DCB - Tourism and local development

Vilamaniscle, a little village in the area of Alt Empordà (between the Natural Parks of Albera and Cap de Creus), very close to the French border, has been selected by the Department of Government and Public Administration of the Government of Catalonia, within the programme “Viure al Poble” (Living in the village).

This programme is directed to villages of less than 2,000 inhabitants that require special attention and have presented projects to promote the implementation of new economic activity and entrepreneurial initiatives  addressed to the dynamisation and development of the rural areas.

In the draft of the project “Vilamaniscle territory and identity. Socioeconomic dynamisation programme based on human activity and the preservation of the territory” DCB Tourism and Local Development has participated actively.

The main objective of the project is to promote local development permitting new economic activities which benefit local residents, stop the process of demographic regression and create job opportunities, improving the quality of life of inhabitants.

Some of the specific objectives are the rehabilitation of  historical heritage, the interpretation of  rural landscapes, to support the incorporation of abandoned agricultural spaces, to provide interpretation centres that can generate educational activities and tourism based on the nature, to promote the creation of new jobs and companies, to seek external resources that allow the deployment of projects and other.

The project has been supported with 682,337 euros corresponding to a 55% of the total budget and has a term of execution until 2013.

Flash Eurobarometer has conducted a second wave to the survey held in 2009 where EU citizens where asked about their holidays in 2008 and their vacation plans for 2009. The current report presents comparative data between the two waves. Some of the results compare travel for leisure purposes in 2008 and 2009. It could be seen that, although similar proportions of EU citizens had travelled at least once, there had been a decrease in those who had made at least one “short private” trip and at least one holiday trip (from 39% in 2008 to 27% in 2009). 

When deciding on a holiday destination, the largest proportions (32%) named a location’s overall attractiveness as the key consideration. This factor is up to 53% in the case of German citizens. Cultural heritage (25%) and options for entertainment (16%) were the second and the third most mentioned factors.

58% of EU citizens said that the opinion of friends and colleagues where the (first or second) most important sources of information when making decisions about travel and holiday plans. The Internet was considered to be the main source by 42% of respondents. In both cases, these percentages are higher than those in 2009.

Spain maintains its top position as a destination for main holidays: 8,3% of the answers (excluding those from residents in the country) were planning to visit Spain in 2010. Survey on the attitudes of Europeans towards tourism 2010

 The European Travel Commission, in its report of April 2010 European Travel Commission Trends 2010 points out to a slight recovery of the tourist activity in Europe over the next months, patterning on data s the first quarter of 2010. For example, the total passengers in airlines grew over the year earlier for the first time since June 2008, despite the fact that it remains, in absolute figures, 10% below. Additionally a small growth is confirmed at the occupancy rates of hotels but not at the prices.
As far as key source markets is concerned

socially-responsible-tourism

“Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre (www.parconazionale5terre.it), defined as an “antropic” park, was created in 1999 in an area which was suffering a deep social, economic and demographic recession, which was a consequence of the abandonment of agricultural activity for its lack of competitivity.

The tourist development strategy is therefore recent, and it’s based on valorising and conserving the agrary landscapes situated in the coastal line, and promoting cosmetic and agricultural alimentary products elaborated by the local cooperatives. All of this is complemented with intense internal and external communication policies and with active participation in international programmes and networks, which reinforces the communication and funding policies.

It is actually one of the best positioned amongst walking tourist destinations and it receives around 2,5 million annual visitors.

We had the opportunity to visit this magnificent area and discover its experiences in first person, in a fam trip organized by the Alt Empordà Turisme association (www.empordaturisme.com), from the north of the Costa Brava.

The general impression of all of the trip’s participants was unanimous, in the sensation of having been treated in an exquisite form, and having been able to live an exceptional experience applied in an area of great beauty and contrasts, which has many similar characteristics as some areas in Alt Empordà, between the Natural Park of Cap de Creus and protected area of l’Albera”.

On the 5th of March the work developed throughout 2009 by DCB Tourism and Local Development was presented to the public in Torroella de Montgrí (www.museudelamediterrania.org). This project was developed with the collaboration of the Tourist Departments of both Alt Empordà (www.empordaturisme.com) and Baix Empordà (www.baixemporda-costabrava.org).

The aim is to define a united work strategy between both regions to valorize the Empordà area, in the context of the Costa Brava trademark, as a reference to discover this territory (active tourism) and to discover all of its products: areas of interest, cultural centres, festivals, gastronomy… which complement and enrich the traditional sun, beach and residential tourism activities.

