Costa del Sol Tourism has successfully organized various meetings in Lyon and Paris for the French market and in Gloucestershire for the British market, with the aim of strengthening the positioning of the province of Málaga as a Meeting and Incentive Tourism (MICE) destination. .
As indicated in a statement, these conferences, held on September 13 and 14, were attended by agencies specialized in events in both countries and a delegation of businessmen from Málaga, who took the opportunity to promote the MICE segment in the region support financially.
In the case of the activity on French territory, Turismo Costa del Sol was able to count on the support of the Spanish Consul General in Lyon and the Director of the OTS, Tourism Advisor to the Spanish Embassy in France, for the event in Paris.
The meetings were satisfactory, highlighting the participation of three hotels and one DMC, all members of the Costa del Sol-Málaga Convention Bureau: Juan Lara, DMC of Destination España, Margarita Santos, manager of Hard Rock Hotel Marbella, Rocío Álvarez, from La Cala Resort and Marta Hernández from Hoteles Santos for the Gran Hotel Miramar.
Taking advantage of the gastronomic importance of the two cities of the French country, sommelier Julián Sanjuan organized two workshops tasting Iberian ham and typical wines, followed by a dinner based on Spanish products.
The venues for the events were renowned Spanish restaurants: the Pepito Bellota restaurant in Lyon and the Málaga chef Dani García’s La Chambre Bleue restaurant in the Paris Hotel Maison Delano. As a result, more than 40 French professionals enjoyed the events.
In parallel, and also in collaboration with the Málaga Convention Bureau, a meeting was organized in the United Kingdom at the Cotswold Water Park in Gloucestershire. A 24-hour meeting in a format of coexistence between customers and suppliers with experience, where both lunch and dinner were offered and there was the possibility of taking part in a competition with a raffle and a workshop.
The event on British territory was attended by more than 30 people: 19 customers, eight businessmen from the province of Malaga, 1 representative from the Malaga Convention Bureau and two from the Costa del Sol Convention Bureau.
It is worth highlighting the presence of representatives of the companies Protocol DMC, Meridional Events, Vincci Selección Posada del Patio, Gran Hotel Miramar, Puente Romano Beach Resort Marbella, The Westin La Quinta Golf Resort & Spa, Cititravel DMC and JJ Spain DMC.
“We would like to show our gratitude to the cities of Lyon, Paris and Gloucestershire for the great welcome and interest shown,” said Margarita del Cid, CEO of Turismo Costa del Sol.
“It was a perfect opportunity to demonstrate the high level of services both in accommodation and restaurants, which complement the exceptional range of venues for events and meetings of all kinds in the province of Malaga.”
“The business people who accompanied us on these days were enthusiastic; this type of opportunity is perfect for them to show an audience that has so much to do with the Costa del Sol, the wide offer of the destination and, above all, the great work we do.” “from the whole point, that the pandemic represented,” assured the consultant.
Del Cid wanted to highlight the interest shown in both markets: “We are very happy with the results of the two events, both generated great interest and represented a great opportunity for tourism stakeholders in Málaga; even more so in markets such as France and the British, who are of great importance to our destination and are showing signs of recovery in registrations compared to those of 2019.”
