It’s all about the culture for Gibraltar as Christian Santos, Minister of Tourism for the destination, took to the WTM stage with special guest Esme Young to talk about the unique cultural offering Gibraltar boasts.
“We have a great product in Gibraltar, our military history is historical and heritage sites are fantastic. What we found is that we get a lot of repeat visitors. So we also want to expand on the product that we offer so that people will come again, either on cruise ships or from across the border or just want to return to Gibraltar and have something else for their consumption.”
“We’re investing in the town centre, giving new experiences and a lot of focus is being given to tourism-led events, such as the Literary Festival that has been going on for 10 years. It is back and bigger than ever, and it is a way of bringing people back across the border and make a weekend of it.”
Harnessing a dedicated events programme and active tourism scene is at the top of the Minister’s plans moving forward: “The end goal is to make Gibraltar a destination for everyone. You can come and visit our historical sites, they're beautiful and something that we're so proud of, because our identity is something that we're very proud of. That comes from a history with many stories to tell, but we have a big focus on our cultural identity, making visitors come to Gibraltar to feel like it's their home away from home.”
“It’s all about getting people of all ages to come to Gibraltar and feel welcome and want to come again, because for me, it’s all about making people want to visit again.”
In-keeping with the desire to focus on returning visitors, Minister Santos stressed the importance of the UK market in this respect.
“The UK market is essential to us. We are a British Overseas Territory and we pride ourselves in the British aspect but we also pride ourselves in the Mediterranean aspect as well. It’s a very unique spot where people from the UK will feel very much at home and on holiday at the same time.
“Our visitors major from the UK, and is one of our big focuses, and one which we engage with our tour operators the most and where we have our main flight routes and airlines from.”
