gandia and the safor region: an analysis about possible …€¦ · gandia and the safor region: an...
TRANSCRIPT
February 2010
Gandia and the Safor region: an analysis about possible innovative solutions to reduce environmental impact
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CONTENTS
Page
1. Foreword ..............................................................3
2. Tourism in the Valencian Community and its influence
on
Gandia and the Safor Region .................................14
3. The need to develop sustainable tourism (2000) ..19
4. The best sustainable tourism in the Region ..........21
4.1An example of sustainable tourism.................23
5. Local performance criteria ………………. ...................
27
6. Target markets and purchase models ................... 30 7. Promotional strategies and thier application.......... 36
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1. Foreword
This document aims at establishing a diagnosis of the tourism sector in Gandia and its immediate surrounding areas, namely the Safor region, within the Valencian Community. The study follows the methodology proposed by the SHIFT project steering committee, of which the Valencia Chamber of Commerce is a partner.
Under the approach of the above-mentioned method, there are two main reasons for which Gandia, with its Safor region, is an appropriate area to develop this analysis:
first, it is an area with a high capacity for incoming tourism, easily accessible, and with a good potential for diversifying tourism related activities, but subject to an unbearable pressure from nearby urban centers, and highly seasonal for mass tourism; and
second, because of such adverse factors, it is subject to the risk of loosing momentum due to direct competition from other domestic and/or international destinations.
Gandia is located on the coast of the Valencian Community. The city, which is the capital of the Safor region, is located 65 km south of Valencia and 116 km north of Alicante. Both cities have international airports (Manises and El Altet respectively) that provide service to several European destinations.
The following series of maps show the location of the municipality. T
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MAP OF GANDIA’S LOCATION
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The capital of the Safor region has an area of 60.8 km 2 and a privileged location between the Mediterranean Sea and the mountains. The topography is mainly flat across the the coast area and mountainous in the west towards the Mandúver foothills, while the Sierra de La Falconera develops on the southwest side of the region. The Serpis river cuts in the region on the south side and carries on to the northeast flowing into the Mediterranean Sea south of the “Grao de Gandia”.
Gandia and the Safor region, have a significant number of reserve areas with impressive environmental quality. Amongst these spectacular spaces is the County Nature Reserve Parpalló-Borrell, designated on April 30, 2004 as such by the Council of the Generalitat Valenciana. The site, with a total area of 560 Ha, has two major tourist trails. The first one, Parpalló Path – Garrofer Fountain, has signage that completely fits into the environment with extra pannels that emphasize outstanding environmental aspects of the park. This is a clear development in promoting sustainable tourism in the region.
The second path, Senda Portalet, like the previous one, prohibits access to motor vehicles, another example of contientousness towards respecting and caring for the environment. Among other nature areas, we find the Serpis River, the sand Dunes L ' Ahuir Gandia and marshes, which occupy a total of 450 ha, ie 37% of the total area of Safor Marjal, presenting a significant landscape value.
Gandia’s beach, located in the heart of the Safor region, is about 7.5 km in length and its extension goes from the port’s northern breakwater to the Vaca River near the beach town of Xeraco. It has an area of 700,000 square meters of fine white sand, making it one of the widest beaches in the Valencian coast.
As you can see, the region of La Safor limits to the north with the Ribera
Alta and Ribera Baja, on the east by the Mediterranean Sea, the south
border is the Alicante province and on the west side is the Valle de
Albaida and La Costera. This geographical location results in a division
of coastal and mountainous landscape
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Easy Access
The main access to Gandía by road is the A7 “Mediterranean toll motorway”
being the nearest exit, Gandía via Xeresa. This road is established as the main
connection between the northern and southern cities. It is one of busiest
highways as it is the most popular road for all those tourists who want to visit
the east coast.
As an alternative to the A7, there is also the N332 a national road, which starts
in Vera (Almeria) and goes through Cartagena, Alicante, Benidorm and Gandia,
finishing in Valencia.
Gandia counts with a metropolitan transportation network, which also covers
the surrounding towns. Currently there are 4 bus lines, the first one connects
the north to downtown; the second one connects the south with the city center.
The third one links the south part of Gandia to the University Campus and Port
area (Grau) and the last one connects Gandia’s “Real” area to the “Grau” port
and beach. All these connections between the city center and beaches
contribute to developing tourism since they move tourists from one place to
the other. It is important to point out that Gandia’s port together with the
beach and the city’s center are a very attractive offer for the tourists.
Also, Gandia’s touristic bike path should not be ignored due to the
environmental significance it has. It liaises the beach to the center, in a 20
minutes bike ride (appproximately).
Another very important way to reach Gandia is by train, in fact it is included
in Valencia’s suburban railway lines . This one is often used by visitors
attending Gandia for day trips. During the high season the there are plenty of
long distance trains from Madrid, one of the main buyer markets, further
enhancing the connections.
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The Weather
Gandia has a Mediterranean climate typical of Spain’s East coast, which is one
of the main attractions of the region. Winters are mild, with high and low
temperatures quite bearable. The most intense heat is during the months of
June and July, with days when the thermometer is, far above 30 degrees
centigrade. The average annual sunshine is 2695 hours.
The rain season coincides with autumn, basically from October to December.
The average annual rainfall collected in the local observatory is 736 mm.
Socio-economic structure
This section discusses the city’s most important socio-economic aspects and their impact on tourism’s development.
Gandia has a population of approximately 80,000 inhabitants. The population density of the Safor’s capital stands at 1314.4 hbs. /km 2, being above the Valencian Community’s average of 201.78 hab./km2 Valencia.
In the recent years the region’s capital has experienced a significant population growth, going from 63,201 inhabitants in 2003 to 79,958 inhabitants in 2008, ie 26.5% increase according to data collected by the Valencian Institute of Statistics.
With regard to the nationality of the residents, 73.94% are Spanish, 12.35% are nationals of European Union member countries and 13.71% are from other countries in Africa, South America, etc..
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The following population pyramid shows the distribution according to
age and sex of Gandia’s legal population.
Population structure
Valencia province Year of birth
Men Women
Fuente: Anuario de la Caixa 2009. Elaboración propia.
Source: La Caixa’s 2009 annual book. In-house production
As shown in the table, the main population concentration is between the range
25 to 45 years old. One can speak of a young population with a relatively high
percentage of working age inhabitants. There is a high turnover rate of the
active population 180.4%, as opposed to the 136% turnover rate in the rest of
the province. This situation leads Gandia into a favourable moment and can
boast a supply of tourism manpower higher than other regions.
Gandia is one of the strongest tourism municipalities of the southern coast of Valencia province. In economic terms, about 68% of the population is engaged in the service sector, as shown in Table affiliations to the Social Security NCEA 2009 (page 9), being tourism one of the sectors that brings in more income both directly as well as from activities that benefit indirectly from it.
