Plan to beat Brexit
British residents could help promote the ‘attractions’ of Alicante in the UK
A €1.6MILLION initiative has been announced by the Valencia government to help the regional tourism industry beat off the harmful effects of Brexit.
Details of what has been called ‘El Plan Anti-Brexit’ were given by regional president Ximo Puig on Monday at the World Travel Market tourism fair in London.
Sr Puig said the money will be used to ‘consolidate’ the position of the Valencia region’s tourism industry in the UK.
The plan will be launched at a meeting on December 3 which will draw together travel agencies, chambers of commerce chiefs and regional tourism officials.
“We do not want Brexit to cause a break with the Valencia region,” he stated.
“It should be a transitory situation.”
Valencia is aiming to ‘maintain the presence that we have always had’ in the UK for tourism and exports from the region, he noted.
At the same time, the Valencia tourism industry is ‘in a very healthy condition’ despite the fluctuations in the British market.
Sr Puig reminded that the numbers of British visitors had been falling at the beginning of the year but the slide has been halted.
Despite the problems with UK market, he noted that Valencia has had its best September ever with more than a million tourists visiting the region.
Growth is far outstripping the national average, he said.
Sr Puig was accompanied by acting minister for tourism
Reyes Maroto and president of Alicante province Carlos Mazón at the World Travel Market.
They had meetings with British tour operators and representatives of the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA).
Sr Mazón said they will be ‘working against the shadow of Brexit’ with all the weapons in their armoury to maintain the important British tourism market. The Costa Blanca tourism agency will be working on ‘attending to the tourists when they arrive’ and showing hospitality.
He noted that Alicante has more British residents than any other province in Spain, numbering some 70,000.
Sr Mazón noted that these people could be the ‘principal ambassadors’ to promote the ‘attractions of our land’ to Britons living in the UK.