Valencian region to invest 1.5 million euros to strengthen British tourism market

Monday 7th November 2022 · Mike Smith
Source: GVA Tourism

During a visit to the World Travel Market London (WTM), the president of the Generalitat Valenciana, Ximo Puig, has announced the Turisme Comunitat Valenciana is to invest 1.5 million euros to strengthen the promotion of the Valencian region to the British tourism market.

The WTM, which is being held at ExCel London between November 7th and November 9th, is one of the most important international events of its kind and the president was visiting the event as part of the regional government’s strategy to develop a seasonal adjustment of tourism to the region.

He explained that British tourism plays a “fundamental” role and is the main source market for the Comunidad Valenciana, with some 1.7 million tourist from the United Kingdom visiting the region this year (up to September), bringing in some 1.8 billion euros. He added that it is likely that the number of tourists from the UK for 2022 will reach 2 million, generating more than 2 billion euros for the Valencian region.

The president that the tourism forecasts for the winter are very positive and that 2022 is likely to be confirmed as the “year of recovery” after the health crisis, with 90% of the total visits during 2019, the year before the COVID-19 pandemic closed down the tourism sector for several months. He added that the sector was confident that the figures for 2023 will exceed those of the last pre-pandemic year, when it experienced a record number of tourism visits.

In this sense, during the first nine months of 2022, there was a clear recovery in international tourism, increasing by 156.7% compared to the same period in 2021, reaching a total of 7,706,242 tourists. By market, the United Kingdom continues to be the most important with 1,712,363 tourists visiting the region up to September, almost a quarter of all international tourists to visit the Comunidad Valenciana.

Important engine for the Comunidad Valenciana

The president stressed that, despite the conditions imposed by Brexit, the pandemic, and the war in Ukraine, British tourism to the Valencian region remains strong and is an “important region for the Costa Blanca and for the entire Comunidad Valenciana”.

For this reason, the visit of the president to London includes meetings with heads of the most important associations and companies in the British tourism sector to consolidate the “alliance” with operators that has forged over many years by “opening up new perspectives”, such as cultural and city tourism.