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While Gandia’s economy may suffer due to the typical seasonality of coastal destinations, this city is one of the municipalities in the Valencia province with best supply of basic and complementary services to tourists throughout the year, both downtown and in the beach areas.
24%
57%
19%
INDUSTRIALACTIVITIES:CONSTRUCTIONAND INDUSTRY
COMMERCIALACTIVITIES
RESTAURANT ANDBAR RELATEDACTIVITIES
Source: La Caixa’s 2009 annual book. In-house production.
As the chart shows, commercial activities, restaurants and bars account for a total of 76% of the economic activities of the municipality ,while the remaining 24% correspondsmainly to the secondary sectors (industry and construction).
Although there are no exact figures relating to the primary sector, from the table’s employment figures show that the traditional sectors have progressively lost economic importance.
Social Security registrations according to each economic sector, data CNAE
2009
Agriculture and Fisheries
Industry Construction Services Quarter
Workers in agriculture
% as opposed to total
Workers in the
% as opposed to total
Construction
% as opposed to total
Services workers
% as opposed to total
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and fisheries
workers industry workers Workers workers workers
1/2009-3/2009
2134
9.19
2645 11.39 2770 11.93 15666 67.48 23215
4/2009-6/2009
1941 8.45 2334 10.16 2706 11.78 15984 69.6 22965
7/2009-9/2009
1682 7.26 2253 9.73 2564 11.07 16659 71.93 23158
This table provides interesting information on the variation of employment rates according to seasonal demand of each activity. Thus, the seasonal character of tourism is a key factor in determining the region’s socio-economic situation throughout the year due to the seasonal variation of work force requirements.
To summarise, the city is mainly sustained by the activity generated by tourism-related services, construction, industry and finally agriculture and fisheries.
This table provides interesting information on the variation of employment
rates according to seasonal demand of each activity. Thus, the seasonal
character of tourism is a key factor in determining the region’s socio-economic
situation throughout the year due to the seasonal variation of work force
requirements.
To summarise, the city is mainly sustained by the activity generated by
tourism-related services, construction, industry and finally agriculture and
fisheries.
Evolución tasa de ocupación por sectores
económicos en Gandia durante 2009
0
20
40
60
80
Agricultura yPesca
Industria Cosntruccíon Servicios
1/2009-3/2009 4/2009-6/2009 7/2009-9/2009
Employment rate evolution chart classified by sectors in Gandia during 2009
AGRICULTURE & FISHERIES
INDUSTRY CONSTRUCTION SERVICES
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Source: General Treasury of the Social Security; own development
Source: General Treasury of the Social Security; own development
This table provides interesting information on the variation of employment rates according to seasonal demand of each activity. Thus, the seasonal character of tourism is a key factor in determining the region’s socio-economic situation throughout the year due to the seasonal variation of work force requirements.
To summarise, the city is mainly sustained by the activity generated by tourism-related services, construction, industry and finally agriculture and fisheries.
Urbanism
The city of Gandia is characterized by exceptional growth experienced during the past 20 years. This development process has caused Gandia to grow under some assumptions and strategic lines to facilitate and ensure its future as a direct influence in the region of Safor and ensuring basic services and complementary to both the local population and visitors.
A good road and public transportation system with efficiently displayed road signs, linking the 4 districts in the historic center, the Grao de Gandia and the beach allows people to use and enjoy the main touristic resources. Although there might be some weaknesses during the lower demand season in the Grao and beach, the areas where urban growth has been strongest, such weaknesses do not have an impact more adverse than on other zones along the Mediterranean coast.
Furthermore, the geographic distribution of businesses, often gathered by
specialty, also helps understanding Gandia’s urban development.
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In spite of a certain degree of excess in touristic apartments, the large area
available for construction along the coastline and the legal limits imposed on
buildings’ height has helped to keep an acceptable balance between private
apartments, hotels, and public recreational areas.
Analysis of tourism resources
Although traditionally Gandia is known as a destination for sun and beach, it has many other important resources that complement thedestination. Among others, historic sites and artistic, architectural and cultural resources have a meaningful weight, as well as the ability to perform activities out in the nature.
Thus, in order to make a comprehensive diagnosis of tourism resources located in the municipality, a study has been carried out according to the following categories:
• Historical, and cultural monuments • Nature and Wild life related resources • Additional Resources • Holidays • Gastronomy
Historical, and cultural monuments
While monumental and cultural sites do not generate a large inflow of tourists to Gandia, it is noteworthy that the historic and artistic values of these resources provide visitors an essential complement to add to their tourist experience.
From a tourist perspective, Gandia has an interesting old town urban center where you can visit and see many monuments, which show the historical importance of the city. Besides the good general state of most
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resources, their location and closeness between them increase their attractiveness, thus enhancing the interest of developing a cultural product relevant for tourists.
Within this typology Gandia has 8 classified buildings of cultural interest, which facilitates and energizes the visits. The resources that could be highlighted by its tourist attractions are The Collegiate, The Ducal Palace, the Convent of Santa Clara and the Archaeological Museum (MAGA).
Visiting hours are well adapted to tourists, showing no significant differences between winter and summer time; usually they are open from 10am to 9pm Tuesday to Sunday, thereby taking advantage of sunlight in the long summer days typical of the Mediterranean coast. It should be mentioned that the opening times of the different resources are almost perfectly coordinated with each other, which positively affects their enjoyment.
Natural resources
At 6 km from downtown is the flagship attraction: the beach, with a length of 7
km long. There are several stages, like the North Beach area, certified with the
"Q" Quality Tourism, whose length is 3 km, with all services necessary to satisfy
the demand of seasoned tourists (showers, information services, beachfront
lifeguards, underground parking, rental scooters and bicycles, boat trips, quad
bikes and horses). The promenade which runs parallel to the beach is
equipped with a variety of services in addition to a large number of hotels and
apartments.
A short distance away from the beach, the municipality has several trails, caves
and reknown ecotourism routes for tourists who love nature and wild life. This
natural landscape has a cave declared of Community Interest (Parpalló Cave).
These resources are all located within the Marxuquera Valley. It should be
stressed that these natural resources, path of Parpalló - Font of Garrofer, have
integrated the signage with the environment, complete with information boards
explaining the site’s relevant environmental aspects. These data show us from
a tourism perspective the interest in pursuing a blueprint for action towards
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sustainable tourism, it also enhances the tourism experience to those tourists
looking for nature and outdoor tourism.
Finally, the Gandia marsh, a part of a larger environmental unit known as the
Safor Marjal. It highlights its landscapes and its environmental value. No
development action has been undertaken yet, but financing lines for setting up
a maintenance program are being sought after
Thus, it is worth considering that the management of natural resources,
particularly those linked to the concept of sustainable tourism, is a basic tool in
the process of redressing the scope of the prevailing sun-and-beach approach
(which should be maintained) so as to enlarge it with other touristic targets to
palliate the seasonal effects of present demand.
