Yesterday was the closing of the most important tourism fair of the Irish market, the 25th Holiday World Show Dublin. From the 24th to the 26th of January, exhibitors from 50 countries and more than 1,000 professionals met in Dublin. Even though the fair was mainly addressed to the final audience, there was also one morning for professionals, especially travel agencies.
It is the first time that Salou and Cambrils share a desk at Dublin's fair, and this decision was taken because of the importance this market has for both municipalities, since they are the main destinations for the Irish market. This is shown by the fact that, since 2011, arrivals at Reus airport have increased, reaching 13,384 in 2013.
Located within the Turespaña stand, the space the two municipalities share is complemented with two PortAventura desks, creating a setting dedicated only to Costa Daurada and which was considered very valuable due to the complementarity of the proposals and offers.
It is important to highlight the work done by the press room of the Spanish Tourist Office. It has managed to schedule the broadcasting of a travel programme, Getaways, for the day before to the fair opening. Getaways is broadcasted by the TV channel RTE and was filmed in Costa Daurada, featuring, among other places, Salou, Cambrils and PortAventura. Thanks to this show, there were many queries at the shared stands. TV editors and the camera crew took part in a press trip to the area and PortAventura last year. The TV show will be broadcasted again in Northern Ireland by BBC on Monday 27th of January.
SALOU EXPERIENCE
The Tourist Boards of Salou, Cambrils, Vila-seca, together with Port Aventura and Costa Daurada have created the Salou Experience, a new product that will promote the destination in the Irish market. The presentation and launch of the “Salou Experience” took place last weekend, through a prime time Irish TV programme, The Saturday Night Show, broadcasted by RTE and which had an audience of 200,000 spectators. During the TV show, there were two advertisements about Salou and Costa Daurada and there was also a competition where a “Salou Experience” pack for four people was raffled. The pack included transport, accommodation, tickets for PortAventura, Aquopolis and Lumine Golf Beach Club, as well as trips, in addition to a €5,000 prize in cash.
You can watch the original advertisement in the minute 16:14 by clicking this link:
http://www.rte.ie/player/es/show/10368139/
The profile of the final audience attending the Holiday World Show Dublin fair is mainly families, with an average of three children, and that are therefore deeply interested by what the two municipalities (both of them awarded with the Family Holiday Destination seal) have to offer and by PortAventura. Ireland is one of the countries with the highest birth rates in Europe and their holiday trips take place mainly in spring.
The stand shared by Port Aventura, Salou and Cambrils has been visited, among others, by the Spanish ambassador to Ireland, Javier Garrigues, and by the director of the Spanish Tourist Office, Gonzalo Ceballos, that have mentioned new possible connexions from Ireland to Reus airport and that will be soon defined.
As an enticement, the fair has launched offers and discounts for senior citizens and couples looking for information for their honeymoon. This fact caused a high influx of those types of visitors, who are very important to avoid seasonal tourism.
In 2013, more than 1.2 million Irish tourists spent their holiday in Spain, and the reasons for their trip were mainly the beaches, the landscapes, the city breaks and the cultural opportunities.
