Marbella and the International Tourism Fair

29 January 2014

International cooperation and direct promotion will be the two core issues of Marbella’s (Malaga) town hall during the International Tourism Fair (Fitur), that is being held between January 22nd and 26th in Madrid, according to the mayor of Marbella. She announced that the Marbella’s delegation has 40 meetings programmed, aiming to promote the town both in traditional tourism markets and in new ones, such as China.

International cooperation and direct promotion are the core issues presented. Councilman for tourism José Luis Hernández has accompanied the mayor of Marbella, Angela Muñoz. She said that Marbella arrives at the tourism fair after having had a great year from the tourism trade standpoint. There has been a healthy increase of 6% in tourist numbers and an 8% increase in overnight hotel stays. Angeles Muñoz underscored that the increase in number of visitors and overnight stays is mostly due to the arrival of foreign tourists, and so our objective is to continue to promote Marbella abroad. The Council that will be at the Costa del Sol fair stand, will be presenting events of international significance.

There will also be meetings held with representative members of embassies and important markets for Marbella, such as Russia, a country that has sent 50% more tourists to the city this year, she said. However, she added that “there is still room to improve this number”. There will also be a meeting with the Moroccan Tourism Minister she advanced. “The North African country is experiencing significant growth, and we want to take advantage of this fact by signing a collaboration agreement”. There will also be meetings held with Oman’s ambassador, UAE ambassador and the tourism authority from Dubai, within the framework of relations with countries from the Persian Gulf.

China will be another market that will receive special attention by the Town Council during Fitur. “It is a very attractive country, though we don’t get very many tourists from there yet. Chinese tourists spend more than even Russian tourists”. There will be meetings held with the Tourism Director from China to prepare a new strategy in the Asian market and there will be a meeting held with the director of the Spanish Office of Tourism (OET) in Peking. This strategy will not imply that traditional markets such as United Kingdom, Germany, France and the Netherlands will be neglected. In fact, there will be agreements signed with companies such as Tripadvisor, Turkish Airlines and Emirates. Also, an agreement will be signed with Renfe to promote Marbella in their high-speed train transfer line, AVE, that connects with Malaga.