Both cultural attractions and Nature reserve sites are considered as important
assets in the process of turning a seasonal holiday destination into a year-long
attraction.
Additional Resources
The municipal district has many different additional resources.
Gandia can boast both a Royal Yacht Club with 400 berths and a commercial
port.
The possibility to practice many and different water sports adds even more
value to the city and its beaches. Some of these activities are sailing, rowing,
windsurfing, boat trips, kit surfing, rental boats and canoes, and so on.
Another important service that Gandia offers tourists is a a wide variety of
shopping centers and traditional trade areas therefore providing more excuses
for visitors to spend money in the location. These shops are equally distributed
along the city center and the beach area. This is yet another sign of the
coordination between the city center, and coastal Grao.
In relation to the nightlife, Gandia has facilities in four areas, being the busiest
the Grao de Gandia. Such establishments offer the same services in both winter
and summer, since there is a regular demand from students in the Gandia
University Campus.
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Holidays
Another major tourist resources of Gandia is the celebration, throughout the year of events and festivals. These popular festivities are not unique to Gandia within the Valencian Community region. However, they are distributed and scheduled throughout the year, attracting a constant flow of tourists and visitors from the nearby municipalities.
Gastronomy
The local cuisine responds to the resources naturally available. There is a traditional culinary background in the Safor County, where recipes are mainly based on sea flavors like Fideuà, created in Gandia, and on local harvest products.
Traditional pastries and desserts, especially those made of from sugar cane are excellent. This is obvious by visiting the many bakeries, which provide the opportunity to buy the most typical and traditional products of the city.
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The cuisine can certainly become another valuable resource of great interest to create demand in the off season.
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2. Tourism in the Valencian Community and its influence on Gandia’s economy and that of the Safor region
The Valencian Community is without a doubt one of the most important European regions in terms of tourism results. According to the latest competitive plan developed in 2008, its more than 17.3 million visitors leave the following data:
• Tourism accounts for 13.3% of total GDP in the Valencia (12,590 million euro).
• 14.6% of total employment in the Valencian Community (314,696 jobs).
• 66.2% of service exports (8,510 million of foreign tourist consumption by foreigners and non-resident Spaniards).
• 4.2% of total investment in the Valencian Community (1,337 million euro Gross Capital Investment).
• 4.9% of public expenditure in the Valencian Community (697 million euro of public spending).
• 16.2% of total taxes (2,948 million euros in revenues). • 9,435,506 tourist arrivals to registered touristic properties in
2008 • 39,896,571 reservations
Certainly the Valencian Community is an important touristic destination. In fact, it can be considered as a reference for national and international tourism. This thanks to its wide variety of tourism sites and attractions and the related activities.
This reality within the whole region is definitely parallel to what happens in Gandia, since 68% of its population is dedicated to the services sector, and within that percentage 20% is dedicated to the restaurant business.
Gandia has about 15.500 accomodation solutions for tourists which is equal to
5% of the total beds in the Valencian Community (326.266 beds, INE 2008
report). The almost 400.000 tourists which stay in Gandia’s registered
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accomodations (INE 2008) amount to 5% of the total tourists visiting the
Valencian Community (7.281.597 tourists in registered properties, according to
INE 2008 figures).
It is interesting to underline that other than the importance of the apartments
for rent (secondary sector, which is very popular on the Mediterranean coast)
Gandia also has a large percentage of hotel accommodations. This means that
Gandia has many solutions to take on the excess in demand during the high
season. Compared to other destinations nearby, Gandia’s ratio of hotel beds
(5218) to rental apartments (8209) is not too negative. In fact, in other nearby
coastal resorts, the number of registered rental apartments is almost twice as
much as hotel availability thus contributing to the development of a tourism
model based on the use seasonal residences for high season demands.
DISTRIBUTION OF SPACE BY ACCOMODATION TYPE IN 2008
HOTELS29%
HOSTELS0%
APARTMENTS64%
CAMPINGS7%
HOTELSHOSTELSAPARTMENTSCAMPINGS
INE 2008 data, own development
These impressions are further enhanced if we analyze the accommodation
growth in the last 8 years. While the total number of hotels has only grown by
4, going from 20 to 24 in 2008, the residential solutions have increased
considerably due to apartment refurbishing and the increase in apartment sizes
of the new constructions. Gandia Currently has 5218 beds in hotels,
concentrated in 3 or 4 star category properties (80%). Some of the hotels are
at least 15 years old, but have undergone refurbishment both in infrastructure
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and in decoration, so they can be considered as adequate for the actual
demand.
EVOLUTION OF ACCOMODATION OPTIONS IN GANDIA 2000 - 2008
0100020003000400050006000700080009000
10000
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
HOTELSHOSTELSAPARTMENTSCAMPINGS
INE 2008 data, in-house development
Residential hotels have also undergone refurbishments and this has created an increased both the apartments available and the number beds. This data obviously highlights the effort to respond to tourism’s needs with better solutions.
In the analysis of tourism’s economic impact on Gandia in comparison with that on the Valencian Community, it is interesting to evaluate two major issues on the sample destination’s behavior. The following tables are a comparison of Gandia’s hotels average price and average occupancy to those of the rest of the Valencian Communiy.
Jan-07 Feb-07 Mar-07 Apr-07 May-07 Jun-07 Jul-07 Aug-07 Sep-07 Oct-07 Nov-07 Dec-07
Gandia average prices 42.4 52.0 53.1 62.4 53.4 66.0 85.3 91.3 68.1 45.8 41.5 48.4
% Occupancy Gandia 35.87 46.82 47.08 58.94 54.86 66.56 85.39 88.25 74.41 45.50 60.37 40.76
Jan-07 Feb-07 Mar-07 Apr-07 May-07 Jun-07 Jul-07 Aug-07 Sep-07 Oct-07 Nov-07 Dec-07
Average prices VC 54.5 59.1 60.1 64.3 61.8 66.5 75.2 81.6 69.6 60.5 58.3 56.2
% Occupancy VC 47.62 57.94 62.48 64.91 64.1 70.09 72.29 78.98 72.59 63.11 60.79 47.58
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Jan-08 Feb-08 Mar-08 Apr-08 May-08 Jun-08 Jul-08 Aug-08 Oct-08 Oct-08 Nov-08 Dec-08
Gandia average prices 35.6 39.6 39.4 39.4 50.9 62.6 82.6 101.4 62.3 48.4 38.2 41.4
% Occupancy Gandia 51.88 62.20 51.84 58.19 38.06 61.50 73.69 83.08 76.23 51.65 62.23 34.33
Jan-08 Feb-08 Mar-08 Apr-08 May-08 Jun-08 Jul-08 Aug-08 Oct-08 Oct-08 Nov-08 Dec-08
Average prices VC 53.2 59.1 63.0 58.5 60.5 64.8 74.5 86.5 72.1 64.4 57.0 55.0
% Occupancy VC 45.59 55.86 56.92 56.13 58.89 62.6 68.39 74.72 69.35 59.69 48.46 40.19
NE 2008 data, in-house development
Besides showing the clear seasonal process marked by its main product “sun
and beach”, Gandia is the city, within the Valencian Community, that is by far
the most negatively affected by the non summer months.
