“Privilege Spain” promotes Valencia

Privilege Spain promotes Valencia as an “undiscovered” destination and “avant-garde” city to young Italians

Tourism of Italians has multiplied by 4 since 2002 and the city is the thirteenth most visited Europe for this sector.

The project Privilege Spain, launched by Turespaña, in collaboration with the Department of Tourism and Tourism Valencia, promotes Valencia as “undiscovered destination” and “avant-garde” city in the market of young Italians between 22 and 30 years with high purchasing power. The goal is “to improve the positioning” in a market that already knows what Spain has to offer tourists.

The director of Turespaña, Antoni Bernabé, the autonomous secretariats of Tourism, Victoria Palau, and the director of Valencia Tourism, José Salinas, presented the initiative today at 120 tourist establishments to offer the possibility to appear in the media promotion of Privilege Spain.

Bernabé said that this promotion comes at a “difficult times” with the crisis, “especially in the source markets” for Spain. However, he assured that despite the “contraction in spending”, consumers are “not willing to give up their holidays, instead will adapt their budget”.

Privilege Spain is directed to “certain segments of demand in markets where Spain is already positioned”, such as the British, German, French and Italian, which focus on the promotion of Valencia and Santiago de Compostela. For each of the markets there is a concrete group where the promotion is aimed at, like the anxious adults in United Kingdom; the mature welfare seekers in Germany; traveling as a family in the case of France and the young searching for novelty from Italy.

So from the month of May, the platform will be ready to start promoting Valencia in Italy, a pilot, and once the results are known, may be extended to other markets and segments. Valencia is expected in the second city to start this initiative; it was first introduced in Jerez and Cadiz, aiming for the German market.

At first, it will offer customers a closed package; later on it will create an internet platform, which may promote the tourist offers directly to customers who will decide which model they are most interested in for their vacation.

PASSION FOR ART

In the city of Valencia the project is aimed at establishing high quality, but will not necessarily be identified with luxury. Young Italians seek, according to the consultant in charge of the project, cultural activities combined with entertainment, leisure and parties, novelty, connect with destinations and unique experiences, so the promotion is being conducted under the slogan “Passion for Art”.

Bernabé pointed out that the reception in selected markets, “through contact with tour operators is very positive”, because, although Spain is “very well positioned, still has many things to discover”. Therefore, the program states ” it will work and will meet the expectations and the aspirations of the industry”.

Visits from the Italian market in Valencia has quadrupled in the period between 2002 and 2008 due to factors such as the “modernization of the city, promotional activities, or major events”, “said José Salinas. Also, the city has 45 weekly flights to six cities in Italy and is the thirteenth preferred destination at the European level for Italian citizens.

For her part, the Autonomic Secretary of Tourism, Victoria Palau, noted that the project is “strengthening the market presence of the Italian market in the city of Valencia, that since it held the America’s Cup has established itself as a preferred destination among Italians who visit the Comunitat”, since three of the teams that participated in that event, came from that country.

Palau advised tourism representatives gathered to get to know the project, that “it is important to promote the generation of added-value tourism products, with extensive references based on the identity and uniqueness of the destinations”. So, she encouraged entrepreneurs to take part in this project for “profitable efforts and get stronger in one of the main tourism markets”.

[source article: April 7, 2009 by ya.com]