, brand reputation, social media, government management, and integration of systems. This allows connectivity anytime and anywhere and the automation of processes to develop a human-centred society supported by technological pillars that are part of digital transformation.

Recommendations

• Know yourself and trust yourself. Write what is truly meaningful to you—what resonates with you. You have a unique perspective based on your life experiences, education, and skills.
• Take care of yourself and make your well-being a priority. Looking after your own emotional, physical, and mental well-being is fundamental to being a good researcher.
• Maintain your values and principles. When writing your ideas, be proud of your decisions and value those that truly reflect you. Believe in yourself!
• Create your team with people who reflect a win-win relationship. It is necessary to talk, share, help, work, spend time, spend energy, and support each other.
• Be the best partner in the team or the person you would like to have in your research team. Respect yourself, respect your colleagues, and be responsible.
• Look to the students and help those who want to develop their research skills. The academy is made up of professors and researchers, but the students will be the investigators of the future. They are the ones who will define new study paths for which they must be valued and directed to develop new scientific contributions.
• Have quality time with your colleagues. Share moments with a coffee break or other ways, and provide opportunities for a healthy laugh, because life means more than the academy and research.
• While innovating and researching, keep up to date on emerging theories and research methods, and apply them to tourism.

Make bridges among knowledge areas.

Tourism has allowed me to research several areas at the same time and permitted me to make bridges between different fields using knowledge as support. What a fantastic feeling to contribute to the scientific community as a researcher!

Best Wishes,

Célia M.Q. Ramos

ESGHT and CinTurs, Universidade do Algarve, Portugal