Pamper your senses with beautiful horizons

With a varied and vast array of choices, there is something for everyone to choose from in the rich tapestry that Spain has to offer

With the world opening up again after the last couple of years due to the pandemic, everyone is looking forward to visiting their favourite places. September 27 is celebrated every year as World Tourism Day. This year, the theme is ‘Rethinking Tourism’, a concept that is consistent with the theme selected by the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) for World Tourism Day. As more and more travellers and tourists pack their bags and get ready to sight-see and soak up the experiences on offer, one name that comes right at the top for most who are looking for plenty of sunshine, a vibrant culture, mouth-watering cuisine, historic buildings and a vibe that is out of this world, is Spain.

Sustainable Tourism

After two difficult years, Spain is looking forward to a brighter future, with an aim at making a comeback up to a 90 per cent of the figures recorded during 2019, which happened to be the best year for tourism in the history of the country. If all goes according to plan, the country is on track to reach and even surpass the previous year’s numbers. So far, with data up to July, visitors from the UAE to Spain have grown by more than a 40 per cent.

Thus, while recovery seems to be the aim, it is definitely not at all costs. The core of the recovery process rests on the pillars of sustainability. The country is looking to embark on a journey of sustainable tourism with a triple perspective. There is a need to make Spain into a destination which is environmentally sustainable, helping to preserve the ecosystem, but also it needs to be economically sustainable so that the economic impact and growth is equally distributed along the country and socially sustainable, extending the tourism industry alongside the country. This will enable Spain to become a sustainable destination on the whole, where tourism is distributed throughout the country and throughout the year, allowing the country to absorb the impact of tourism and creating wealth and happiness for all the involved people. This is a dual advantage both for the country and the tourists as it gives also the latter a chance to really experience the destination in a more local and more authentic way, where the destination can really be understood and enjoyed.

Spain is looking forward to welcome more people to visit the country, to discover the country, to enhance the links between cultures and societies and do that in a sustainable way. Tourism is the industry of happiness and you will certainly be happy when in Spain. You deserve Spain.

Travel safe

It is natural for people to be apprehensive about the safety measures. Spain has put all those worries to rest, as they have taken the proper precautions in order to ensure that all visitors are kept safe and protected at all times. Spain is a safe destination, open to international tourism and prepared for you to enjoy your holiday. Spain Travel Safe, was a series of measures undertaken by Turespaña to tackle the pandemic during the last two years. The campaign was initiated with the aim of informing, assuring and reassuring the image of Spain as a country with a high percentage of the adult population vaccinated, and with a highly professional healthcare system.

Furthermore, many measures were implemented across different establishments, to offer a safe service, making it a secure destination, so that everyone can enjoy their vacation with the peace of mind they deserve.

Latest offerings

While the global pandemic affected tourism all across the globe, there is one European country that has witnessed an impressive line-up of new luxury hotel openings over the past 18 months. If you have missed out on some of the recent luxury hotel openings in Spain, here are a few that you need to see for yourself.

W Ibiza

Opened in 2020, the stylishly colourful seasonal escape was designed by Dutch studio Baranowitz + Kronenberg who have successfully created a chic aesthetic that captures the vibrancy of the island.

A place to be and be seen, the beachfront hotel welcomes a steady roster of international DJs and the Glow rooftop pool and cocktail bar to provide a party atmosphere.

Four Seasons Hotel Madrid

Spanning a collection of historic buildings, the earliest dating back to the late 1800s, Four Seasons Hotel Madrid was the first one from the iconic chain to arrive on Spain’s shores. Perched at the crossroads of three of the capital’s most iconic streets – Canalejas, Sevilla and Alcalá, the hostel took eight years to completion, but for most visitors, it was worth the wait. One of the highlights is the Martin Brudnizki studio-designed rooftop terrace, which is host to Dani Brasserie, helmed by one of Spain’s most acclaimed chefs, Dani Garcia. The Andalusian chef received legendary status when his eponymous Marbella restaurant received a third Michelin star in 2018.

Mandarin Oriental Ritz, Madrid

Having closed its doors for renovation in 2018, the 111 year-old luxury hotel has preserved and enhanced the unique Belle Époque character of the original building which was created under the meticulous gaze of César Ritz himself. Positioned in Madrid’s prestigious ‘Golden Triangle of Art’ steps away from the city’s famed museums and galleries, the hotel provides the ideal base for art-lovers and foodies alike. The hotel boast’s five new restaurants and bars overseen by Spain’s preeminent chef Quique Dacosta including the hotly anticipated Deesa, the chef’s first fine dining restaurant in the capital.

Active Campaigns

You deserve Spain: This campaign was launched by Turespaña with the clear objective of positioning Spain back, in tourism terms, to its pre-pandemic position. ‘You Deserve Spain’ gives tourists and travellers the opportunity to satiate their need to travel by enjoying all that the country has to offer. From food to culture to beaches to fashion to shopping to surfing to island-hopping and everything in between, all is on display to choose from. The idea was to promote the diversity of the different regions of the country, encouraging potential tourists to experience ‘some real holidays’. The campaign was in collaboration with entities such as TripAdvisor and Expedia. Different creative pieces in several video formats were designed to be posted on the most relevant social media platforms: Instagram, Twitter, Tiktok etc. Despite being mainly digital, there was a need to highlight through large banners displayed in Piccadilly Circus, London, and across several metro stations in Dubai during the world exposition last year.

Legends of Spain: The campaign is part of the collaboration of Turespaña with National Geographic. This series of videos tries to enlighten the people with Spain’s centuries of novelists and poets, through the shifting geography of the country, which evokes the imagination so well.

Spain Travel guide: It delivers different insights into how the different regions of Spain can be related with Netflix and some of its most iconic series and films. The impact of audiovisual productions is undeniable and is not limited to our immediate environment. The power of these universal tales is such that they possess a unique way of connecting us with the world, regardless of our age, background or nationality.

Viewers get to enjoy a cultural and environmental wealth, opportunities for leisure and historical heritage, traditions such as handicrafts, music and agriculture, a unique lifestyle and the ability of the Spanish society to offer special experiences —all of these aspects are on display in the series and movies produced for Netflix in Spain. By linking various shows to which part of the country or region they were shot in, the audience gets a taste of the rich tapestry of culture, cuisine, the people and the feel of variety that is Spain.

Today as we celebrate World Tourism Day , it is imperative that we think about travel with a long-term commitment to promoting responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism. "You deserve Spain!"

For more information, visit: www.spain.info/ www.spain.info/gcc

Spain is waiting for you

Daniel Rosado Bayón

Director

Spain Tourism Office Tourism Counsellor GCC

on the mechanisms put in place to ensure that visitors have a smooth and enjoyable experience

On the occasion of World Tourism Day, I would like to highlight the resilience of our industry and how we were able to get through some difficult times. Spain was always at the forefront of implementing travel safe measures to regain back the confidence of travellers. After those times, everyone deserves a holiday, you deserve Spain!

Spain, as a leading destination, has been working together with the travel trade fraternity to be back and that was made possible through our ‘Travel safe’ campaign, which was widely appreciated across the globe for keeping travellers well informed and updated about the restrictions and regulations in Spain throughout the pandemic.

Currently, Spain has several active campaigns, highlighting ‘You deserve Spain’, which continues to be the campaign for travellers from various walks of life — solo travellers, couples, families, elderly etc.

In 2022, we are looking towards a promising future for the travel industry and we see that travellers are coming back to our beautiful country. Our focus is now, not only to have the demand back, but a sustainable demand, to which Spain is highly committed to.