The foreseen actions are addressed  to create  products together, adapt the territory, support the quality of tourism and to reinforce communication and promotion actions, selecting some of the reference markets.

The work developed by DCB has been complemented with an analysis of how this type of products are presented on other destinations’ websites, a database with more than 700 references of agencies, associations and mass media from 6 different European countries, and also a summary of the main information on tourist and nature tourism demand.. With this information and a press and technical dossier which has also been prepared, communication actions addressed to these markets can be initiated.

Also, contacts have been established to work with other destinations in France, United Kingdom and Italy which will allow us to present united projects to European programs.
 

The environment department of the “Ajuntament de Barcelona”, with the collaboration of “Turisme de Barcelona”, has published the “Guia de congressos més sostenibles” (Guide to more sustainable conventions) and the “Guia d’hotels més sostenibles” (Guide to more sustainable hotels), with the goal to diffuse different action approaches to make activities and businesses from this branch more sustainable.

On the one hand, the guide to more sustainable conventions intends to offer information, advice and useful tools for the actors involved in the organization of conventions. It also proposes action criteria to reduce the negative ecological impact derived from the organization of great events, such as conventions and fairs. Furthermore, it includes a compilation of positive environmental actions which have been developed in other conventions in the city and in Europe.

On the other hand, the guide to more sustainable hotels presents a series of measures, mechanisms and work guidelines to introduce in all the different areas of the hotels, with the aim to minimize the environmental impact.

We think that these are two good instruments to improve Barcelona’s tourist services, which can also contribute to reinforce its tourist image, as these guides talk environmental sustainability aspects, which are well valued or even demanded in some cases in European markets.

 
Meetings among Volcanoes http://reunionsentrevolcans.turismeolot.cat/html/english.html is a project set up by Olot City Council aimed at attracting congresses, conventions and other types of events to the city.

Olot is the capital of the comarca of La Garrotxa www.turismegarrotxa.com and lies in the heart of the 40 volcanoes that are protected by the Garrotxa Volcanic Zone Natural Park. It is an ideal place for meetings of all types given that the peaceful and bucolic surroundings to the city guarantee the quality and the success of any such event.

The project Meeting among Volcanoes is supported by 46 private companies of all types (accomodation, gastronomy, activities and services) which aim to develop this new product as a complement to the tourism in the area, mainly during the week.

Josep Capellà  has presented the report written by the team of DCB Tourism and Local Development,  with the collaboration of Carles Tubert www.etsassessors.com which analyses the present situation of the project, introduce  some examples  of interest being run in Europe and give some guidelines helping the partners to decide which are the activities to develop in the future. 

The study has been presented during the annual meeting of the project, which has been held in one of the partner’s premises, Cooperativa La Fageda www.fageda.com, a well-known exemple of social initiative company in Catalunya.

RETECORK, European Network of Cork Territories, is an entity that intends to group all territories and entities related to cork, including the ones who produce and manufacture currently as the ones who did it in the past. The work of this network should facilitate the comprehension of the importance of this field for local development in rural zones, the conservation of Mediterranean landscapes and the preservation

DCB - Turismo y Desarrollo Local has been working in recent months with Sant Pere Pescador’s council in the preparation of a territorial and tourism dynamization program for the town. The study, co-financed by the SOC (Occupation Service of Catalonia), proposes a work program which will allow the village to improve its tourist position, projecting an image of Sant Pere associated to its territorial and cultural values, backing the creation of new tourist products and supporting the economic and social nets.

The report specifies the strategy and actions to be developed, but a Reception and Information Handbook to the Visitor has also been created to be applied immediately in the Tourist Office and information points. During the drafting period, two candidacy preparation dossiers have been given support. These are the FEDER and PLADETUR programs.

Attraction all year-round and prestige

The village’s main values and elements of attraction are the importance of the campsite sector and the leadership position light sailing sports. The report underlines that there are other products that, in spite of being a minority, that complement main products (sun, beach and light sailing sports). These are walking trips, biking, ecotourism and others, which make good use of the qualities of the Natural Park but also of the environment, with its wellkept agrarian landscapes. These minor products help to decentralize the season, but mostly they contribute to add prestige to the area, requiring a very high quality of landscapes and the environment.

Five action fields

The report proposes a program of 42 actions to be developed in short and midterm, distributed in five work fields. These are the Reception and information of the visitor (7 actions); Promotion (11 actions); Management of land resources and the quality of services (10 actions); Financial promotion, formation and occupation (8 actions); and Programs of support to the local development strategy (6 actions).