It is clear that from June to August the city generally has a much higher
occupational rate and average price than the rest of the Region, but
unfortunately this situation is completely opposite the other months of the
year. From a first analysis, we can gather that Gandía remains a competitive
destination and therefore demanded by domestic customers mainly for summer
holidays (June-August) and with a lower demand the rest of the season. In spite
of being below average in terms of occupation numbers compared to the rest
of the Valencian Community, these are still over 50% even if the prices are
lower than the yearly average.
In the frame of tourism’s economic impact and its evolution in the recent years,
it has been considered interesting to analyze what is actually going on with the
annual overnight stays/reservations from 2000-2008.
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EVOLUTION OF TOTAL NUMBER OF RESERVATIONS IN GANDIA 2008-2009
0
500000
1000000
1500000
2000000
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Medium Overnight satis; 200-2008, INE 2008 data, in-house development
Since 2000, Gandia has enjoyed steady growth in the number of overnight
stays both in hotels and in seasonal apartments, reaching its highest peak in
2007 with 1,750,468 overnight stays, five times as much as in the year 2000.
From this moment on and mainly due to the current economic crisis, Gandía,
like most of Spain’s coastal resorts, sees reduced its overnight stay demands to
48,500 in 2008. Even with these negative figures, the city closed the year
2008 higher than the other years (except 2007) and the decrease was equal to
3%, in any case less than the rest of the Valencian Community, which was 5%
less in 2008.
In the case of the Food and Beverage industry, Gandia and its surroundings
have as positive a scenario as that of the accommodation supply. The general
tendency is an increase in both bars and restaurants.
The city counts in 2008 with 19,792 seats in restaurants (in 272 restaurants
INE data, 2008) and 4946 seats in cafes (70 stores data INE 2008). The
restaurants are mainly concentrated in 1 and 2 fork categories, and only 1 with
three forks. In Gandia, gastronomy and tourism complement each other since
they are part of the basic services for both seasonal tourists and others who
visit the region regularly. These latter ones are basically from the region that
do day trips for special festivities linked to cultural visits or food events.
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As the tables show restaurants have increased constantly over the period
2000-2008; this is a very positive aspect from an analysis like this one..
EVOLUTION IN RESTAURANT PLACES 2000-2008
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5000
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25000
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
RestaurantsBars
INE 2008 data, in-house development
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3. Needs to develop sustainable tourism (2000)
From the analysis of the data gathered about Gandia, a series of conclusions can be determined in order to direct the necessary actions towards developing a sustainable tourism model.
• Gandia is well located on the map and is easily accessible for both national and international visitors throughout the year.
• One of its main attractions is the climate and the natural surroundings.
• Considering the Mediterranean coast’s urban development, Gandia has an average impact, since even under the recent excessive growth circumstances on the coast, there has been a regular control over it and thus allowed a space of impact.
• Due to its size, Gandia can satisfy with its services visitors throughout the year.
• The availability of a population pyramid where the most abundant categories are young and middle aged inhabitants is very positive to ensure workforce for the tourism sector.
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• The ground transportation network effectively connects the coast to the urban area thus adding more value to the summer visitor and also stimulating low season tourism.
• Gandia’s Tourism development is especially aimed towards the domestic and summer demands. This is seen as a weakness in developing a sustainable tourism model.
• The considerable number of holiday apartments and hotels may be used as instruments for reducing the city’s traditional sesonality. In fact, many holiday related companies such as hotels, restaurants and clubs, still close down during the winter months. This is considered as another negative factor for sustainable tourism.
• Nature and heritage environments both in the region of Safor as in nearby destinations (within one hour distance) are another way to add value and attract those tourists who visit the region even outside the summer period. The improvement in value, and a better access to them will benefit the destination, although we must not forget that the main attraction will always be Gandia’s beach. There is a lot to be done also for selling Gandia’s beach as demand can also increase tremendously in seasons other than summer, especially because a large amount of this demand appreciates nature and wild life reserves, like the ones xclusive to Gandia (and not in nearby destinations). In the reorganization of Gandia’s tourism, we must also point out that nearby towns of the Safor Region such as Xativa, and the Vall d’Albaida area add value to the visit.
• In this process of seeking additional values to the visit we must take advantage of Valencia’s proximity. In the region’s marketing strategy, Valencia’s closeness should be considered as an asset whereas Gandia should be highlighted as a more comfortable, peaceful city as well as with a more competitive average price.
• The limited presence of tour opearators working on the destination is a weakness as it affects access to foreign markets, which would probably balance the occupation level and reduce seasonality. The lack of presence of touroperators requires significant communication efforts to reach the target markets.
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• Gandia not only does not have much activity with the tour operators, and neither in the INTERNET, which is also a barrier for opening new markets. The demand depends mainly on information passed on by word of mouth. Although it is interesting to note the high loyalty index to the city by visitors, it is extremely important that this factor be combined with other sales instruments to provoke a brader demand from national and international markets.
• There is very little work done to generate new demands from both markets and public segments, a turn around would help to improve the seasonality of employment.
• The marked seasonality certainly affects the environmental component as during the high season period, there are excess problems related to traffic, noise, waste, energy, etc..
• A balanced demand would allow to improve in the public services dimension and hence the environmental management of the destination.
• The housing growth should be controlled by ensuring that new projects be aimed towards increasing hotels rather than rental apartments.
Hotels must ameliorate their environmental impact through 3 basic but major actions: by improving water management, installing solar panels and by investing in energy savings.
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4. The best practices of sustainable tourism for Gandia
Aware of the need to undertake a process to redirect the pattern of tourism development, and mainly to consolidate products and resources capable of generating new demands towards all year around destination there are already improvement actions being carried out. Both institutions and private entrepreneurs are working towards adjusting their supply and the city to the new demand requirements, especially to those related with sustainable development and indeed towards revitalizing natural and cultural resources that give more value to the main argument sun and beach.
In terms of quality management, currently Gandía accounts with four (4) hotel establishments certified with the quality Q of the Institute of Spanish Tourism Quality (ICTE), as well as a restaurant and tourist office. The north beach management also has this quality recognition.
In addition two accomodation companies and the beach management organization are certified by ISO 9001 quality .
In terms of environmental management, the beach management also has been certified with ISO 14001 and EMAS
Finally, 9 of Gandia’s beaches and its region had in 2009 the European Blue Flag recognition.
These are certainly data that may be of interest to public institutions and local destination companies to improve and adapt their infrastructure and services in the environmental and quality management fields.
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In addition to these processes related to the implementation of quality and environmental mangement systems, other actions directly tied to improving the conservation and enhancing the value of natural resources of the destination are being carried out. It is interesting to note some of the most relevant.
