Government officials from the Region of Valencia stated their commitment to working closely with the travel trade to help bring back British visitors to the region at a special meeting held with the UK?s leading tourism associations at the new ?Tourist Info Comunitat Valenciana? office in London.
p>Government officials from the Region of Valencia stated their commitment to working closely with the travel trade to help bring back British visitors to the region at a special meeting held with the UK?s leading tourism associations at the new ?Tourist Info Comunitat Valenciana? office in London.The meeting was chaired by the president of the government of the Valencia Region, Francisco Camps, and the regional tourism minister, Angelica Such, and included representatives from the main hotel and travel associations in the Region of Valencia.
Also present were John McEwan, chief executive of ABTA; Steven Freudmann, chairman of ITT; Kate Kenward, executive director of AITO and Peter Walton, chief executive of IAGTO.
The initiative was part of the Valencia Region government?s programme of support to the tourism industry, which is particularly suffering the effects of the economic downturn.
The UK is the main foreign market for the Region of Valencia, accounting for 44% of the total of annual visitors, but the number of British visitors was down by 20% for the period from January to May 2009, year on year.
The aim of the meeting was to discuss ways of working with the British travel trade to address this decline in British visitors. The Valencia Region Tourist Board announced an investment of nearly two million euros in joint marketing and advertising campaigns with some of the UK?s main tour operators and airlines, details of which are currently being finalised.
Negotiations are in place with the associations present at the meeting to explore the possibility of holding their main annual conference or event in the Region of Valencia in the near future.
Also discussed were plans for improving travel agents? knowledge of the destination through educational programmes and fam trips.
The meeting took place at the recently opened, ?Tourist Info Comunitat Valenciana ? London?.
For more information on the Region of Valencia go to www.comunitatvalenciana.com.
