The Valencian Community hopes to recover British tourism in the spring after Brexit and strengthen the number of French visitors, captured during the pandemic. This has been pointed out by the regional secretary of Tourism, Francesc Colomer, in a meeting with the media held during the Fitur International Tourism Fair held this week in Madrid.
As Colomer pointed out, easing the conditions for returning to the country will allow Easter to return to near normality for the main European visitor to Valencia, on the way to recovering the pre-Brexit and pre-pandemic figures. However, the approach of the French tourist -who assumed the leadership in 2021- and also Germans, makes the Turisme department want to strengthen these nationalities.
In addition, they add the intention of strengthening local tourism. “We want to make the growth of Valencian domestic tourism structural with the Bono Viatge model”, he pointed out. Valencians already account for 60% of tourism of the national volume. Regarding the tourist recovery in 2022, Colomer has recognised that the figures for 2019 are taken as a reference, but he has insisted that the number of tourists is not the most important thing.
In this sense, he has pointed to “seasonal adjustment, diversification and greater spending” as keys. “The other would be a too superficial look at the industry,” he stressed. “This year the focus continues to be consolidation. We have come from a very long tunnel, but the sector has had the ability to come back”, he assured.
The regional Secretary of Tourism has also highlighted the creation of a digital tool so that companies can interact and a platform where more than 181 quality experiences offered by a hundred travel agencies are collected. ” Architecture designed so that people feel comfortable in the negotiation”, he insisted.
Turisme also organised a debate on the new paradigm of smart tourist destinations on Wednesday. In this sense, he recalled that Benidorm was the first population certified in Spain as a smart tourist city and that Altea has just achieved the same recognition with which, according to Colomer, the Alicante town sends a message to other similar municipalities that you can “embrace the new”.
He also mentioned that Valencia has been declared this year the international capital of tourist intelligence, which is added to the fact that the Community is home to the most powerful network in the country of smart tourist destinations, with 94 municipalities attached to both the coast and the interior.
Colomer has insisted on the idea that data management helps to improve the product and hit the ‘target’ of the public to advance in seasonal adjustment and gain economic profitability, and trusts that the Next Generation European funds will contribute to this end.