Natural Park Marjal de Pego-Oliva
This natural park even if not in the Gandia municipality is part of the Safor region. The site consisting of 1248 hectares, was declared a nature reserve by the Valencian government on January 9, 1995. It has a dune system that extends south of the Serpis river. It consits of marshy areas and paddy fields.
Municipal Natural Reserve Parpalló-Borrell
It was declared as such by the Council of the Generalitat Valenciana on April 30, 2004. This figure is included under protection of the Law 11/1994 of Protected Natural Areas in the Valencian Community, characterized by stating that land management is the City Hall’s responsibility. It has a total area of 560 ha, of which almost all are publicly owned, that is by the City of Gandia.
It is a natural area of great landscaping and environmental beauty, and is reknown for its botanical, geomorphological, hydrological and ecological interests, as well as for the wild life species that live here. From a historical and cultural point of view it is famous for the Parpalló Cave located in the site.
Cave Parpalló
The Parpalló Cave is situated 11 km north of the town of Gandia, in the southern foothills of Mount Mondúver, located within the Caldereta reserve and along the country road from Gandia to Barx. The cavity develops in a set of geologically massive crystalline dolomites from the Upper Cretaceous era. It should be noted that currently the Parpalló Cave is considered a site of cultural interest (BIC).
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4.1 Example of sustainable tourism
Path of the Parpalló- Garrofer Font
Motor vehicles are prohibited in this path. It is recommended to leave the vehicle in the designated area and hike or bike ride the path to better appreciate the site’s landscape and environment. The trail features a directional signage completely integrated in the environment that has the support of 4 information panels to explain relevant environmental aspects of the site. Examples of such signaling are presented below:
The trail is approximately 5.5 km in total length and it takes about 3 hours to visit it. It has a winding slope which makes the path easier. The trail’s entrance is in a natural area of high value of the Parpalló cave, designated as a site of cultural interest (BIC), as mentioned before. Visually it's a cut of 15 meters high by 4 meters wide, resembling a cracked rock. The trail has a high cultural interest because there have been many studies carried out on it about the evolution of Upper Mediterranean Paleolithic cultures for 25,000 years.
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Ullal de l'Estany’s Environmental Restoration
This area started to be restored in 2006 within the program designated Protection and Regeneration of Natural Spaces of the Júcar Hydrographic Confederation. The Ullal de l'Estany area is included in the list of wetlands of the Generalitat Valenciana.
About 70,000 m2 of the Ullal area have been recovered to its initial state of biodiversity, seeking to maintain the stability of natural ecosystems both as swamp water by increasing the biodiversity of wildlife and by creating recreational areas for developping educational, scientific and cultural activities.
The Serpis protected landscape
On April 13, 2007 the Valencian Government’s Department of Land and Housing by a Governments Decree Consell declared the Serpis Protected Landscape.
The Serpis River and its surroundings, in the stretch between Alcoy and the rivermouth in Gandia, with a length of 50 kilometers and an approximate surface area of 10,000 hectares, is a unique space as a result of scenic, ecological and cultural values, stemming from mankind’s historical respect of the natural environment.
This is proven by the fact that, for example, towns and roads are perfectly integrated with the landscape, or by the agricultural terraces that not only merge in the natural topography but highlight it, or even more by the historical respect towards the topographic elements that are trademarks of the area such as slopes, mountain ridges or other landmarks.
At present, however, the river runs through towns with strong economic and social activity which must be compatible with the conservation and sustainable use of environmental values.
Restoration of the L'Alhuir dunes
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This project has great importance because the environmental situation of the dunes makes it necessary to act for their conservation. In this case different actions are being carried out, among which the following can be underlined: Progressive elimination of invasive species. In the case of the coast, and especially in the dune environment, the most dangerous species is the Carpobrotus edulis. The problem is accrued when, despite its large settlement on the Mediterranean dunes, no chemical treatment can be applied. This is because the ecosystem is very sensible but especially because this species is very resistant to any chemical product. Therefore, the impact would be greater on the existing vegetation in the surrounding areas than on the species itself. Thus the only correct way of eliminating it would be to remove it manually and progressively in order to prevent the remainders to reproduce the invasive species. Restoring native vegetation. The dunes have been treated by planting progressively native vegetation to avoid leaving the soil unprotected against erosion. Also, a deep cleaning process of the area is underway, especially of debris and pruning waste, thus eliminating the regrowth of the plants removed.
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Following the methods proposed by this project, here below are two (2) examples directly related to using better environmental practices in Nature an Heritage resources.
Natural resource: Paraje Parpalló Borrell
WEAKNESSES
- Lack of rural accomodation; - Mainly concentrating efforts on promotion and management of sun and beach tourism, making it difficult to receive tourists interested in other types of activities such as nature oriented ones. - demand’s seasonality - low amount of active tourism companies - currently there is no interpretation center (although it is underway) - there is a lack of commercial information about this site
THREATS
-Environmental pollution thanks to the excessive amount of vehicles in main and secondary roads - There is a gradual loss of advertisement of Gandia’s nature reserves and this benefits the sun and beach demand. Forest/Wood fire threats.
STRENGTHS
-High value cave painting heritage (Parpallo Cave) - Spot controlled by the Special Protection Plan - Forest Burning prevention plans (approved in 2008) - Declared as a nature reserve site by the Council of the Valencian Community - The existence of trails that have special signaling completely camouflaged with the surroundings - Information panels that explain relevant environmental aspects of the area - Promotion and commercializing of the paths through different sales instruments Existence of many shelters and rest areas
OPPORTUNITIES - It is a nature rural reserve area with an important image effect and product diversification - The tourist flow generated by this site could contribute to an around the year destination - There is a large availability of infrastructure, parks and open-air areas to enjoy environmental friendly sports - Strong possibilities of developing nature related tourism due to the landscaping and archeologic heritages of the land.
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The Gandia Marsh Lands
WEAKNESSES - Low promotion of the recreational and cultural importance that it can offer to tourists. - Weak tourist projection of this resource hampering the identification of the resource as a tourism product – Weak position within Gandia’s local market as a tourism product of Gandia itself. – Conflict of interest between local farmers and the City Council or housing developments - Few actions to raise awareness of the importance that developing sustainable tourism’s has
THREATS - Creation of the access road to the North Beach, which would significantly threaten the flora and fauna of the marsh lands
STRENGTHS - Important landscape value - Part of the Marjal de Gandia is included in the list of wetlands in the document referred to as Protected Natural Areas in the Valencian Community (2002) - Existence of a bird observatory - Existence of urban furniture (benches and rubbish bins inteegrated into their surroundings so that visitors can enjoy the environment) - Landscape maintenance and environmental restoration of the Ullal de l'Estany - Environmental Concern on behalf of public enterprises and the local population. - The City Hall’s campaign for launching environmental education activities in schools, associations and other types of groups.
