THREE MILLION TO BE SPENT ATTRACTING TOURISTS TO COSTA BLANCA

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Contributor / 2009-06-04 10:47:45

LIFE'S A BEACH

A cross-party agreement comes after a 22 percent fall in international visitors so far this year in the Valencia region. In what is being described as an ‘historic’ agreement, the PSOE Socialists and the opposition Partido Popular have decided to act together in the face of the fall in British tourist numbers on the Costa Blanca.

Three million euros is to be spent in promoting the region to the British and other international markets following a pioneering pact between the national body Turespaña, the Costa Blanca Tourism Board, and the Valencia Tourism Agency. The Valencia region has seen a 22% fall in foreign tourists so far this year, the largest reduction of any Spanish region.

The new campaign will start immediately and is set to last a year with events in the U.K., Germany, France, Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Holland and Russia. President of the Alicante provincial government, José Joaquín Ripoll, underlined that the British market is basic for Alicante and said it was the one which had always sustained the sector, bringing good results year after year.

In a separate agreement 11 of the 19 five star hotels in the Valencia region have united in a group which has signed an agreement with the Tourist board for an extra 100,000 € to be spent on promotion. It all comes as Regent Street in London is closed off to traffic this Sunday for the ‘A taste of Spain’ fiesta where dancing horses, flamenco dancing and paella can be expected.

Tags: Tourism, Costa Blanca, Orihuela-costa, Orihuela Costa, José Joaquín Ripoll

Comments

Ron H 07-03-2010 / 16:53

Alas I feel this is a too little too late.

The British have been ripped off in recent years with inflated prices and scams and now with the euro/pound rate I do not see the Brits returning any time soon.

PS - PLEASE PLEASE could Guadamar and other towns in same area do some thing about the ltter and graffti before the summer months are here.

Avril Bowles 09-08-2009 / 18:49

Why don't the Spanish Governments, both national and local, see what was so blatantly obvious 5 years ago? The greed which prompted the ludicrous building, which turned all the costas into concrete jungles, the subsequent death of the property market, the despair and heartbreak of people losing their homes because of illegal building, and, in the Valencia region, the shameful 'land grab' law which has still not been outlawed, has all contributed to people not wanting to go to Spain any more; they are going (and buying) elsewhere. I say this as a property owner on the Orihuela Costa. The Spanish authorities have 'killed the golden goose' and have only themselves to blame. Until they sort the whole mess out they will never recover the tourism.

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