The Group of World Heritage Cities of Spain, to which La Laguna belongs, today presented the 2022 action plan, together with the Secretary of State for Tourism, Fernando Valdés, for the promotion of the 15 Spanish cities with the UNESCO seal in the main international markets of Europe, the United States and Asia.
The presentation of this plan took place at the Turespaña stand in Fitur and the event was attended by the mayor of La Laguna, Luis Yeray Gutiérrez, and the Councilor for Tourism, María José Roca, together with the mayors of the cities, which have also participated in the presentation of the 2022 action plan with Paradores and before that in the first General Assembly of the Group, in which the 2022 budget and the tourism operating plan have been tested.
Luis Yeray Gutiérrez has stressed “the importance for La Laguna of being part of the Group of Heritage Cities. We know that our cities arouse the interest of travelers from all over the world who want to know our heritage, our culture, gastronomy, natural spaces and cultural and sporting events that we offer. That is why it is important to work together and with the support of large entities such as Turespaña and Paradores”.
For María José Roca, who held several meetings with travel agents and companies during the day, stressed that La Laguna “is on the way to recovering the numbers of tourists who visited the municipality before the pandemic. We are committed to a tourist product that respects authenticity and sustainability, close, promoting the restoration of kilometer 0, and the possibilities offered by our natural environment, both the mountains and the coast. In this strategy, the visibility offered by being part of Heritage Cities is key”, she indicated.
The Group of Heritage Cities faces 2022 with a powerful promotion calendar in the international market. The agreement with Turespaña includes the presence at international fairs in Berlin, Paris, Singapore, Jata and London. There will also be specific presentations of the 15 cities, in collaboration with Turespaña and Paradores, in Lisbon; Mexico, Japan and South Korea, in addition to Miami and The Hague.
The president of the Group added that “2022 is the year of tourism recovery and that is why we are going to launch a powerful international campaign with Turespaña, without forgetting the national market. With Paradores, we are also going to make specific presentations in Barcelona and Malaga and, with the Madrid City Council, also in the Canary Islands”.
The Secretary of State for Tourism, Fernando Valdés, has been confident that 2022 will be the year in which the recovery of tourism is consolidated, while highlighting the commitment that Spain is making with the Next Generation EU funds to “improve the attractiveness of our Heritage Cities in order to position them in our main markets, thanks to an investment of 45 million euros from the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism for sustainable projects of rehabilitation and maintenance of historical and cultural heritage for tourist use. This Plan Promotes Heritage will allow us to reinforce our commitment to quality, sustainable, digital and inclusive tourism and strengthen our position of tourism leadership worldwide”.
He also recalled that “this year is going to be a great projection for Heritage Cities as representatives of the Spain brand, with actions to promote the 15 destinations with Turespaña through Tourist Offices around the world.”
“There are more and more people who want to visit us for our cultural, gastronomic and heritage proposal, so with European recovery funds we have a historic opportunity to place Heritage Cities, authentic open-air museums, in the place they deserve. at an international level”, added Fernando Valdés.
Action Plan GCPHE-Paradores 2022
The Paradores de Fitur stand has been the scene of the group photo of the mayors of the Group, together with the president of the entity, Pedro Saura. Paradores is a preferred partner of the Group and the intention is to continue working on joint promotion and marketing to enhance the brand positioning of both institutions in the main national and international tourist markets.
Both organizations are working on the design of a new Parador product in Heritage Cities with special visits to municipally owned monuments for clients staying in the network. In addition, it is intended to develop specific promotional tools for the direct marketing of new Parador Routes through Heritage Cities.
Assembly of Mayors and Mayoresses
The Castilla y León stand at Fitur has hosted the first Assembly of Mayors of World Heritage Cities chaired by the Mayor of Salamanca, and in which the Mayor of La Laguna, Luis Yeray Gutiérrez, acts as First Vice President. In this Assembly, a general budget of the Group for 2022 of 1,140,000 euros has been approved and also the Tourism Operational Plan that contemplates all the promotional actions that we are going to carry out both with Turespaña, as well as with Paradores and the Madrid City Council. , in a year that is going to be decisive for the tourist, cultural and heritage promotion of the 15 cities of the Group with the UNESCO seal. The 2022 budget represents an increase of 150.00 euros compared to that of 2021, which will be used to reinforce the advertising item of the Heritage Cities in the national market.