OPPORTUNITIES
– Make the most for tourism purposes of the Natural heritage and wealth from Gandia’s marsh lands, for example creating biogeographic, ecological, botanical or bioclimatic routes etc...
- Creation of new infrastructure and cultural facilities as the information center of the Parpalló natural landscape
- Developing natural products is a commitment to quality tourism
- Launch of joint initiatives between the Reserve Classroom and Gandia Campus to train tourism personnel from the Safor region in order to exploit the marsh to benefit the tourism market
- It can contribute to diversifying the Safor Region’s tourism products.
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5. Local performance criteria
Based on the analysis of Safor Gandía’s existing resources, products and availabilities, a series of performance needs have been detected. These actions must at least achieve the following objectives:
• Improve tourism’s sustainability. First of all, the destination must maintain its activities in the short and medium term. This objective is divided into two main areas: in the first place, all tourism related activities must be competitive market-wise, and in the second place they must respect the environment.
• Gandia’s economy relies on the sun and the beach, so these two points must be maintained over time. The natural environment and the rich heritage resources will certainly complement demands and deliver added value to facilitate seasonal adjustment, however appropriate balance between economic activity and environmental management must also be guaranteed. From an environmental point of view, diversifying tourism demand throughout the year will also contribute to creating a more sustainable destination. Trying to reduce and avoid congestion in the tourism spaces will also benefit the impact on the environment.
• Exporting operations to new markets. Objective without which the others can not be achieved. As stated earlier in this document, Gandia’s tourism basically depends on national visitors and especially on those who obtain information from word of mouth as
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opposed to from marketing and communications strategies. This issue is far from being positive at this stage, in deed it is regarded as a weakness since loyalty to a sun and beach destination is decreasing. Besides it focuses on a very short period of time, and mostly limited to the high season. Thus, it is necessary expand both domestic and international markets. In fact, a more balanced demand between national and international markets will diversify risks and help plan better demand strategies to generate off season requests. Interesting growth levels are already being experienced both in domestic and in international markets and in unexplored markets before, this especially due to improvements in the access roads and also to delivering new communication processes. Some of these markets are already generating demands to Gandia, even if important promotional and continuos efforts have not yet been made.
• Reducing the impact of seasonality. This is a fundamental objective as it affects a considerable amount of Gandia’s issues. First of all, it influences in Gandia’s business management creating high and lows in the employment rate and consequently doesn’t allow homogeneous professional levels. Seasonality also causes the temporary close down of businesses which in turn influences the perception of the visitor who comes in off season periods. Gandia’s seasonality is also reflected on the city’s public managed services which suffer during the busiest periods. The demand for many of the local public services such as police, waste collecion, electricity and water supplies exceeds the capacity to respond during peak season. Minimizing seasonality’s impact is key to obtaining a constant equilibrium thoughout the year.
• Unify the supply. Gandia needs to merge its tourism products in order to combine sustainable tourism and seasonality. In this sense, entrepreneurs and the city must coordinate their efforts but especially it is the tourism business sector who must work together towards enhancing the region’s value. Accomodation properties and restaurants must reach a standardization level.so that the business sector meets the markets demands. Basically, evolve towards obtaining an all year around destination to satisfy
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different markets and balance the employment levels and thus the destination’s sustainability.
• Renew the target. Finally, it is essential for Gandia to create a strategy and relaunch itself to its major clients as an anual destination. Gandia must present itself as a destination for both domestic and international makets and collaborate with tour operators to increase its low season demands. It has to create and promote new yearly attractions and reach out to new possible markets. All this must be supported by stimulating local awareness and by relaunching the Region’s image in the key target markets.
A series of local tourism actions must be activated in order to achieve the objectives outlined above, For their better organization, they have been grouped around key strategic work lines:
The arena tour. This action includes all those business initiatives related to improving the products and resources currently being exploited as well as those that can potentially generate new demands. For example, to improve supply signage and resources identification; improvement plans for evaluating the existing resources. To stimulate sales, it is required to change the information about the region that is available outside of the region. Also, nearby locations must be promoted through sales strategies so that visitors will extend their stays or attract new consumers. Finally, it is necessary to develop awareness and training plans for local workers in order to raise their professional levels, especially the management, adapting their know-how to new market trends and demands.
Marketing. This strategic work line is basic for relaunching the product and especially for generating new market demands. It is essential to create an appropriate timing plan and define short and medium term goals. First of all, it is important to identify and design the communication and marketing tools which will be applied. In this sense, it is strongly advised to invest in technology tools that provide access to new markets, such as changing the websites or developing a communication strategy on the Internet. On the website, a natural selection from the general public will help define actions aimed at access
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for clients and interested markets. Direct contact and interaction should not be left aside, for this reason it is recommended to create workshops in interested markets as well as meetings with tour operators and buyers. The attendance to international fairs and events must be a very selective process in order to fully optimize investments. It is recommended that when carrying out actions in the client markets, communication strategies be street actions or direct marketing rather than mass media campaigns which are much more expensive and less effective.
Management process. All the suggestions contained in this document that will ensure improvements in the model’s sustainability, must be accompanied by proper management. Fortunately Gandía has experience in managing change processes as well as in destination improvement. At present, private-public structures are already working on this process to readjust the performance model and align it with the demand requirements. Both private and public sectors will have to be cooperate with each other to maintain the process over time.
Quality management guaranteed. Finally it will be necessary to develop measures aimed at improving the existing infrastructures’ quality management. In the first place, access to cultural and natural sites can be improved so as to reach new demand segments. The existing hotels and all services directly related to tourism (restaurants, leisure, clubs etc), will have to make a big effort to adapt their infrastructures to the actual standards requested by clients if they want to be competitive in the market. Gandia can compete and break its tradition of seasonal destination if all the parties involved are willing to invest in and promote quality management. This process must always count on solutions related to improving environmental management of tourism activities on site.
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6. Target markets and purchase model
This section focuses on identifying Gandia’s main client markets and their consumer habits. In this process we have worked with data collected by Gandia Tourist Observatory (demand analysis, 2008) and INE data 2008. Before starting with the profile data, it should be underlined that the tourists staying in Gandia’s registered properties represent 5% of the total amount of visitors in the Valencian Community. During 2008, some 374,000 customers were accommodated in Gandia’s tourism establishments. This data is important enough to emphasize the region’s impact on tourism within the Valencian Community.
T
While there are aspects of the demand very similar to those observed for the whole Valencian Community, Gandia’s demand is characterized by tourist origin and behavior thus differentiating it from other destinations within the Valencia region. As mentioned, the first difference is the origin of its visitors, while Valencia mainly has 67,3% of national clients versus 32.7% of international customers, Gandia has a 92% demand coming from national visitors. According to INE data 2008, only 8% of Gandia’s registered customers are international visitors. On the basis of the market demand data, it can be clearly stated that Gandia is definitely a destination receiving domestic customers and especially from two key markets. On one side, more than 50% of its clients are from Madrid and its region, and on the other side, 23% of the people visiting Gandia come from the Valencian Community (data, Gandia Tourist Observatory 2009 demand
analysis). In addition to these two traditonal source markets, Gandia in recent years has been receiving tourists from other source markets less consolidated but potentially interesting such as, Castilla la Mancha (Albacete, Cuenca and Toledo, Ciudad Real) and Zaragoza.
