Yesterday, the Consejo Municipal de Inteligencia Turística, Desarrollo Económico Local y Sostenibilidad (Council for Tourism Intelligence, Local Economic Development and Sustainability), which represents the entire tourism industry of Calp, met for the first time.
The Council is made up of technicians and representatives of the municipal political groups, as well as representatives of the various tourism sectors, the hotel and catering industry, trade and complementary services, transport and citizens' associations and institutions. Yesterday, in the first presentation, the Mayor, Ana Sala, explained that this council was created to coordinate public and private initiative and to serve as a tool for the improvement of the whole sector in Calp.
Following the presentations, the projects and actions developed by the City Council during the current legislative period and the initiatives interrupted by COVID 19 were presented in detail.
The entrepreneurs expressed their concern about the consequences that the coronavirus will have on the sector in the coming months, as well as the rules for reopening facilities.
The Tourism Department stated that as an immediate measure the advertising campaign on posters and mupis will be maintained in the regions of Madrid, Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha, Murcia and Valencia. In addition, the message will be personalised in each of these municipalities, depending on how soon each region begins to reopen, so that while in some places you will be directly invited to visit Calp, in others the memory of the brand will be strengthened.
In addition, an online campaign with a similar but personalized message will be launched shortly. The entrepreneurs proposed to include health safety elements in the advertising messages to increase the feeling of safety. Another demand from the business community was not to give up on the international market by reminding people of their destination, which would allow this segment to return to Calp as soon as it is possible to travel internationally.
The department also provided information about the recent campaign on municipal social networks with the slogan #AsómateACalpe, which achieved 379,000 hits. It was also reported that the Department of Tourism is involved in the development of the protocol for the use and enjoyment of beaches, which is being carried out at regional level by the Costa Blanca Tourist Board and the Valencian Tourism Agency.
The City Council raised the possibility that the City Council might introduce safety measures such as the reorganisation of pedestrian traffic on the promenades or more congested areas to ensure the two-metre distance, as well as the possibility of putting up signs reminding people to use the mask.
Information was also provided on the aid programme for companies, which will be discussed in the plenary session next Monday and which will make it possible to compensate companies in the sector for the period of curfew.
After this first presentation session, which was dominated by the coronavirus and its consequences, members were invited to attend a new meeting within a maximum of two weeks to discuss the 2020-2030 strategic plan, which already contains elements of the Covid and presents the study on the demand for tourists during the winter season.
