Good practice:

Castles and Stars Festival

This initiative has been launched to break tourist seasonality in the municipalities that make up the region, scheduling this activity outside of the high seasons. In the Gúdar Javalambre region, the low seasons begin when the Javalambre and Valdelinares ski resorts close until August (except Easter and the main bridges and holidays) and from the beginning of the school year until the ski resorts open.
Also to put in value the visualization of the firmament since the area has the Starlight certificate.
The groups are made up of a maximum of 40 people who pay € 10 per person per day. The objective is that these 40 people and their companions make use of the tourist services of the municipality so that they stay to sleep in the tourist accommodation and stay to eat in the restaurants of the town or the rest of the region. The objective is fulfilled since all the planned days reach the maximum number of registrations and we receive verbal information from the hotel establishments that they have increased their sales that day due to the performance of these activities.
The activities consist of a guided daytime visit to the castles, by specialized guides, free food in the restaurants of the municipalities where the day is scheduled, in the afternoon an activity called "interpreted sunset" and later stargazing with expert Starlight guides.
The public makes use of the restaurants and accommodations because the activities last throughout the day including part of the night.

Expert in medieval heritage 240.79 euros for a 2-hour visit.
Astronomy expert 498.80 euros for the interpreted sunset activity and the subsequent stargazing activity.
Organizational staff who attend those registered with any questions or needs.
Flyers printed 84.91€

There are no numerical results since the surveys are of satisfaction and not quantitative.
One of the evidences of the success is the comments that the participants capture in the satisfaction surveys or the verbal comments that they make to the organization staff, or in the follow-up mailing that is sent to them in the following days.
And other evidence of success is what the local population transmits, the opinion of those who have been directly or indirectly involved.

Among the challenges, we find one against which nothing can be done and that is the climate. If the weather forecast is going to be cold, the public is not encouraged to participate. And if the forecast is a cloudy sky, the stargazing activity cannot be done and must be canceled.

The Festival is potentially interesting to highlight the resources of any municipality with a natural or monumental environment of some importance. The key is for the group of participants to feel sheltered and cared for at all times by experts in different subjects. For example, the conference could be about any other resource such as geology, paleontology, mycology and all that link it, unite it and mix it with a special dinner or a deeply rooted cultural activity,
Among the potentials of the Gúdar Javalambre Region, the quality of the sky for the practice of astronomy stands out, since this has been demonstrated in different scientific studies and for this reason, the Javalambre Astrophysical Observatory has been built in this area. Also in the region, there are different companies specialized in astrotourism, amply trained to serve tourists who seek the experience of finding the cosmos again. This experience can be enjoyed throughout the year.