With regards to international destinations the most significant markets in order of importance are: France, Great Britain and Germany and with figures similar to those of the Valencian Community that is 54% British, 26% French and 11% Germans. Besides these, other client markets are Italy or Belgium but in lower percentages than the above.
As opposed to other destinations, both domestic visitors and international ones basically coincide in arrival season to Gandia and this
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undoubtedly influences the current situation of strong seasonality. While consumption outside the summer season is mainly supported in the foreign markets, on the basis of the information gathered in the accommodation properties, it cannot be asserted that their exists an off season request from a specific foreign market. In Gandia’s case, there is an important request during the summer period coming mainly from the French and Italian market.
TOTAL INCOMING TOURISTS IN GANDIA FROM 2003-2008
050000
100000150000200000250000300000350000400000
2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
DomesticInternationals
Demand data 2000-2008, INE, own development
In relation to the evolution of tourism’s demand in Gandia and according to the INE data for the period signaled, the table shows that from 2003-2008 Gandia’s has experienced an increase of over 160,000 tourists.
This evolution in demand is not equally distributed among the national and international markets since the first one grew 46% while the
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international one rose by 20%. This issue directly affects the ability to break the seasonality because foreign markets tend to concentrate on taking advantage of low season periods. This will be one of the lines to redirect in the short term if the aim is to promote the destination’s sustainability.
During the period from 2000 to 2007 the growth was steady. Instead and probably due to the current socio economic situation, in 2008 there was a drop in the number of total customers. Curious enough and and unlike what happens in the Valencian Community, the decrease is mainly from national clients and not due to international ones, since these even grow by 1000 tourists from 2007 to 2008.
Regarding the reason for visiting the Gandia region, 63'8% of the
Valencian Community tourists arrived motivated by leisure and holidays,
above the national average (52%) while 17.9% did so for family reasons,
10% for work reasons and finally by 6% for studies. Gandia is definitely a
holiday destination, a statement reflected in the analysis of its annual
hotel occupancy rates as shown for the year 2008.
Evolution of the occupancy levels coleectec in registered tourism properties during 2005-2008
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Demand data 2000-2008, INE, own development
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The above data clearly shows that Gandia responds to a holiday destination profile with a concentration of clients during the summer (primarily domestic consumers). (EIT Data Frontur 2008). Its annual average occupancy of 46% is below that of the Valencian Community which is about 58%. This issue is without a doubt an obvious weakness for which a solution in the short and medium term should be sought. The reliance upon a single market and on a period of consumption turns it into a weak market easily affected by whatever situation.
In Gandia, 56% of the visitors choose to stay in apartments, whether they are owned (26%) or rented (30%), while 31% choose hotel accommodation. This number is higher than the average 17.5% of the Valencian Community mainly because in Gandia many hotels close down at certain periods of the year thus influencing the average figures (depending on the period of the year the percentages were taken). All other visitors stay in private properties not recognized as tourism establishments (Data from Gandia Tourist Observatory 2009) .
For the domestic customers their private cars are undoubtedly the prevailing means of transportation (86%), followed by bus (7%) and train (4.6%). Instead, the foreign customer mainly arrives by airplane (82.8%) compared to those arriving by road (15.5%). (Data Frontur EIT 2008).
Regarding the average expense, it is interesting to note that Gandía has a lower average than that of the Valencian Community. While in Gandia the visitor spends a medium of 32.27 € per day, this amount is 39.7 € in Valencia, which is still lower than the national average of 40.9 € per day. (Data from Gandia Tourist Observatory 2009) and (EIT Data Frontur 2008).
The average customer profile is between 25 and 44 years old with an average educational level and an active employment status. (Data Frontur EIT 2008). This visitor mainly hires the tourist services directly on his own, in this case being important the loyalty to the place. Internet was used for planning the trip in 12.6% of the cases. (Data Frontur EIT 2008). According to the information provided by Gandia business firms,
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there is little or no influence from tour operator companies in the accomodation business.
This issue among others, is probably influencing Gandia’s seasonal aspect and the capacity to reorganize the model.
In relation to the average period of stay, Gandia, with 7.65 days per visitor, provides a better average performance compared to Valencia, whose visitor only stays in average for 5.1 days. Eventhough this situation is positive, it has experienced a significant drop between 2005 and 2008, going from 9.24 days in 2005 to 7.65 in 2008. This negative growth phenomenom is occurring worldwide and especially in the Mediterranean’s sun and beach destinations due to the change in consumer habits. Shorter duration of stay and increased travel throughout the year are undoubtedly the main characteristics of this consumer that is certainly is causing in Gandia the need to undertake structural changes to adapt to this new market situation.
Evolución estancia media registrada en oferta reglada para el periodo 2000 -2008
0
2
4
6
8
10
2005 2006 2007 2008
Evolution of medium stay collected in registered supply from 2000-2008
Demand data 2000-2008, INE, own development
Based on the above mentioned figures regarding Gandia’s demand profile,
three major demand increase objectives can be concluded.
First balance the demand diminishing the destination’s seasonality, undoubtedly one of the major weaknesses that must be redirected to ensure
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tourism’s sustainability. This means, among others, develop off-season
products (MICE, sports, social tourism, etc.) and ensure that hotels and leisure
establishments linked to the destination are open in those periods. Also, make
a greater effort to approach tour operators, and examine the possibility of
working with the elderly consumers (social tourism). Finally, make a greater
effort in communicating and promoting Gandia by focusing on international
markets (for periods outside the summer season). In this process of finding
new markets it is also interesting to generate demand as a short break
destination for nearby possible international markets (i.e week ends and long
weekends).
In the second place, balance the client , that is reach towards other national
markets and nearby international possible ones.
According to data collected in this document, Gandia still has capacity for
growth in terms of client markets and in specific periods. It is essential to
work on marketing and communication strategies to avoid the summer season,
redirecting the potential demand to low occupancy months. Due to its size and
location, Gandia has the possibility to generate and accomodate a demand
increase outside of the current period. While traditional client markets should
not be left aside, marketing activities should be aimed towards generating
growth in other national markets such as Castilla la Mancha and Castilla Leon.
Improved road communications with Aragon contribute to increasing marketing
efforts. With these markets, it seems more appropriate to focus on
communication and direct marketing, while in the case of international markets
most activities should be done establishing relationships mainly with tour
operators. Efforts must be made to increase the international clients market
percentages in order to resemble those markets impact on the Valencian
Community, thus reducing risk concentration.
