Witnessing the rise in Indian arrivals to Spain and recognising the potential of the India as a source market, Mijas, a province of Malaga in Andalusia, Southern Spain, organised its first destination presentation in Mumbai recently. The move is a primary step to increasing visibility for Mijas and its offerings. Century will be the DMC for the Spanish village in India. The presentation highlighted golf tourism, spa and wellness products, coastline and water sports as the key tourism offerings in Mijas. Cristina Lozano, Incoming Managing Director, Century, recommended day visits to Mijas to be added to travel itineraries for travellers spending the night in the nearby city of Marbella, which features on several existing itineraries for India.
“So far we have witnessed a few Indian tourists who come as a part of group travels to the region. We are hoping to increase visibility of the destination and increase footfall from day-long and overnight Indian travellers from now on. Century are specialists in Indian travel and will be a valuable asset in promoting Mijas to the tourists. We are targeting at least 10-12,000 Indians, both group travellers as well as FIT’s starting this year,” said Santiago Martin, Mijas Tourism Councilman.
Speaking about the new found interest in the Indian market, Juan Carlos Acevedo, Mijas Area Expert, revealed that the village has been steadily gaining popularity among Asian travellers, which is reflected by the 15,000 Japanese visitors Mijas welcomed last year. India is hence a natural market to try and tap in the growing Asian market.
Arturo Ortiz, Tourism Counsellor of Spain, in India revealed that Spain Tourism will try and highlight Mijas in future promotions in India. Ortiz informed that Indian arrivals to Spain were fluctuating through 2012, with leisure and business travellers overtaking MICE. The destination forecasts a 10 per cent increase in Indian arrivals between April and June this year. “We have earmarked EUR 70,000 for 2013 promotions and activities in India, and plan to conduct roadshows with Spanish DMCs and Tourism Boards by September this year in Delhi, Mumbai and Bengaluru. In addition, we will conduct trainings upon request on a smaller scale in other tier II cities that we are unable to cover in the roadshows,” he concluded.
