ANDALUCIA TOURISM NEWS – NOVEMBER 14 2002

2002 SUMMER TOURISM RESULTS
Andalucía saw nearly seven and a half million tourists last summer, 4% more than the previous year, and generating an income of more than 4,000 million €. The data comes from the Tourism Councillor from the Junta de Andalucía, Antonio Ortega, who announced that the sector is expected to increase around 2.5% over this year. The number of foreigners to visit Andalucía over the summer has increased by 3%. Our region has also been the third in Spain for hotel activity with 29 million overnight stays registered. More than 50% of the tourists say the beach is the reason why they visit Andalucía and 14% say it's for cultural reasons. According to the tourism department, 99% of tourists think Andalucía represents good value and 46% say they will return to Andalucía for their holidays. As far as forecasts are concerned the councillor announced that an increase of around 8% in the number of overnight stays is expected in November and December.

VOLVO MASTERS AND GOLF FORUM
The German Bernard Langer and the Scotsman Colin Montgomerie shared the triumph at the 15th edition of the Volvo Masters Andalucía golf championship which was held in Cádiz province between November 7 and 10. The Valderrama Golf Club, in the Cádiz locality of San Roque, hosted the tournament, which is sponsored by the Tourism and Sport Council through the body Turismo Andaluz, and considered to be one of the most important in the European Golf Circuit. The best professional European players met here, on one of the most spectacular golf courses on the Andalucian coast. The sport attracts ever more followers who come to Andalucía to play. This type of tourism is the second most important, after that of the beach, and generated an income of 780 million € over the past year, according to the figures released in the second Golf Tourism Forum which was held recently in Marbella. Golf professionals, hoteliers and tour operators all took part in this forum, as did the Costa del Sol Tourism Board, the Andalucian Golf Federation and the public company Turismo Andaluz.

LA POSADA DE LA ABUELA
The province of Cádiz has many unique beauty sports where you can enjoy days of rest and where the visitor can find that quiet place he or she was looking for. One of the villages of the province, El Gastor, has just inaugurated a rural hotel called 'La Posada de la Abuela – Grandmother's Inn'. The opening was attended by the Regional Tourism Councillor, Antonio Ortega, who underlined the importance of the birth of this new hotel establishment. The hotel is an old inn which has been restored and now has five rooms, some of them under the eaves, and all with a rustic atmosphere. El Gastor is a small inland village in Cádiz province, with less than 2,000 inhabitants and where we can enjoy nature and walks through the landscape of pines and holm oaks.

TOURISM DEPARTMENT BUDGET 2003
The budget for the regional government Tourism and Sport department for 2003 will reach nearly 260 million € - a figure which is an increase of around 11% over last year. The head of the department, Antonio Ortega, has highlighted that activities someway linked to the department represent nearly 17% of the Gross Domestic Product of Andalucía. As far as tourism is concerned an 11% increase in funding takes it to 142 million €. The tourism council has 10 areas of activity planned for 2003, among which are the completion of the General Tourism Plan, designated areas for tourist promotion, the development of the Municipal Tourism Decree, the setting up of the Quality Office and the establishment of the Andalucian Network of Tourist Offices.

SIERRA MORENA BIOSPHERE RESERVE
The area known as Dehesas de Sierra Morena has been declared a new UNESCO Biosphere reserve, following a proposal made in its day by the Regional Environment Council and the Andalucía committee of the program. The Dehesas de Sierra Morena becomes the 8th enclave in Andalucía and the largest in the region to form part of the group. It has an area of 424,000 hectares and embraces the Aracena and Picos de Aroche Nature Park in Huelva, the Sierra Norte in Seville, and the Sierra de Hornachuelos in Córdoba. The ambit of the new biosphere reserve will integrate 43 municipalities in three provinces, with a total population of more than 90,000. The area is recognised for its important cultural heritage, and has large expansive areas of holm and cork oaks, surrounded by pasture, meadows and Mediterranean scrub. The other seven natural spaces declared as Biosphere Reserves by UNESCO are the Sierra de Grazalema, Doñana, Sierras de Cazorla Segura y las Villas, the Odiel marshlands, Sierra Nevada, Sierra de las Nieves and Cabo de Gata.

SANTA CATALINA ROMERÍA
The city of Jaén holds one of its most deeply rooted and popular traditions on November 25th. The Santa Catalina pilgrimage, in honour of the patron saint of the city brings together crowds of pilgrims who climb to the castle which overlooks the city and where the hermitage can be found. There a mass is held in honour of Santa Catalina, followed by a fiesta and fun with typical sardines accompanied by local wine. The legend says that Catalina, martyr, was charged with telling Fernando III – el santo, of the forthcoming fall of the city of Jaén on the day of the saint, on November 25 1245. Although the locality did not in fact fall exactly on this day, the forenamed saint and martyr became patron of Jaén until the moments of the sighting of the Virgen de la Capilla. Since then the Jaén locals celebrate the Santa Catalina pilgrimage each year with a celebration which mixes devotion, history and fun.

WORLD TRAVEL MARKET
Andalucía has had a presence in the second most important international tourism fair in Europe – the World Travel Market, which was held in London between November 11 and 14. 20 sections as part of the Tourespaña stand exhibited the offer to tourists in Andalucía, from sun and sand to rural and inland tourism, as well as golf and congress facilities. Andalucía will also be present during this entire month of November in London airport and underground, with illuminated displays and posters with the slogan 'Andalucía – There's only one'. The Regional Tourism Board is confident that the number of visitors to the region will continue to increase. Ortega also signed agreements with Canadian and British tour operators. Meanwhile the Councillor for the Presidency of the Regional Government, Gaspar Zarrías, has also been at the fair to support the Andalucian promotion. One of the activities that Zarrías has carried out at the World Travel Market has been to meet with members from the Costa del Sol Tourist Board.

ACTIVE TOURISM IN TIERRA ADENTRO
Inland Andalucía, and the province of Jaén in particular, is already a popular tourist destination. This has been shown by the increase in the number of overnight stays which have been seen in this Andalucian province, showing an increase in the quality of the service. The manager of the Centre for Inland Tourism in Andalucía, CENTIA, José Luis Carmona, speaking in the Tierra Adentro Fair, has said that the number of Jaén hotels has increased because if the existing demand in the province, where visitors voice their satisfaction for the places where they stay. Carmona also announced that the number of active tourist businesses is increasing every day in a spectacular fashion, and so these need controlling and help in their promotion. With this objective the regional tourism board plans to hold an active tourism congress in a few months time where the new decree to regulate this type of activities will be explained in greater detail to professionals in the sector