The formula to establish annual tourism related activities is to grow in demand
from both domestic and international markets. The reorganization procedure
should allow to increase demand wisely as it should be based on reaching
seasonal demand equilibrium and, a balance between origin markets. An
achievement in this sense would also be to get more customers throughout the
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year, increasing average occupancy rates and reducing the risks deriving from
single demand market concentration.
Translating these objectives into figures, the following are growth proposals
for the destination.
The annual growth proposed is 1.5% , under the initial premise of proposing a
yearly growth figure for Gandia and below the World Tourism Organization’s
forecast, mainly due to the current national crisis.
In regard to the target markets, the suggestion is to first of all, balance the
difference in demand from the current 92% (national markets) and 8%
international markets to a ratio of 70% for the national market and 30% for the
international market. This is basically a strategy that seeks to balance the risks
arising from reliance on few and specific markets.
This growth process is proposed as follows
International Market
Total Growth 30%
1st Year
5%increase
2nd Year
12% increase
3rd Year
13% increase
Of course this growth in the international market would bring down the national’s market ratio as mentioned earlier from the current 92% to a good 70%.
This percentage may be distributed to the national markets over a period of 3 years as follows:
National Market’s Current Situation
Current Proposal for the Future
Madrid and surroundings 50% Madrid and surroundings 40%
Valencian Community 23% Valencian Community 15%
Castilla la Mancha 11% Castilla la Mancha 22%
Castilla Leon 9% Castilla Leon 13%
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Aragon 7% Aragon 10%
The proposal for international client's increase from 8% to 30% would be distributed as follows:
Current Situation of the International Market Current Proposal for the future
British 54% British 40%
French 26% French 30%
German 11% German 15%
Italian Italian
Belgium
9% Belgium
15%
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7. Promotional strategies and how to combine them
It is necessary to examine Gandia’s current situation prior to analyzing its main communication tools.
Based on the data obtained the main conclusion is that Gandia hasn’t developed a a clear and concise strategy for reducing its seasonal holiday destination image. Most of the promotional actions identify the seasonal aspect “sun and beach” as a main attraction. There are few initiaves that promote the City as a destination for the non summer months. Cultural and nature related sites are normally proposed as activities complementing the sun and beach attraction.
As shown further down, communication actions are usually aimed towards a generic target and rarely include detailed strategies to study market and public segmentation. Despite these general impressions, it must be mentioned that in the past years some changes have occurred and although they are not sufficient, the outgoing messages and promotional actions are influencing communication policies applied to future possible markets.
The image that Gandia promotes through marketing tools for tour operators is very important for the success of the sales related to this sector. Generally these instrumetns are based on summer holiday packages. Family solutions are also highlighted in this area of marketing, underlining the economic convenience and the added value resulting from available cultural sites.
In terms of pricing, Gandia differs from other destinations within the Valencian Community because it offers special rates for advanced payment.
Gandia’s advertising through traditional instruments is only of a sun and beach destination, thus not advertising other possible tourism activities. Instead, on the web, there are advertisements that mention cultural sites, nature reserve sites and gastronomic interests of the region.
Concerning traditional advertising (communication and merchandising material, fairs and events), Gandia has a number of interesting
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communication guides that in addition to presenting the sun and beach, include complementary products or exclusive ones, such as:
• Nautical Guide • Generic City Guide • Brochure-guidebook of Els Borja • Brochures about the Green Heritage Catalog (aimed at protecting
the natural heritage)
In addition, there is an annual guide that presents the main cultural events.
It is interesting to note how in recent years, Gandia has launched specific advertisement campaigns such as the “Borgia’s Family V Centenary” or “Enjoy the America’s Cup from Gandia”.
They are usually well designed media, with an appropriate balance between pure information and images to motivativate consumer awareness.
In the past,a lot of work has already been carried out on the web to create and launch a proper year long destination concept. Less efforts have been made instead towards specific campaigns.
. Gandia has two key tourism Web supports a "www.gandiaturismo.com" and the other www.gandia.org. Although both stations provide information about the region, their structure is different. The latter one has tourist information but it is more oriented towards institutional purposes, and translated into the valencian language. Its main objective is to inform the locals and not the final tourists, who are better informed in www.gandiaturismo.com
www.gandiaturismo.com, is translated into three languages (Valencian,
English and French). This web is well structured, it counts 11 sections,
and is easy to use. Each of the sections is completed with an
explanation and supports a touristic perspective. Since the explanations
are very attractive, the visitor will look forward to arriving to Gandia. The events and cultural agenda are regularly updated on the web.
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The “routes” section differentiates between eco-tourist routes and cultural ones as well as the beach. Moreover, exposed are other routes already designed and organized, thereby attracting visitors to these products. The web, also provides information on all natural resources, and ethnographic heritage. This information is brief and concise but provides all the necessary details to get an idea of the resource. On the web there also tourist related links such as “semanasantadegandia.com”, or “patrimoniverd.com”.
Gandia’s web has broad and ample infomation and is easy enought to identify the region as a general tourism product, as well as the specific ones too. From the web, one can conclude that the main attraction is the beach although other cultural, eco tourism and heritage activities are also reflected.
Concerning web marketing, as noted, the few actions that have been made are more oriented to positioning the destination and brand awareness without any apparent SEO or SEM strategy. However, there have been articles about Gandia in Blogs and other tourism related websites for example, www.dondeviajar.es, where articles explain the type of products you can find and the services offered in the destination.
Concerning Exhibition Fairs and their related communication and advertisement activities, Gandía doesn’t have an acceptable attendance schedule aimed at target markets. According to the available data, Gandia is traditionally present in Madrid’s International Tourism Fair (FITUR), The Valencia Tourism Fair “Feria de Valencia TCV” to consolidate the national markets. Gandia is present in the following international fairs: Fair BTL in Lisbon, Salon des Vacances (Belgium) and the ITB tourism fair in Milan.
Furthermore Gandía organizes events with international significance in order to generate impact and target positioning. These actions include:
Fideuà International Competition. (Participation of French, Mexican and Japanese chefs guaranteeing international presence in the contest).
International Classical Music Festival
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In addition to these actions, Protur, Gandia’s tourist promotion agency, organizes funtrips with possible interested markets (last year this included contacts with Russian and German operators).
As a first general conclusion of this section,it may be stated that even if there has been an evolution in creating new communication and promotional strategies, these do not follow preoviously defined market objectives. Comparing the advertising activities to the typical registered demand is enough to find out that there is cause and effect relationship between them. Thus it is suggested to reorganize the promotional activities and focus them towards important target markets or new possible ones that can stimulate the supply by increasing consumption figures.
It is necessary to increase communication actions on the network reinforcing co-marketing efforts with national and international tourism operators. The off-the web media is acceptable both in numbers and in contents.
It is recommended to invest at the same time both in communication efforts and in advertising in target markets using marketing instruments such as Guerrilla Actions, Workshops or adapting other tools to the interested markets.