The Department of Tourism has attended this week the IV TURESPAÑA Convention convened in this edition under the slogan ‘Everything changes again: emerging technologies for a new tourism model’. The Turespaña Convention, held this year in Tenerife, is an annual event conceived as a space for the public and private tourism sector to meet, to exchange information and best practices and to reflect together on the development of tourism in Spain, its destinations and companies.
Calpe's tourism team took the opportunity to discuss the latest developments and trends in the sector and also held working meetings with tourism councils abroad.
In addition to outlining different collaborations with those responsible for the promotion of Spain as a tourist destination in the world, the design of the calendar of fairs for 2025 and the annual operational plan within the marketing strategy has begun.
The heads of the department took advantage of the networking event to improve coordination with both the Costa Blanca Tourist Board and the Generalitat de Catalunya's Tourism Board. In this sense, it is planned to reinforce promotional activities in Germany and Belgium, maintain the presence in strategic fairs with more prominence of Calpe, as well as an expansion into new emerging markets.
Calpe is currently focusing on a commitment to de-seasonalisation and sustainable tourism. In this sense, the councillor for tourism promotion, Marco Bittner, pointed out that ‘we have taken the opportunity to announce the new features for the coming season; the imminent opening of the Baños de la Reina archaeological site has become a differentiating factor as a cultural destination. Likewise, Calpe is already consolidating CalpePride as its own brand within the LGTBI offer of the Valencian Community. On the other hand, tourist attractions such as the architectural uniqueness of the Red Wall or the fact of being the municipality with the most Michelin stars per square metre in Spain are well received’.
Just as last year the Convention dealt with an incipient current of tourism-phobia, this year the Mayor of Barcelona addressed important issues such as tourist housing and the lack of permanent housing. This is an issue of concern to the sector and is being addressed with public and private solutions. There was also debate on the tourist tax, EC air legislation and, above all, the impact of digitalisation in tackling the sector's problems.
Several panels highlighted the strategic and cross-cutting importance that tourism offers; this season's data in Calpe (breaking the 90% barrier) confirms this. The Calpe team came out reinforced in that the strategic plan of Calpe follows the Department is in harmony with the trends exposed in this convention.
This convention has been a valuable opportunity for Calpe to reaffirm its position as a first-class tourist destination, committed to innovation, sustainability and quality in its tourist offer.