Date Published: 05/11/2019
ARCHIVED - Murcia tourism authorities promote the Costa Cálida at the World Travel Market in London
ARCHIVED ARTICLE
42.5 per cent of foreign visitors to Murcia this year have come from the UK
The tourism authorities of the Region of Murcia are currently taking part in the World Travel Market event at the ExCeL centre in London, one of the prime objectives being to consolidate the popularity of the Costa Cálida among British holiday-makers, and on Monday Cristina Sánchez, the minister for Tourism in the regional government, met leading tour operators and travel agencies on the first day of the trade fair.
In terms of attracting visitors from the UK these are, of course, difficult times, given the uncertainty over Brexit, the fall of the pound against the euro and the collapse of global travel group Thomas Cook. But in the Costa Cálida the international sector appears to be holding up reasonably well despite all of these factors, and in the first eight months of this year British visitors accounted for as many as 42.5 per cent of all those coming to Murcia from outside Spain.
Similarly, in September it is reported that of the 114,794 visitors who came to Murcia from abroad in September 46,620 (or 40.6 per cent) were from the UK, the figure representing an increase of 4 per cent over the same month in 2018.
At the same time, figures which were published on Monday showed that during September the number of UK nationals visiting Spain was 0.4 per cent lower than in the same month last year at 2.1 million, and although the British constituted the largest market in Andalucía, the Comunidad Valenciana and the Canaries in none of the major tourist regions is the tourism sector’s dependence on the UK so great as in Murcia except perhaps the Canaries.
Among the elements identified by Sra Sánchez as key strategic points to market the Costa Cálida are the recently announced candidacy of the city of Cartagena as a World Heritage Site, the new Region of Murcia International Airport in Corvera, dive tourism and the year-round golf and beach holiday opportunities, and during the World Trade Market the Costa Cálida delegation will operate its own stand while signing marketing and co-marketing agreements with airlines such as Ryanair and Jet2, tour operators, online platforms, hotel chains and PR agencies.
Image: Cristina Sánchez (centre) in London on Monday
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