London will see the opening of a new tourist office in a bid to boost tourist numbers to the Valencia region of Spain, which has been affected by the current recession.
Angelica Such, Tourism minister for the reason said that although UK visitors are not as bad as they were in January and February, when numbers were up to 26% down on the previous year, whereas Junes figures are only down 8% of that of the same time last year.
The new office will showcase the Valencia region, where Brit’s make up to 45% of visitors.
“We want to show our commitment to the British market by making our destination more accessible than ever. By having a local office, we can give British visitors all the information they need to plan their trip to the region of Valencia” Such said.
She went on to say that €2.6 million is to be spent on marketing for the region in the UK. Joint discussions have taken place between UK and Spanish tourism officials on the matter, with ABTA chairman John McEwan, Institute of Travel and Tourism Chairman Director Kate Kenward and Institute of Travel and Tourism Chairman Steven Freudmann who met to discuss strategies to cope with the drop in tourist numbers.
McEwan said: “The key is to focus on 2010 and really look at what needs to be marketed. It is fundamental to change people’s perceptions of legacy destinations such as Benidorm.”
Freudmann added, “We would encourage it to market itself as a 21st century destination. They need to recognise perception is reality, and the challenge is to get some of our industry to visit the region.