Calpe Town Council has put out to tender the construction project of the 21st Century Tourist Office, a modern centre equipped with state-of-the-art technology to publicise Calp's tourist attractions in its aim to become a smart tourist destination.
This office will be located in a 282 m² building acquired by the Town Hall in 2018, in Llibertat street, in the heart of the historic centre, which will replace the current premises in Mosquit square. It will represent a new concept in tourist services as it will be carried out through new technologies, not only through electronic brochures or digital screens, but will also offer immersive experiences to the visitor. In this sense, it is intended that tourists who visit the city can get to know through virtual reality devices restricted access areas such as the inside of the Red Wall or other resources that cannot be accessed by people with reduced mobility such as the ascent to the Penyal d'Ifac. This immersive experience is also intended to offer guided tours of the sites of Banys de la Reina and the medieval Pobla d'Ifac, the old town and a fish auction at the fish market.
"The aim is to modernize the tourist information process by introducing innovative technology so that tourists have better information and experience about what Calp has to offer", said the councillor of EDUSI, Marco Bittner, who added that this office will provide tourist information to tourists 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This project is part of the EDUSI Strategy "Revitaliza Calp" co-financed at 50 % with ERDF funds from the European Union and it is also a project included in the Calpe Smart Tourism Destination Plan approved by the Town Council Plenary during 2017.
The initiative, which now goes out to tender with a base amount of 575,954.92 €, includes the partial demolition of the building as part of the facade will be preserved at the request of the neighbours. It is a façade with a certain artistic value due to its traditional mouldings and balustrades, according to the work project drawn up by the architects Rubén Bodewig Belmonte and Alejandro Soriano Herrera. The rest of the building will be demolished, on top of which a new building will be constructed, consisting of an open-plan ground floor for tourist services, a first floor and a terrace-viewpoint.
Companies can submit their bids until 5 October and a period of six months has been set for this project to become a reality.